William Allen White

Children’s Book Award

6th-8th Grade

2009-2010

BackgroundHistory:

• Established in 1952 Ruth Gagliardo• Directed by Emporia State University

Purpose:• Honors William Allen White, a Pulitzer Prize

winning journalist from Kansas Encourages Kansas children to read and enjoy

high quality literature

Distinction: Thought to be the first book award program in

the country decided by children

Nominated Books Must be published within the past

year

Authors must be from the United States, Canada or Mexico

Text must be fiction, non-fiction or poetry

Selection committee chooses books for their originality, vitality, accuracy and sincerity

Participation Who: 3rd – 8th grade Kansas students

What: Read 2 nominated books

Where: Check them out at the library

When: Read all year long and be ready to vote by April 15th

Why: To select the 2009-10 winners!

2008-09 WAW Winner 3rd-5th Grade

Clementine

by Sara Pennypacker

2008-09 WAW Winner 6th-8th Grade

Yellow Starby Jennifer Roy

William Allen White

Children’s Book Award

6th-8th Grade Master list

2009-2010

Billie Creekmore

In 1905, ten-year-old Billy is taken from an orphanage to live with an aunt and uncle who were previously unknown to him. He enjoys his first taste of family life until his work in a coal mine and his involvement with a union bring trouble. He then joins a circus in hopes of finding his father.

By Tracey Porter

Cracker! The Best Dog in Viet Nam

A young soldier in Vietnam bonds with his bomb-sniffing dog. “The focus is on how Cracker uses her senses to help the team accomplish its goals, and on her physical bond with Rick, who understands Cracker's every movement.”

Booklist 2-15-07

By Cynthia Kadohata

Elephant Run*

Nick endures servitude, beatings, and more after his British father's plantation in Burma is invaded by the Japanese in 1941, and when his father and others are taken prisoner and Nick is stranded with his friend Mya, they plan a daring escape on elephants, risking their lives to save Nick's father and Mya's brother from a Japanese prisoner of war camp. *6th Grade Shelf

By Roland Smith

Elijah Buxton*

In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, a haven for slaves fleeing the American south, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who stole money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.

*6th Grade Shelf

By Christopher Paul Curtis

From Emporia: The Story of William Allen

White*

Biography of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner William Allen White.

*6th Grade Shelf

By Beverley Olson Buller

Iron Thunder:The Battle Between the Monitor & the Merrimac, A

Civil War Novel

Tom's job as an assistant to Captain John Ericsson, the inventor of the Monitor, makes him a target of Confederate spies.

By Avi

Leepike Ridge

While his widowed mother continues to search for him, eleven-year-old Tom, presumed dead after drifting away down a river, finds himself trapped in a series of underground caves with another survivor and a dog, and pursued by murderous treasure-hunters.

By Nathan D. Wilson

Miss Spitfire:Reaching Helen Keller*

At age twenty-one, partially-blind, lonely but spirited Annie Sullivan travels from Massachusetts to Alabama to try and teach six-year-old Helen Keller, deaf and blind since age two, self-discipline and communication skills. Includes historical notes and timeline.

*6th Grade Shelf

By Sarah Miller

Night of the Howling Dogs

In 1975, eleven Boy Scouts, their leaders, and some new friends camping at Halape, Hawaii, find their survival skills put to the test when a massive earthquake strikes, followed by a tsunami.

By Graham Salisbury

Schooled*

Homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Capricorn (Cap) Anderson has never watched television, tasted a pizza, or even heard of a wedgie. But when his grandmother lands in the hospital, Cap is forced to move in with a guidance counselor and attend the local middle school. While Cap knows a lot about tie-dyeing and Zen Buddhism, no education could prepare him for the politics of public school.

*6th Grade Shelf

By Gordon Korman

William Allen White1868-1944

William Allen White

Children’s Book Award

6th-8th Grade

2009-2010