South Carolina Junior Book Awards

Awesome Books for Middle Schoolers!!

The 2012-2013 South Carolina Junior Book Award nominees are in! Check out the results. They include dangerous underwater worlds, kids forced to work in sweatshops, and a talking origami Yoda. Yes, there is a book (or two or three) for all tastes. Click on any title to reserve a copy!

Start off with:



The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
By Tom Angleberger

When Dwight, the class weirdo, shows up with a talking origami Yoda, kids tease him. But Yoda seems to know things—and his advice is oddly wise. Is the Force really with him, or has Dwight fallen off the deep end?

Sequel: Darth Paper Strikes Back

Crunch
By Leslie Connor

Dewey Marriss is in a crunch. The gas pumps ran dry the same week he promised to manage the family’s bicycle repair business. Suddenly, everyone needs a bike. Worse, Dewey’s parents are stranded far away! It's up to him to care for his siblings and run the business. Can he do it all?







The Grimm Legacy
By Polly Shulman

Elizabeth, a New York high school student, gets an after-school job as a page at the New York Circulating Material Repository where she gains coveted access to its Grimm Collection of magical objects. But then she and the other pages are drawn into a series of frightening adventures involving mythical creatures and stolen goods.

Dark Life
By Kat Falls

Ty has spent his whole life living underwater on the ocean floor when he finds a mysterious "Topsider" girl named Gemma searching for her brother. To find him, they face outlaws who threaten Ty's home...and learn that the government may pose the biggest threat of all.

Saving Sky
By Diane Stanley

In an America that has suffered continual terrorist attacks since 9/11, seventh-grader Sky stands up for what is right and helps a classmate of Middle Eastern descent—although doing so puts her and her family at great risk.

Mockingbird: mok'ing-bûrd
By Kathryn Erskine

Caitlin has Asperger's Syndrome. The world according to her is black and white; anything in between is confusing. Before, when things got confusing, Caitlin went to her brother, Devon, for help. But Devon has died, and Caitlin wants everything to go back to the way things were. Then she comes across the word closure—and she realizes this is what she needs.

Sources of Light
By Margaret McMullan

Samantha and her mother move to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962 after her father is killed in Vietnam. There, Sam encounters both love and hate as she learns about photography from a new friend and witnesses the prejudice and violence of the Southern segregationists.








Woods RunnerBy Gary Paulsen

From his 1776 Pennsylvania homestead, Samuel sets out for New York City to rescue his parents from a band of British soldiers and Indians who kidnapped them after slaughtering most of their community. Includes historical notes.

Hero
By Mike Lupica

Zach learns he has the same special abilities as his father, who was the President's globe-trotting troubleshooter until "the Bads" killed him. Now, Zach must decide whether to use his powers in the same way—at the risk of his life.








Is It Night or Day?
By Fern Schumer Chapman

In 1938, a young German Jew named Edith is sent by her parents to Chicago, where she tries to assimilate into American culture while worrying about her parents and mourning the loss of everything she has ever known. Based on the author's mother's experience.

Camo Girl
By Kekla Magoon

Z has always been the weird kid in class. He doesn't mind, but his friend Ella longs to be part of a group where people won't make fun of her. When new boy Bailey moves in, he becomes popular and could even make Ella cool, too, but only if she stops hanging out with Z.










The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet
By Erin Dionne

Hamlet's attempts to be a "normal" eighth grader become increasingly difficult when her 7-year-old genius sister and her eccentric Shakespeare scholar parents both begin to attend her school.

Ninth Ward
By Jewell Parker Rhodes

Lanesha lives in New Orleans' Ninth Ward and doesn't have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her block. But she does have Mama Ya-Ya, her loving caretaker who can predict the future. However, Mama Ya-Ya's visions show a powerful hurricane named Katrina approaching.

 

 



Shooting Kabul
By N. H. Senzai

Escaping from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the summer of 2001, Fadi and his family immigrate to the San Francisco Bay Area. There, Fadi schemes to return to the Pakistani refugee camp where his little sister was accidentally left behind.

Boys without Names
By Kashmira Sheth

Gopal and his family leave their rural Indian village for life with his uncle in Mumbai. But when they arrive, his father goes missing and Gopal ends up locked in a sweatshop from which there is no escape.









A Long Walk to Water: A Novel Based on a True Story
By Linda Sue Park

When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, Salva gets separated from his family and must walk through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on the life of Salva Dut, who, after emigrating to America in 1996, began a project to dig water wells in Sudan.







Warriors in the Crossfire
By Nancy Bo Flood

Joseph helps his family survive when the natives of Saipan are caught in the crossfire between the Japanese and the Americans  at the end of World War II.








Mamba Point
By Kurtis Scaletta

After moving with his family to Liberia, Linus discovers that he has a mystical connection with the black mamba, one of the deadliest snakes in Africa, which might even give him some snake characteristics. Includes facts about the author's experiences as a 13-year-old American living in Liberia in 1982.

Roots and Blues: A Celebration
By Arnold Adoff

This book of poetry explores how the Blues have been part of everyday life throughout history, from its origins in the sounds of the earth, through slaves' voices singing of freedom, to today's greatest performers—and listeners.

 
 
 

 
 
Bat Scientists
By Mary Kay Carson

This true story chronicles the efforts of Dr. Merlin Tuttle and his colleagues at Bat Conservation International as they try to save bat species from loss of habitat and white-nose syndrome.




Click on any title to reserve a copy at your favorite CCPL branch. Or, click here to search our eBooks for a title to download!