NEWBERY AWARDS

1. HATCHET

GARY PAULSEN

An adventure story of a boy who is on his way to see his father and gets into a plane crash. He is stranded in the wilderness with only his Hatchet. He fights to survive and has many encounters with the animals in the wilderness. Excellent vivid descriptions. Great read aloud to 4th and 5th grade students.... They love this book!

2. SHILOH 

PHYLLIS REYNOLDS NAYLOR

Wonderful story of a boy who develops a strong friendship with a beagle. Marty is a young boy who lives with his parents out west. Judd, his alcoholic neighbor who abuses his dogs is on Marty's radar. Marty decided to secretly steal the dog so that Judd can no longer harm it. An insightful story of a boy who would put his own life in danger to save his best freind. Great read aloud for 4th grade!!

3. WALK TWO MOONS

SHARON CREECH

Fantastic story about taking journeys. It is a book filled with a mix of different emotions. A thirteen year old girl travels to Idaho with her parents. On this journey she tells them the story of Phoebe Winterbottom who recieved messages and whose mother dissapeared. It has many layers to it and is told in such a way that you feel that you are on the journey as well.

4. NUMBER THE STARS

LOIS LOWRY

A great read to do to enhance the curriculum of World War II. I would say that it should be read as a read aloud to students. There is some descriptive language that should be explained to younger students(4th and 5th grade). It is about a brave young girl who smuggles her Jewish friends to safety in Sweden.

5. JOYFUL NOISE
PAUL FLEISCHMAN

A delightful poetry book of nature and simple illustrations. Poems are about crickets, fireflies, grasshoppers, etc. There are two sides to each poem and they are supposed to be read as a duet...interesting..poems with two voices. Lovely poems that can be introduced to students in a variety of ways.

6. SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL

PATRICIA MACLACHLAN

This is a great book to use as a mentor text. She uses many different writing techniques. The story is about a family who mama has passed away and the dad has not been the same since she died. The children place an ad in the paper to find a new mama. A great story about family and hope. 

7. The Giver

Lois Lowry

Jonas lives in a society with no pain, no crime, and no unhappiness. He receives a life assignment to be the receiver of memories and discovers secrets about the past. There are manny other Lois Lowry books that I would rather read than this one. For older students;some topics such as mild sexual references.

8. LINCOLN A PHOTOBIOGRAPHY
RUSSELL FREEDMAN


A book about Abraham Lincoln's life with real photographs and prints. It begins with his life as a young boy to his assassination.  Real documents such as his marriage license and Republican victory poster. A great book for students to use for a biography on Lincoln. For older students because the language is quite mature.