The new Sunshine State Young Reader Award list!

The new Sunshine State Young Reader Award list was released last week, YAY!  There are some terrific titles on the list and I know the kids are going to love them.  Several of them were new to me, so I've been busy reading!

The first one is called "Sled Dog School" by Terri Lynn Johnson.  Her book "Overboard!" was on the list last year.  Her writing style is terrific - fast paced with characters that are easy to connect with.  This one has a main character named Matt.  His family lives off the grid in Michigan and some of the other kids have been teasing him about it.  He really loves the sled dogs that they have and is a really good musher.  He's also been struggling with math and when his teacher offers an extra credit project to create their own business, Matt jumps at the chance.  He decides to create a sled dog school.  He's meant to get at least three clients and show the math he uses to decide if the business is making money.  One of the great things about this story is learning about sled dogs and how the mushers put together teams as well as the equipment they use.  It was surprising to me how much intuition about the dogs a good leader needed.  The characters in the story were terrific too-the interaction between the kids was great and felt very realistic.  I think this one has a good chance at being a winner!

Here's a book trailer:

The second one is historical fiction and it's called "The Bicycle Spy" by Yona Zeldis McDonough.  It's about Marcel who is growing up in France during World War 2.  He's living in the Free Zone, which recently became occupied.  His parents run a bakery and often send him on his bike to make deliveries.  Marcel dreams of riding in the Tour de France.  One day, he's making a delivery and he finds something surprising.  There's a note inside the loaf of bread.  The note doesn't make any sense to him, but it's clear that it's a coded message of some kind.  Marcel is surprised to figure out that his parents are part of the Resistance movement.  About the same time, a new girl moves to town.  She's really smart and some of the other kids resent her.  But she's also interested in bike riding and she and Marcel become friends.  This is a really nice story about friendship and bikes and bravery.  The historical aspect will draw some readers in and the bicycle aspect adds another nice dimension.  I think the kids are going to really like this one.