1. Previews 2009-2010 Nominees Book Nominees Grades (4-8) Georgia Children’s Book Awards
2. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) The Rising Star of Rusty Nail Lesley M. M. Blume F BLU In the small town of Rusty Nail, Minnesota, in the early 1950s, musically talented ten-year-old Franny wants to take advanced piano lessons from newcomer Olga Malenkov, a famous Russian musician suspected of being a communist spy by gossipy members of the community.
3. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Elijah of Buxton Christopher Paul Curtis F CUR In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American south, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.
4. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) The Sorta Sisters Adrian Fogelin F FOG In Florida, Anna Casey lives with what she hopes is the last in a long line of foster mothers, and Mica Delano lives with her father on their small boat, and when the two of them begin corresponding, they discover they have a lot in common.
5. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Someone Named Eva Joan M. Wolf F WOL Inspired by real events, this fascinating novel sheds light on a little-known aspect of the Nazi agenda and movingly portrays a young Czech girl's struggle to hold onto her identity and her hope in the face of a regime intent on destroying both.
6. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) The Entertainer and the Dybbuk Sid Fleishman F FLE A struggling American ventriloquist in post-World War II Europe is possessed by the mischievous spirit of a young Jewish boy killed in the Holocaust.
7. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Tim Green F GRE Football Genius Twelve-year-old Troy White has a gift: he can predict any football play before it happens. When his mom gets a job with the Atlanta Falcons, Troy is determined to prove just how much the team needs him on board, in this gripping story written by former star linebacker Green.
8. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Deep and Dark and Dangerous Mary Downing Hahn F HAH Ali finds an old photograph and recognizes her mother and her aunt as children, but a third person has been torn out of the picture. Who could it be? Then Ali meets Sissy, a mean and spiteful girl who has a secret. Could it have something to do with the old photo?
9. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Suzanne Crowley F CRO The Very Ordered Existence of Marilee Marvelous Due to her Asperger's syndrome, 13-year-old Merilee Monroe maintains a Very Ordered Existence (VOE) so she can avoid the trauma caused by change and spontaneity. When two newcomers arrive in town, Merilee does her best to stick to her plans.
10. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Hiroshima Dreams Kelly Easton F EAS Lin can’t explain the knowledge she has of the future. It’s a gift she shares with Obaasan, her grandmother, who has recently come from Japan to live with Lins’ family. What is Lin to make of the visions she has of a day long ago, when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima?
11. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Billy Creekmore Tracey Porter F POR With only a tin box that holds precious mementos of his beloved mother and mysterious father, Billy Creekmore travels from the coal mines of West Virginia in the early 1900s to the spectacular world of a traveling circus, in search of his past, his future, and his own true self.
12. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) The Puzzling World Of Winston Breen Eric Berlin F BER Winston Breen loves solving puzzles; and when his sister uncovers a twenty-five-year-old scavenger hunt--which leads to a ring worth thousands of dollars--he and his family jump at the opportunity to solve it.
13. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Wendy Lichtman F LIC Do the Math Secrets, Lies and Algebra Tess has always loved math, and she uses mathematical concepts to help her understand things in her life, so she is dismayed to find out how much math--and life--can change in eighth grade.
14. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Greetings from Nowhere Barbara O’Connor F OCO In North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains, a troubled boy and his mother, a happy family seeking adventure, a man and his lonely daughter, and the widow who must sell the run-down motel that has been her home for decades, meet and are transformed by their shared experiences.
15. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Feathers Jacqueline Woodson F WOO When a new, white student nicknamed "The Jesus Boy" joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie's growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light.
16. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Bearwalker Joseph Bruchac F BRU Although he is the littlest student in his class, thirteen-year-old Baron Braun calls upon the strength and wisdom of his Mohawk ancestors to face both man and beast when he tries to get help for his classmates, who are being terrorized during a school field trip in the Adirondacks.
17. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Trading Places Claudia Mills F MIL When fifth-grade twins, Amy and Todd, tackle a school project, they also have to cope with issues of friendship at school and problems at home, including their father's unemployment.
18. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) Saving the Griffin Kristen W. Nitz F NIT When eleven-year-old Kate and her younger brother Michael encounter a baby griffin in an Italian garden, they vow to help the creature find its way back home and to keep Griffo's existence a secret.
19. Book Award Nominee Grade (4-8) N. D. Wilson F WIL 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.