AND THE WINNER IS....

...well, not officially but the Caudill nominees that received the most votes here at Lakeview are:

Levianthan in Fourth Place with 10 votes
Every Soul a Star in Third Place with 11 votes
Knucklehead in Second Place with 12 votes
Powerless in First Place with 18 votes

Every nominee received at least one vote. And as Mrs. Wilson and I predicted, there was no runaway winner like Hunger Games last year. Now all of Lakeview's votes will be sent to the state Caudilll committee. In about two weeks we should know which book is the official 2012 winner of the Caudill award.

Each year Mrs. Wilson and I form a special Caudill club for anyone who has read all 20 of the Caudill nominees. So fa this year the 2012 Club has three members: Miss Hagensee, Mrs. Wilson, and one 6th grade student. Club membership remains open until the end of the school year. When you have read all 20 nominees for 2012, let me know so I can add your name to the club roster posted in the IMC.

By the way the 2013 nominee list is already available. It is linked th the Lakeview Library webpage.

A HAPPY FAMILY?

Willa's family is a blended family in Susan Beth Pfeffer's book Blood Wounds. Willa and her Mom, Terri, joined Jack and his daughters Brooke and Alyssa when Jack and Terri married. Jack insisted that they were a "happy family." Certainly this new family was better than Jack and Val, Brooke and Alyssa's mother, who argued all the time, especially since Val was rich and spent lots of money giving everything to her girls. Terri had taken Willa when she was four and ran away from her abusive husband, Dwayne, and the poor, small Texas town of Pryor. But there are hidden problems that the blended family never talked about until the police came to protect Willa and Terri. Dwayne had killed his new family, a young wife and three little girls, and was now on his way to Terri and Willa. Dwayne's attempt to visit Terri makes Willa want to know more about her father and his new family and brings Willa to question her own happy family. This powerful new book is available in the New Book section of the IMC.

RUNAWAY TO ADVENTURE

If you have ever felt that your parents are overly protective and watching your every move, you will understand how Alvin fells in Donna Jo Napoli's book North. When his mother enlists a neighbor to walk him to and from school, Alvin decides he has to run away from his Washington D.C. home. Inspired by his hero Matthew Henson, the bold Arctic explorer, Alvin decides to follow in Henson's footsteps to the North Pole showing his mother that he can take care of himself. Traveling by passenger train, boxcar, small plane, dogsled, and finally on foot, Alvin makes his way north. This story carries you along with Alvin through his trials, his friendships, and those who help him along his way. It's an amazing adventure for a twelve-year-old and for you, the reader. North is available on the New Books shelf.