CAUDILL 2012 WINNER

We picked it! The winner for the 2012 Rebecca Caudill Book Award at Lakeview is the same as the official state winner. And the winner is...Powerless, by Matthew Cody. Powerless is the story of children in a small town who have superpowers but lose their powers when they turn 13. A new boy in town helps the children find out what happens to their powers.

Now the winner has been announced. Mrs. Wilson and I would like to reveal which books we would have voted for, if we were eligible to vote. (Only Illinois students in grades 4-8 are eligible.) It was a tough choice this year because all 20 books were great! Mrs. Wilson's choice is All the Broken Pieces, by Ann E. Burg. a novel in verse about a Vietnamese boy who escapes the war to live with an American family but has terrible nightmares about his past. My choice would be Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld, a steampunk novel set in World War I where the British and their allies have developed living machines based on Darwin's principles and the Germans and their allies have mechanical machines. Steampunk is a new genre that blends science fiction with historical fiction often creating alternative histories.

Thank you to eveyone who purchased items at the P.T.O. Spring Book Fair. The P.T.O. has donated 17 wonderful books to the IMC. I will catalog the books over spring break and we will process them as soon as we get back. Books should be ready for student checkout after Easter.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

You live across the lake from a small town in the Arctic circle. Your father has just died from freezing after falling through the ice on the lake coming home by dog sled. His frozen body lies on the table. Your stepmother and sister have gone for help. Now a big, hairy, frightening man named Wolf has invaded your cabin home demanding the gold that your father supposedly stole from him. You know that there is a gun kept in a box in the storeroom by the cabin door What would you do? This is the question posed in Marcus Sedgwick's book The Revolver. The story takes place in the early 1900s with several flashbacks to the Alaskan Gold Rush when Sig's father became an assayer to support the family. There are many tense moments as Wolf holds Sig at gun point demanding gold -- gold that Sig knows nothing about! If you find the flashbacks confusing, just keep reading. There are only a few of them that help explain why Wolf is terrorizing Sig. This award-winning book will keep you guessing as Sig must decide what to do to protect himself and his family.

TAKE ANOTHER LOOK

A number of books that I read and blogged this summer are In the New Book Display. It's worth taking another look at these great reads.

Lois Lowry's book Bless This Mouse is a sweet story about a community of church mice who try to keep a low profile so the parishioners won't demand the Great X (an exterminator) be called to rid the church of mice.

Storm Runners by Roland Smith is an exciting, dangerous adventure in Florida as a hurricane is approaching. Chase Masters and his father travel there to be ready to help people during and after the hurricane, but they each have their own survival story.

In the fantasy world of Serendipity Market by Penny Blubaugh when the world gets out of balance Mother Inez calls a group of storytellers together to tell their tales and restore the balance. These stories are from familiar folklore and fairy tales but with a different perspective. See if you can guess the tale as you read each one.