Jumping the Scratch by Sarah Weeks
2008-2009 WAW Award Nominee
Characters: Jamie Reardon, Audrey Krouch, Mom (Opal), Aunt Sapphy (Sapphire) Old Gray, Mister, Miss Miller, Arthur, Marge
Setting: Traverse City, Michigan
Plot: Jamie suffers from a haunting memory that causes him to taste butterscotch . . .
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Listen! by Stephanie Tolan
2008-2009 WAW Award Nominee for Grades 6-8
Plot: If you like dogs, or animals in general, you will like this book. Listen! is a book about patience - the patience it takes to win an animal's trust. One summer 12-year-old Charley sees a dog - a dog that apparently has no owner or . . .
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One-handed catch by MJ Auch
2008-2009 WAW Award Nominee for Grades 6-8
The cover looks like a baseball story and the title sounds like a baseball story, but this novel is much more. It is a story that exemplifies those little bits of advice that you heard growing up, such as "Where there is a will, there is a . . .
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Rules by Cynthia Lord
2008-2009 WAW Award Nominee for Grades 6-8
David needs rules, and his sister Catherine has made a list of rules for him to follow, such as:
Say "excuse me" after you burp.
Don' t stand in front of the TV when other people are watching it. No toys in the fish tank. Flush. A . . .
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Singing Hands by Delia Ray
2008-2009 WAW Award Nominee for Grades 6-8
Characters: Nell, Margaret, Reverend Davis
Setting: Birmingham, Alabama, the late 1940s
Plot: Knavery, imprudence, impropriety, mortification, perfidy, ignominy, acrimony. These are words that Mrs. Fernley, a boarder in Augusta's . . .
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The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer
2008-2009 WAW Award Nominee for Grades 6-8
Characters: Vernon Culligan, Smitty, Guppy, 12-year-old Gabe, Webber, Mrs. Pickering, Mr. Boehm
Setting: Drayford, Virginia
Plot: The uncle/guardian of twelve-year-old Gable Culligan Pace has died unexpectedly, and Gabe does not know . . .
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The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett
2008-2009 WAW Award Nominee for Grades 6-8
Characters: Calder, Tommy, Petra; Ms. Hussey
Setting: June in Chicago
Plot: Three reluctant friends team together to solve the mystery of the historic Robie House. This uniquely designed structure was built by architect Frank Lloyd . . .
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Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy
2008-2009 WAW Award Nominee for Grades 6-8
Genre: Historical fiction
Characters: Syvia, Papa, Mother, Dora
Setting: 1939, Lodz, Poland
Plot: this story about the Holocaust is based on true events and memories of Syvia Perlmutter, a Holocaust survivor and the aunt of author . . .
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All of the Above, a novel by Shelley Pearsall
2008-2009 WAW nominee for Grades 6-8
Genre: realistic fiction
Characters: Mr. Collins, James Harris III, Rhondell, Sharice, Marcel, Willy Q., Aunt Asia
Setting: Washington Middle School, Cleveland, Ohio; Willy Q's Barbecue; Style R Us Hair Salon
Plot: Based on a true . . .
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Confessions from the Principal's Chair by Ann Myers
2008-2009 WAW Award Nominee for Grades 6-8
Characters: Robin (Bird) Miller, Rendi, Serenity, Marcy, the Six-Pack gang, Judy, Angie, Coach Pickle, Sheriff Walters, Mrs. Simpson, Kash Edge
Setting: Jefferson Middle School, Prairie Dog, Oklahoma (a short distance from Ponca City)
. . .
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Counting on Grace, a novel by Elizabeth Winthrop
2008-2009 WAW Award Nominee for Grades 6-8
Genre: historical fiction
Characters: Grace Forcier, Arthur, Miss Lesley, Pepe, Mamere, Papa, Delia, Lewis Hine, French Johnny
Setting: a cotton textile mill in the town of North Pownal, Vermont
Plot: This is a story about the use of . . .
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Gossamer by Lois Lowry
2008-2009 WAW Award Nominee for Grades 6-8
Have you ever seen the television commercial which features a butterfly gently fluttering across the drowsy heads of people falling asleep? That is the image that comes to mind as I look at the cover of this book. Gossamer is also a word that . . .
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