Maud Hart Lovelace Book Nominees

1. Maud Hart Lovelace Book Nominees 2005-2006 By Kristi WobbemaLibrary Media SpecialistFalcon Heights Elementary SchoolRoseville MN

2. When Ernie Castellano gets busted at school doing one of his get-rich-quick schemes (selling cheeseburgers on mystery meat day in the cafeteria) he gets grounded big time by his dad. Not only that, but his dad forbids him from doing any more of his get-rich antics. But when Ernie stumbles across a vacant lot in his neighborhood, his mind can’t help but think of a use for it---pet funerals of course. In secret, Ernie teams up with a few other kids and gets the business off the ground. 9-year-old Dusty is the artist who designs the caskets especially to fit the deceased pet and Swimming Pool is the girl who cries on demand. And Tony digs the holes. Ernie has all the profits and percentages figured out to pay his workers, but when they demand more, what will he do? Will the business fall apart or will he fork out the money they’re asking for? Will Ernie ever learn that there is something in life more valuable than cold hard cash? Beloved Dearly-Cooney

3. Adam Pelko’s dad, a high-ranking navy officer, has always carried a certain presence. Adam once looked up to him to the point of idolizing him, but as he’s getting older resentment is replacing it. His dad seems to butt into all aspects of Adam’s life, right down to the friends he can spend time with. This isn’t easy for Adam who is trying to fit in at his new high school in Hawaii. Adam has made friends with another boy named Davi Mori who is Japanese American. When Adam’s dad finds out he says absolutely not---based on the racist beliefs of the time and because Japan was threatening to attack U.S. soil. Adam doesn’t follow his father’s orders. One morning, when he and Davi are out fishing, a huge roar breaks out above them as Japanese planes bomb Hiroshima. The boys get injured with shrapnel but are okay. But what about Adam’s father who was aboard the USS Arizona when the bombs struck? Boy at War-Mazer

4. The city of Ember was built 241 years ago by the Builders. It is a city filled with complete darkness. The only light comes from the streetlamps on the streets. No one has ever known the sky as any color other than never-ending black. The people of Ember have gotten by for hundreds of years on the supplies that the Builders left behind such as canned food and clothing. But now power outages are becoming more common and food more scarce. The mayor doesn’t seem to care about the problems or try to come up with a solution. So two kids, aged 12, Lina and Doon team together hoping to save their city. City of Ember-Duprau

5. Most of us have been to an amusement park or the state fair where there are rides such as the ferris wheel, tilt a whirl, or a roller coaster. We pay money to buy tickets and hand the tickets to the person at the gate. But this isn’t how it works for 16-year-old Blake. When he arrives at the carnival amusement park and steps up to the gate he doesn’t pay with money…he pays with his soul. In order to be let out of the park alive, he needs to ride and survive seven bizarre carnival rides (before dawn) that delve into the deepest fears in his mind. The final ride is the most horrible of them all, bring Blake back to a terrifying bus accident when he was a little kid. Will he be able to face his fears or will they eat him alive? Full Tilt-Shusterman

6. What would you do if a new kid walked into your classroom wearing pajamas and cowboy boots one day and a pink tutu and a polka dotted shirt the next. And that’s not all! The new kid, Gooney Bird Greene, seems to be totally out of touch with reality as she talks of weird things that have happened to her. Like How Gooney Bird Came From China on a Flying Carpet, The Prince the Palace and the Diamond Earrings or Why Gooney Bird Was Late for School Because She Was Conducting an Orchestra. So is Gooney Bird telling the truth? Has she really done these things? Find out. Gooney Bird Greene-Lowry

7. Rosie and Bailey are not only neighbors, but best friends who were born only a week apart. They are practically sister and brother—doing everything together. But their relationship grows stormy after Rosie secretly learns to read Braille to impress Bailey who is nearly blind. Bailey gets upset because Rosie took away the only special thing he felt that he had all to himself. Throughout all of their friendship problems, Rosie’s Grandma Torrelli shares stories from her own life as they cook tasty Italian food together. Grandma seems to know all the right words to fix any problem. But when a new girl moves in across the street, Rosie begins to feel pangs of jealousy and realizes that she feels like more than just friends towards Bailey. Is this something Grandma can fix? Granny Torrelli Makes Soup-Creech

8. If you like a great mystery combined with fall-off-your-seat humor, you have to enter the world of Roy Eberhardt. He’s the new kid…again. This time it’s Trace Middle School in Coconut Grove, Florida. Starting out at a new school is never easy, but this time it’s made even tougher because of the school bully Dana Matherson who constantly picks on Roy. But if it weren’t for Dana mashing Roy’s face against the bus window one day, he wouldn’t have seen the mysterious running boy. And if Roy didn’t try to track down the running boy, he wouldn’t have been questioned by Beatrice. And if he didn’t get hassled by Beatrice he never would have had what he needed to solve the mystery and have the support he needed to pull off his publicity stunt. Oh, ya, what does all of this have to do with the new Mother Paula’s Pancake House being built in town? Find out! Hoot-Hiassen

9. Most of us have heard of cloning. It might be a sheep or a cat, and that sounds pretty neat. But have you ever thought of the possibilities of cloning a human being? You might think it would be neat to have an exact replica of yourself wandering around, but what could happen if it were taken too far or got into the hands of the wrong person? In this book which takes place 100 years in the future, El Patron, a 142 year-old drug lord in Mexico, creates a huge empire. He is all-powerful. But how exactly has he lived to be 142 without health complications? And what does Matt, the main character in the book have to do with El Patron’s legacy? Discover how dangerous cloning can be when a corrupt person who craves power uses it to their advantage. House of the Scorpion-Farmer

10. All Miguel wants is to fit in. He’s 10 years old, living in a new town and having a hard time making friends. To make matters worse, his Aunt Lola comes to visit from the Dominican Republic and makes his life even harder (or so he thinks). Tiá Lola has flair. Tiá Lola has style. She wears dresses with huge flower prints, loves Dominican music, and teaches everyone to dance. With her bright red lipstick and fake beauty mark, she makes her mark on their small town by making friends with everyone…without even speaking English! Miguel just wishes that his crazy aunt would go back home so he could have a normal life, but is there any way he might change his mind? How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay-Alvarez

11. Ruby Sawyer loves her pa. He’s a lumberjack who has always worked the mills in Vermont during the early 1900s. Her pa, while rough around the edges, encourages Ruby to go to school to learn to read. Ruby learns quickly and begins to teach her brothers and sisters. Then, suddenly and tragically, her pa dies in a lumber accident on the river and their lives change forever. They move to town and her mom takes a job washing other people’s laundry. Life is hard until Ruby meets kind Mrs. Graham who shares her huge library of books with Ruby. The books lets her escape from their lives. But when it comes down to it, will their family have enough food and money to survive? What could Ruby do to try to hold the family together? Lumber Camp Library-Kinsey-Warnock

12. It’s not that Hank doesn’t try. He does. He tries really hard to do his best. But unfortunately things just never seem to go his way. Like on the first day of school when his teacher assigns them to write an essay about something they did on their summer vacation and Hank knows he’s in trouble. Writing just isn’t his thing. He tries and tries, but his pencil just won’t help him out. So he decides to do something even better than writing an essay---he’s going to build Niagara Falls with paper machê and hook it up with a hose attached to the sink to make a real live waterfall. Will Hank get an A+ on his report or will something go wrong-as it inevitably does for him? Niagara Falls or Does It?-Winkler

13. At age 6, Chris runs away from home. He’s a clever child and is determined to live alone in the forest…until he meets Ed the troll who takes him in. They become family over the years and never think about a time when they might not be together. But as Chris gets older, things change. He makes friends with Princess Marigold by sending p-mail (pigeon mail) back and forth from his cave to the castle, and they find out they have a lot in common. The princess has suitors coming from all over the kingdom in an attempt to marry her, but she wants none of it. Then Chris gets a job at the castle and is tormented because he likes Marigold but can never reveal himself because he’s a commoner. When he finds out that Marigold’s life is in danger, it is his one chance to save her and reveal his true identity. Once Upon a Marigold-Ferris

14. What would it be like to have a secret past, where you had caused something terrible to happen and all you wanted to do was escape? What if haunting flashbacks in the form of pictures kept blasting your mind and wouldn’t leave you alone? That’s exactly what happens to Hollis. She’s a 12-year-old orphan who has been in tons of foster homes. All she wants is to finally stay somewhere permanently. When a retired art teacher named Josie Cahill takes Hollis in, she instantly knows this is the place she wants to stay forever and won’t let anything happen to ruin it. But the longer Hollis stays there, the more she notices funny things with Josie -- like she can’t remember things well. Hollis realizes that Josie is showing signs of Alzheimer’s Disease and knows if the social worker finds out, that she will have to find a new home---again. Will Hollis be able to hide Josie’s secret? Pictures of Hollis Woods-Giff

15. When Silver gave birth to four beautiful wolf pups in a Minnesota forest, her husband King (Alpha male of their pack) was proud. But then a fifth pup was born and everyone gasped -- it was small, and no one thought it would survive. King named it Runt. Runt had it tough. He always lost in playful fights. He never got a good meal because his bigger, stronger siblings got to it first. So he tried to prove himself to the others by bring brave which only got him into trouble. After encounters with porcupines and humans, he finds himself ostracized from his pack. But he knows if he could just prove himself valuable to the pack, they’d accept him again. Will Runt be able to find something he can do? What danger will it involve? Runt-Bauer

16. 11-year old William is devastated after his grandpa and best friend passes away. To help with his suffering, his mom agrees to get him a dog. They go to the pound and pick up a beautiful lab and collie mix. Immediately William and his dog Riley bond and form a friendship that could never be broken. Then trouble strikes when Riley chases a neighbor’s horse and causes it great injury. Animal control is called, and Riley is torn away from William and condemned to be killed. William and his friend Grace do all they can to save Riley’s life, but will it be enough? Summer of Riley-Bunting

17. One night, Molly’s parents don’t come home. She thinks it’s just going to be a late night so she spends the night on the couch to wait for their return. But when they don’t return for a few days, she gets suspicious. The police come to put her into foster care, but a mysterious great-uncle shows up and claims her. Molly has never met him before, yet he has all the proof the police need (photographs of her parents and baby pictures of Molly) so they give Molly to him. Molly knows that something isn’t right. His pale skin, bony fingers, and the slow methodical way he moves. To make things even more eerie, every night he locks Molly into her room and goes out to a shed in the back of the house to do something. Molly distantly remembers stories of a Mohawk Skeleton Man who chewed his body apart and then ate his relatives. Is this great-uncle him? She tries to prove her case, but the authorities don’t believe her. One night, she sneaks into his computer room and finds that he’s stolen the identities of her parents. She suspects the worst, that her parents are buried alive in the shed out back. What will Molly do? Is there any way to defeat the Skeleton Man? Skeleton Man-Bruchac

18. When ten-year-old Roscoe Wizzle begins eating Jungle Drum burgers at the new fast food restaurant in town, he feels his prayers have been answered.  No more nightly torment of mashed potatoes or tuna surprise, the only meals his parents know how to cook. But after eating Jungle Drum burgers for six months Roscoe begins to notice some changes in his facial features -- mostly that he is looking more and more like a bug every day. This, linked with the fact that some kids in his town mysteriously disappeared (and they also shared the bug-like characteristics), inspire Roscoe and his best friend to embark on a mission to figure out why. What they find is even scarier than they could have imagined. Transmogrification of Roscoe Wizzle-Elliot

19. When Tyler goes to spend two weeks with his Uncle Pete in Hollywood who is a writer on the hottest sitcom on TV (Kids in the House), he has a plan. He’s going to do everything he can to get on the show. He starts by making friends with the lead actress’ daughter Sam. He spends time in the script writing room, takes acting classes, and writes a stellar resume. He does all of this without the permission of his parents who think he’s at summer camp at the local YMCA. Finally, Tyler gets an audition. Will he have what it takes to be the next McCauley Culkin? Find out! Tyler on Prime Time-Atinsky

20. Sources • All book cover images taken from http://www.google.com/images