Golden Sower Nominees
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Nebraska Golden Sower Award
2009 - 2010 Primary Nominees
Clements, Andrew. DOGKU.
Illustrated by Tim Bowers. Simon & Schuster, 2007. ISBN 068985823X
A story about a loveable dog told in haiku poetry.
Cole, Henry. ON MEADOWVIEW STREET.
Illustrated by the author. Greenwillow, 2007. ISBN 0060564814
Upon moving to a new house, young Caroline and her parents encourage wildflowers to
grow and animals to stay in their yard. This soon has the whole suburban street living up to its
name.
Friend, Catherine. THE PERFECT NEST.
Illustrated by John Manders. Candlewick Press, 2007. ISBN 0763624306
Jack the cat gets more than he bargained for when he decides to build the perfect nest to
attract the perfect chicken.
Helakoski, Leslie. WOOLBUR.
Illustrated by Lee Harper. HarperCollins, 2008. ISBN 0060847263
Woolbur, a sheep with a mind of his own, never seems to follow the flock, in spite of his
parents' reminders about how he should behave.
Kasza, Keiko. BADGER'S FANCY MEAL.
Illustrated by the author. Putnam, 2007. ISBN 0399246037
Badger is bored with the same old meals, but his search for more exciting food only leads
to trouble.
Kimmel, Eric A. THE GREAT TEXAS HAMSTER DRIVE: AN ORIGINAL TALL TALE.
Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Marshall Cavendish, 2007. ISBN 9780761453574
When Pecos Bill's daughter gets two pet hamsters, they soon multiply into the hundreds.
Bill decides to take them all to Chicago where lots of boys and girls want pet hamsters.
Levine, Ellen. HENRY'S FREEDOM BOX.
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Scholastic, 2007. ISBN 043977733X
This is a fictionalized account of how in 1849 a Virginia slave, Henry "Box" Brown,
escaped to freedom by shipping himself in a wooden crate from Richmond to Philadelphia.
Noble, Trinka Hakes. THE ORANGE SHOES.
Illustrated by Doris Ettlinger. Sleeping Bear Press, 2007. ISBN 1585362778
Delly Porter enjoys the feel of soft dirt beneath her feet as she walks to and from school.
After a classmate makes her feel ashamed of having no shoes, she learns that her parents and
others, too, see value in things that do not cost money.
Schotter, Roni. MAMA, I'LL GIVE YOU THE WORLD.
Illustrated by Susan Saelig Gallagher. Schwartz & Wade Books, 2006. ISBN 0375836128
At Walter's World of Beauty, Luisa's secret plans are underway to create a very special
birthday celebration for her hard-working, single mother who is employed there as a stylist.
Sierra, Judy. THE SECRET SCIENCE PROJECT THAT ALMOST ATE THE SCHOOL.
Illustrated by Stephen Gammell. Simon & Schuster, 2006. ISBN 1416911758
A boy sends off for "Professor Swami's Super Slime" to use as his science fair project
and then has to cope with the disaster that follows.
Nebraska Golden Sower Award
2009-20010 Intermediate Nominees
Davies, Jacqueline. THE LEMONADE WAR.
Houghton Mifflin, 2007. ISBN 0618750436
Evan and his younger sister, Jesse, react very differently to the news that they will be in
the same class for fourth grade. As the end of summer approaches, they battle it out through
lemonade stands, each trying to be the first to earn $100.
Giff, Patricia Reilly. ELEVEN.
Wendy Lamb Books, 2008. ISBN 0385730691
When Sam, who can barely read, discovers an old newspaper clipping just before his
eleventh birthday, it brings back memories from his past. With the help of a new friend at school
and the castle they are building for a school project, his questions are finally answered.
Grimes, Nikki. THE ROAD TO PARIS.
Putnam, 2006. ISBN 0399245375 [paperback: Puffin 2008, ISBN 0142410829]
Eight-year-old Paris is inconsolable at being separated from her older brother and
apprehensive about her new foster family. Just as she learns to trust them, she faces a lifechanging
decision.
Gutman, Dan. THE HOMEWORK MACHINE.
Simon & Schuster, 2006. ISBN 0689876785 [paperback: Aladdin 2007, ISBN 0689876793]
Four fifth-grade students - a geek, a class clown, a teacher���s pet, and a slacker - as well
as their teacher and mothers, each relate events surrounding a computer programmed to complete
homework assignments.
Hahn, Mary Downing. DEEP AND DARK AND DANGEROUS: A GHOST STORY.
Clarion Books, 2007. ISBN 0618665455
When thirteen-year-old Ali spends the summer with her aunt and cousin at the family���s
vacation home, she stumbles upon a secret that her mother and aunt have been hiding for over
thirty years.
Hobbs, Valerie. SHEEP.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006. ISBN 0374367779
After a fire destroys the farm where he was born, a young border collie acquires a series
of owners and learns about life as he seeks a home and longs to fulfill his life's purpose of
shepherding sheep.
O���Connor, Barbara. HOW TO STEAL A DOG.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007. ISBN 0374334978
Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them
virtually penniless, Georgina persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to
get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.
Peck, Richard. ON THE WINGS OF HEROES.
Dial, 2007. ISBN 0803730810 [paperback: Puffin 10/08, ISBN 014241204X]
A boy in Illinois remembers the home-front years of World War II, especially his two
heroes���his brother in the Air Force and his father, who fought in the previous war.
Stewart, Trenton Lee. THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY.
Illustrated by Carson Ellis. Little, Brown, 2007. ISBN 0316057770
After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret
mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened,
where the only rule is that there are no rules.
Wiles, Deborah. THE AURORA COUNTY ALL-STARS.
Harcourt, 2007. ISBN 0152060685 [paperback: Harcourt 2/09, ISBN 0152066268]
For most of the boys one hot summer in a small Mississippi town, the biggest concern is
whether their annual July 4th baseball game will be cancelled due to their county's anniversary
pageant. However, after the death of the old man to whom twelve-year-old star pitcher House
Jackson has been secretly reading for a year, House uncovers secrets about the man and the
history of baseball in Aurora County that could fix everything.