DOROTHY CANFIELD FISHER CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD   2005-2006

The Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award, first given in 1957, is co-sponsored by the Vermont State PTA and the Vermont Department of Libraries.

These books, to be read during the 2005-2006 school year, comprise the master list for the award to be made in 2006. Voting forms will be made available to all Vermont schools and public libraries in spring, 2006, so children can vote for their favorite book. The master list titles have been selected to satisfy the reading interests of children in grades 4-8. Please note grade level before ordering the books. The grades listed should be regarded more as maturity levels than reading levels.

Barry, Dave	Peter and the Starcatchers	Hyperion	4 up
Bruchac, Joseph	Hidden Roots	Scholastic	6 up
Choldenko, Gennifer	Al Capone Does My Shirts	Putnam	5 up
Coman, Carolyn	The Big House	Front Street	4 up
Creech, Sharon	Heartbeat	HarperCollins	5 up
De Guzman, Michael	Beekman's Big Deal	FSG	5 up
Freedman, Russell	The Voice That Challenged a Nation	Clarion	5 up
Giff, Patricia Reilly	A House of Tailors	Putnam	5 up
Grover, Lorie Ann	On Pointe	McElderry	6 up
Hahn, Mary Downing	The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story	Clarion	5 up
Hautman, Pete	Godless	S&S	7 up
Kadohata, Cynthia	Kira Kira	Atheneum	5 up
LeGuin, Ursula	Gifts	Harcourt	6 up
Marsden, Carolyn	Silk Umbrellas	Candlewick	4 up
Martin, Ann	Here Today	Scholastic	6 up
McMullan, Margaret	How I Found the Strong	Houghton	5 up
Montgomery, Sy	The Tarantula Scientist	Houghton	4 up
Morris, Gerald	Princess, Crone, and the Dung-Cart Knight	Houghton	5 up
Napoli, Donna Jo	Bound	Atheneum	6 up
Peck, Richard	The Teacher's Funeral	Dial	5 up
Philbrick, Rodman	The Young Man and the Sea	Blue Sky	5 up
Pinkwater, Daniel	Looking for Bobowicz	HarperCollins	5 up
Prelutsky, Jack	If Not for the Cat	HarperCollins	4 up
Ryan, Pam Munoz	Becoming Naomi Leon	Scholastic	4 up
Schmidt, Gary	Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy	Clarion	6 up
Scieszka, Jon	Science Verse	Viking	4 up
Shusterman, Neal	The Schwa Was Here	Dutton	6 up
VanLeeuwen, Jean	Cabin on Trouble Creek	Dial	5 up
Warren, Andrea	Escape from Saigon	FSG	6 up
Whelan, Gloria	Chu Ju's House	HarperCollins	5 up

Barry, Dave and Ridley Pearson. Peter and the Starcatcher. Soon after Peter, an orphan, sets sail from England on the ship Never Land, he befriends and assists Molly, a young Starcatcher, whose mission is to guard a trunk of magical stardust from a greedy pirate and the native inhabitants. $17.99. ISBN 2-004-05527-5.

Bruchac, Joseph. Hidden Roots. Although he is uncertain why his father is so angry and what secret his mother is keeping from him, eleven-year-old Sonny knows that he is different from his classmates in their small New York town. $16.95. ISBN 0-4393-5358-0.

Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts. A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister. $15.99. ISBN 0-3992-3861-1.

Coman, Carolyn. The Big House. When Ivy and Ray's parents are sent to jail, and left in the custody of their parents' accusers, they decide to look for evidence that will "spring" their parents.                 $16.95. ISBN 1-9324-2509-8. 

Creech, Sharon. Heartbeat. Twelve-year-old Annie ponders the many rhythms of life the year that her mother becomes pregnant, her grandfather begins faltering, and her best friend (and running partner) becomes distant. $15.99. ISBN 0-060-54022-2.

De Guzman, Michael. Beekman's Big Deal. Tired of the frequent moves that he and his father must make, twelve-year-old Beekman begins to make connections with neighbors and classmates after settling in a small, unusual New York City neighborhood. $16.00. ISBN 0-3743-0672-9.

Freedman, Russell. The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marion Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights. Traces Anderson's career from childhood when her amazing voice was discovered, through international fame to the ground-breaking concert in 1939 at the Lincoln Memorial. $18.00. ISBN 0-618-15976-2.

Giff, Patricia Reilly. A House of Tailors. When thirteen-year-old Dina emigrates from Germany to America in 1871, her only wish is to return home as soon as she can, but as the months pass and she survives a multitude of hardships living with her uncle and his young wife and baby, she finds herself thinking of Brooklyn as her home. $15.95. ISBN 0-3857-3066-7.

Grover, Lorie Ann. On Pointe. In this novel written in free verse, Clare and her grandfather must deal with changes in their lives when Clare's summer growth spurt threatens to end her dream of becoming a ballet dancer and her grandfather suffers a stroke. $16.95. ISBN 0-689-86525-2.

Hahn, Mary Downing. The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story. Tired of the rules that have bound them ever since "the bad thing happened," twelve-year-old Diana ignores her brother's warnings and befriends the daughter of the new caretaker, setting in motion events that lead to the release of the spirit of an old crazy woman who once ruled the old Willis place. $15.00. ISBN 0-6184-3018-0.

Hautman, Pete. Godless. When sixteen-year-old Jason Bock and his friends create their own religion to worship the town's water tower, what started out as a joke begins to take on a power of its own. $15.95. ISBN 0-6898-6278-4.

Kadohata, Cynthia. Kira Kira. Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill. $16.95. ISBN 0-6898-5639-3.

LeGuin, Ursula. Gifts. When a young man in the Uplands blinds himself rather than use his gift of "unmaking" - a violent talent shared by members of his family - he upsets the precarious balance of power among rival, feuding families, each of which has a strange and deadly talent of its own. $17.00. ISBN 0-1520-5123-6.

Marsden, Carolyn. Silk Umbrellas. Eleven-year-old Noi worries that she will have to stop painting the silk umbrellas her family sells at the market near their Thai village and be forced to join her older sister in difficult work at a local factory instead. $15.99. ISBN 0-7636-2257-5. 

Martin, Ann. Here Today. In 1963, when her flamboyant mother abandons the family to pursue her dream of becoming an actress, eleven-year-old Ellie Dingman takes charge of her younger siblings, while also trying to deal with her outcast status in school and frightening acts of prejudice toward the "misfits" that live on her street. $16.95. ISBN 0-439-57944-9.

McMullan, Margaret. How I Found the Strong. Frank Russell, known as Shanks, wishes he could have gone with his father and brother to fight for Mississippi and the Confederacy, but his experiences with the war and his changing relationship with the family slave, Buck, change his thinking. $15.00. ISBN 0-618-35008-X.

Montgomery, Sy. The Tarantula Scientist. Describes the research that Samuel Marshall and his students are doing on tarantulas, including the largest spider on earth, the Goliath birdeating tarantula. $18.00. ISBN 0-618-14799-3.

Morris, Gerald. The Princess, The Crone, and the Dung-Cart Knight. Determined to find the knight responsible for the terrible deaths of her mother and the Jewish peddler who had given them a home, thirteen-year-old Sarah is helped in her quest by a strange old woman, a magical sword, a young faery, and an unkempt knight with little armor and no horse. $16.00. ISBN 0-618-37823-5.

Napoli, Donna Jo. Bound. In a novel based on Chinese Cinderella tales, fourteen-year-old stepchild Xing-Xing endures a life of neglect and servitude, as her stepmother cruelly mutilates her own child's feet so that she alone might marry well. $16.95. ISBN 0-6898-6175-3.

Peck, Richard. The Teacher's Funeral. In rural Indiana in 1904, fifteen-year-old Russell's dreams of quitting school and joining a wheat threshing crew are disrupted when his older sister takes over the teaching at his one-room schoolhouse after mean, old Myrt Arbuckle. $16.99. ISBN 0-8037-2736-4.

Philbrick, Rodman. The Young Man and the Sea. After his mother's death, twelve-year-old Skiff Beaman decides that it is up to him to earn money to take care of himself and his father, so he undertakes a dangerous trip alone out on the ocean off the coast of Maine to try to catch a huge bluefin tuna. $16.99. ISBN 0-4393-6829-4.

Pinkwater, Daniel. Looking for Bobowicz: A Hoboken Chicken Story. Upon moving to Hoboken, New Jersey, a boy convinces his two new friends to help him track down the mysterious phantom who stole his bicycle, as well as Arthur Bobowicz, owner of a giant chicken that once terrorized local citizens. $15.99. ISBN 0-060-53554-7.

Prelutsky, Jack. If Not for the Cat. Haiku-like poems describe a variety of animals. $17.89. ISBN 0-060-59678-3.

Ryan, Pam Munoz. Becoming Naomi Leon. When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father. $16.95. ISBN 0-439-26969-5.

Schmidt, Gary. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. In 1911, Turner Buckminster hates his new home of Phippsburg, Maine, but things improve when he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl from a poor, nearby island community founded by former slaves that the town fathers - and Turner's - want to change into a tourist spot. $15.00. ISBN 0-6184-3929-3.

Scieszka, Jon. Science Verse. When the teacher tells his class that they can hear the poetry of science in everything, a student is struck with a curse and begins hearing nothing but science verses that sound very much like some well-known poems. $16.99. ISBN 0-6709-1057-0.

Shusterman, Neal. The Schwa Was Here. A Brooklyn eighth-grader nicknamed Antsy befriends the Schwa, an "invisible-ish" boy who is tired of blending into his surroundings and going unnoticed by nearly everyone. $15.99. ISBN 0-5254-7182-0.

Van Leeuwen, Jean. Cabin on Trouble Creek. In 1803 in Ohio, two young brothers are left to finish the log cabin and guard the land while their father goes back to Pennsylvania to fetch their mother and younger siblings. $16.99. ISBN 0-8037-2548-5.

Warren, Andrea. Escape from Saigon. Chronicles the experiences of an orphaned Amerasian boy from his birth and early childhood in Saigon through his departure from Vietnam in the 1975 Operation Babylift and his subsequent life as the adopted son of an American family in Ohio. $17.00. ISBN 0-3743-2224-4.

Whelan, Gloria. Chu Ju's House. In order to save her baby sister, fourteen-year-old Chu Ju leaves her rural home in modern China and earns food and shelter by working on a sampan, tending silk worms, and planting rice seedlings, while wondering if she will ever see her family again. $15.99. ISBN 0-060-50724-1.

2004-2005

Anderson, M.T. Strange Mr. Satie.  Introduces the life of the French composer, Erik Satie, who spent his entire career challenging established conventions in music.  $16.99.  ISBN 0-670-03637-4.  Gr. 4 up.

Arrington, Frances. Prairie Whispers.  Only twelve-year-old Colleen knows that her baby sister died just after she was born and that Colleen put another baby in her place, until the baby's father shows up and makes trouble for her and her family on the South Dakota prairie in the 1860s.  $17.99.  ISBN 0-399-23975-8.  Gr. 5 up.

Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker.  For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy.  Despite the horrors of World War II, a French teenager pursues her dream of becoming an opera singer, which takes her to places where she gains information about what the Nazis are doing - information that the French Resistance needs.  $17.99.  ISBN 0-385-90087-2 (PLB); $15.95.  ISBN 0-385-72961-8 (Tr.).  Gr. 6 up.

Cameron, Ann.  Colibri.  Kidnapped when she was very young by an unscrupulous man who has forced her to lie and beg to get money, a twelve-year-old Mayan girl endures an abusive life, always wishing she could return to the parents she can hardly remember. $17.00.  ISBN 0-374-3 1519-1.  Gr. 6 up.

Christensen, Bonnie.  The Daring Nellie Bly: America's Star Reporter.  Introduces the life of Nellie Bly, who, as a "stunt reporter" for the New York World newspaper in the late 1800s, championed women's rights and traveled around the world faster than anyone ever had. $18.99.  ISBN 0375-91568-0 (PLB);  $16.95.  ISBN 0-375-81568-6 (Tr.). Gr. 4 up.

Codell, Esme Raji.  Sahara Special.  Struggling with school and her feelings since her father left, Sahara gets a fresh start with a new and unique teacher who supports her writing talents and the individuality of each of her classmates.  $16.49.  ISBN 0-7868-2627-4 (PLB);  $15.99. ISBN 0-7868-0793-8 (Tr.).  Gr. 4 up.

Collins, Suzanne.  Gregor the Overlander.  When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving people, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy. $16.95. ISBN 0-439-43536-6.  Gr. 4 up.

Cushman, Karen.  Rodzina.  A twelve-year-old Polish American girl boards an orphan train in Chicago with fears about traveling to the West and a life of unpaid slavery.  $16.00. ISBN 0-618-13351-8.  Gr. 5 up.

DiCamillo, Kate.  The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread.  The adventures of Despereaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.  $17.99.  ISBN 0-7636-1722-9.  Gr. 4 up.

Divakaruni, Chitra B.  The Conch Bearer.  In India, a healer invites twelve-year-old Anand to join him on a quest to return a magical conch to its safe and rightful home, high in the Himalayan mountains.  $16.95.  ISBN 0761319352.  Gr. 5 up.

DuPrau, Jeanne.  The City of Ember.  In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a messenger, to run to new places in her beloved but decaying city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.  $17.99.  ISBN 0-375-92274-1 (PLB);  $15.95. ISBN 0-375-82273-9 (Tr.).  Gr. 5 up.

Franklin, Kristine L.  Grape Thief.  In 1925, in a small Washington State community made up of families from different ethnic backgrounds, twelve-year-old Cuss tries to stay in school as he watches those around him struggle with various financial difficulties.  $16.99.  ISBN 0-7636-1325-8.  Gr. 5 up.

Freedman, Russell.  In Defense of Liberty.  Describes the origins, applications of, and challenges to the ten amendments to the United States Constitution that comprise the Bill of Rights. $17.47.  ISBN 0-8234-1585-6.  Gr. 6 up.

Greenberg, Jan.  Runaway Girl: The Artist Louise Bourgeois.  Introduces the life of renowned modern artist Louise Bourgeois, who is known primarily for her sculptures.  $19.95.  ISBN 0-8109-4237-2.  Gr. 7 up.

Hahn, Mary Downing.  Hear the Wind Blow.  With their mother dead and their home burned, a thirteen-year-old boy and his little sister set out across Virginia in search of relatives during the final days of the Civil War.  $15.00.  ISBN 0-618-18190-3.  Gr. 6 up.

Henkes, Kevin.  Olive's Ocean.  On a summer visit to her grandmother's cottage by the ocean, twelve-year-old Martha gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to be a writer. $16.89.  ISBN 0-06-053544-X (PLB);  $15.99.  ISBN 0-06-053543-1 (Tr.).  Gr. 5 up.

Kinsey-Warnock, Natalie.  Gifts from the Sea.  Quila and her father, living alone in a remote Maine lighthouse in the 1850s, find their lives profoundly changed when a baby washes ashore and they decide to keep her as part of their family.  $16.99.  ISBN 0-375-92257-1 (PLB);  $14.95.  ISBN 0-375-82257-7 (Tr.).  Gr. 4 up.

Koertge, Ron.  Shakespeare Bats Cleanup.  When a fourteen-year-old baseball player catches mononucleosis, he discovers that keeping a journal and experimenting with poetry not only helps fill the time, it also helps him deal with life, love, and loss.  $15.99.  ISBN 0-7636-2116-1.  Gr. 7 up.

Lekuton, Joseph Lemasolai.  Facing the Lion: Growing up Maasai on the African Savanna.  A member of the Maasai people describes his life as he grew up in a northern Kenya village and traveled to America to attend college.  $15.95.  ISBN 0-7922-5125-3.  Gr. 6 up.

McCaffrey, Laura Williams.  Alia Waking.  Alia and her best friend Kay long to join the Keentens, a sisterhood of warrior women, but after a punishment caring for captives, Alia begins to question everything that once was certain in her life.  $15.00.  ISBN 0-618-19461-4.  Gr. 5 up.

Morris, Gerald.  The Ballad of Sir Dinadan.  Though he would rather pursue his talent as a musician, eighteen-year-old Dinadan is forced to follow his older brother Tristram's path and become a knight. Set at the time of King Arthur.  $15.00.  ISBN 0-618-19099-6.  Gr. 6 up.

O'Dell, Kathleen.  Agnes Parker...Girl in Progress.  As she starts sixth grade, Agnes faces challenges with her old best friend, a wonderful new friend, a longtime bully, and herself. $16.99.  ISBN 0-8037-2648-1.  Gr. 4 up.

Paulsen, Gary.  How Angel Peterson Got His Name: And Other Outrageous Tales About Extreme Sports.  Author Gary Paulsen relates tales from his youth in a small town in northwestern Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s, such as skiing behind a souped-up car and imitating daredevil Evel Knievel.  $14.99.  ISBN 0-385-90090-2 (PLB);  $12.95.  ISBN 0-385-72949-9 (Tr.).  Gr. 5 up.

Peck, Richard.  The River Between Us.  During the early days of the Civil War, the Pruitt family takes in two mysterious young ladies who have fled New Orleans to come north to Illinois. $16.99.  ISBN 0-8037-2735-6.  Gr. 7 up.

Seidler, Tor.  Brainboy and the DeathMaster.  When Darryl, a twelve-year-old orphan, is adopted by a technology genius, he finds himself the star of his very own life-threatening video game. $17.89.  ISBN 0-06-019182-6;  $16.99.  ISBN 0-06-029181-8 (Tr.).  Gr. 4 up.

Swinburne, Stephen R.  The Woods Scientist.  A devoted nature lover and animal tracker, Sue Morse shares her knowledge and love of some of the creatures that inhabit America's woodlands.  $16.00.  ISBN 0-618-04602-X.  Gr. 4 up.

White, Ruth.  Tadpole.  In rural Kentucky in 1955, Serilda Collins, single mother of four lively girls, discovers that her orphaned nephew is being subjected to brutality.  $16.00.  ISBN 0-374-31002-5.  Gr. 5 up.

Wong, Janet S.  Minn and Jake.  Fifth-grader Minn, the tallest girl in school, begins a rocky friendship with Jake, a new student who is not only very short, but is also afraid of the worms and lizards that Minn likes to collect.  $16.00.  ISBN 0-374-34987-8.  Gr. 4 up.

Woodson, Jacqueline.  Locomotion.  In a series of poems, eleven-year-old Lonnie writes about his life after the death of his parents, separated from his younger sister, living in a foster home, and finding his poetic voice at school.  $15.99.  ISBN 0-399-23115-3.  Gr. 5 up.

Yolen, Jane.  Sword of the Rightful King.  Merlinnus the magician devises a way for King Arthur to prove himself the rightful King of England - pulling a sword from a stone, but trouble arises when someone else removes the sword first. $17.00.  ISBN 0152025278. Gr. 7 up.