Participating Authors || Available Books || Program Guidelines || Email Us || Home List of Available Books (alphabetical by author) Bowen, Fred -- Winners Take All Description: Kyle, a good kid, makes a bad decision to cheat in a big game. He fakes a catch to clinch the win against a long-time archrival. His teammates go wild with victory. But suddenly Kyle doesn't feel so good. His conscience is bugging him. And he feels like he's keeping a secret from his teammates, especially Claire. Kyle and Claire are good friends and her praise makes him very uncomfortable.?But Kyle doesn't want to come clean and give up his hero reputation. Eventually he concocts a scheme to secretly throw a game to balance the false win and make his team even in the standings with the archrival. There's a lot of tension every time Kyle comes up to bat (will he strike out on purpose?) or goes after a fly ball (will he drop it?). But Kyle's drive to win proves too strong; there's no way he can throw a game. Meanwhile a subplot has been building. Another kid actually saw the fake catch and is threatening to report Kyle to the Youth Baseball Commission. He says that he will keep Kyle's secret on one condition: that Kyle's team doesn't win the championship! Kyle feels trapped. He desperately wants his team to win the trophy, but if he plays hard and they win, the other kid will blab and Kyle's secret will be out-everyone will know he cheated. He wishes he could put his life on rewind-he wouldn't fake that catch again. But there's no rewind button in life, so what can he do now? Number of books available: 250 Website link for more information: www.fredbowen.com Reading Periods School Year 2012-13 School Year 2013-14 Sep Week 1 - Oct Week 3 Port St. Lucie, FL Inman, SC Nov Week 1 - Dec Week 3 Hinesville, GA Available Jan Week 1 - Feb Week 3 Manassas, VA Available Mar Week 1 - Apr Week 3 Randolph, NJ Available May Week 1 - Jun Week 3 Port Alice, Vancouver, BC Available Summer 2013 Available DiCamillo, Kate -- Because of Winn-Dixie Description: The summer Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Naomi, Florida, Opal goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket--and comes out with a dog. A big, ugly, suffering dog with a sterling sense of humor. A dog she dubs Winn-Dixie. Because of Winn-Dixie, the preacher tells Opal ten things about her absent mother, one for each year Opal has been alive. Winn-Dixie is better at making friends than anyone Opal has ever known, and together they meet the local librarian, Miss Franny Block, who once fought off a bear with a copy of WAR AND PEACE. They meet Gloria Dump, who is nearly blind but sees with her heart, and Otis, an ex-con who sets the animals in his pet shop loose after hours, then lulls them with his guitar. Opal spends all that sweet summer collecting stories about her new friends and thinking about her mother. But because of Winn-Dixie or perhaps because she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship--and forgiveness--can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm. Recalling the fiction of Harper Lee and Carson McCullers, here is a funny, poignant, and utterly genuine first novel. A 2001 Newbery Honor book. Number of books available: 300 Website link for more information: www.katedicamillo.com Reading Periods School Year 2012-13 School Year 2013-14 Sep Week 1 - Oct Week 3 Houston, TX Available Nov Week 1 - Dec Week 3 Stillwater, MN Available Jan Week 1 - Feb Week 3 Norwood, MA Available Mar Week 1 - Apr Week 3 Doniphan, NE Available May Week 1 - Jun Week 3 Available Available Summer 2013 Available Krishnaswami, Uma, illustrated by Abigail Halpin -- The Grand Plan to Fix Everything Description: Eleven-year old Dini loves movies-watching them, reading about them, trying to write her own-especially Bollywood movies. But when her mother tells her some big news, it does not at all jive with the life script she has in mind. Her family is moving to India...and not even to Bombay, which is the center of the Bollywood universe and home to Dini's all-time most favorite star, Dolly. No, Dini is moving to a teeny, tiny town she can't even find on a map. Swapnagiri. It means Dream Mountain and it only looks like a word that's hard to pronounce. But to that open-minded person who sounds the name out, one letter at a time, it falls quite handily into place: S-w-a-p-n-a-g-i-r-i. An honest sort of name, with no surprise letters waiting to leap out and ambush the unwary. That doesn't mean there aren't surprises in Swapnagiri like mischievous monkeys and a girl who chirps like a bird. And the biggest surprise of all: Dolly. So now, Dini is hard at work on a new script, the script in which she gets to meet the amazing Dolly. But life is often more unpredictable than the movies and when Dini starts plotting her story, things get a little out of control. This is a joyful, lively Bollywood inspired story, full of colorful details, delicious confections and the wondrous, magical powers of coincidence. Number of books available: NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL PAPERBACK EDITION ISSUED Website link for more information: www.umakrishnaswami.com Reading Periods School Year 2013-14 School Year 2014-15 Sep Week 1 - Oct Week 3 Available Available Nov Week 1 - Dec Week 3 Available Available Jan Week 1 - Feb Week 3 Manassus, VA Available Mar Week 1 - Apr Week 3 Available Available May Week 1 - Jun Week 3 Available Available O'Connor, Barbara -- The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis Description: Nothing ever happens in Fayette, South Carolina. That's what Popeye thinks, anyway. His whole life, everything has just been boring, boring, boring. But things start to look up when the Jewells' Holiday Rambler makes a wrong turn and gets stuck in the mud, trapping Elvis and his five rowdy siblings in Fayette for who knows how long. Popeye has never met anyone like Elvis Jewell. He's so good at swearing he makes Uncle Dooley look like a harp-strumming angel, and he says "So what?" like he really means it. Then something curious comes floating down the creek - a series of boats with secret messages - and it sends Popeye and Elvis into the big world on the hunt for a small adventure. Recognized as an ALA Notable, a School Library Journal Best Books, a Kirkus Best Books and one of New York Public Library's 100 Books for Reading and Sharing. Number of books available: 250 Website link for more information: www.barbaraoconnor.com Reading Periods School Year 2012-13 School Year 2013-14 Sep Week 1 - Oct Week 3 Allen, TX Riverside, OH Nov Week 1 - Dec Week 3 Richardson, TX Available Jan Week 1 - Feb Week 3 Winterport, ME Available Mar Week 1 - Apr Week 3 Floyds Knobs, IN Available May Week 1 - Jun Week 3 Westborough, MA Available Summer 2013 Available Rhodes, Jewell Parker -- Ninth Ward Description: Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. She doesn't have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya's visions show a powerful hurricane--Katrina--fast approaching, it's up to Lanesha to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help them both survive the storm. Recipient of a Parents' Choice Foundation Gold Award, the Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award, and the 2011 Jane Addams Peace Association Honor Award. Number of books available: 300 Website link for more information: www.jewellparkerrhodes.com Reading Periods School Year 2012-13 School Year 2013-14 Sep Week 1 - Oct Week 3 Indianapolis, ID Available Nov Week 1 - Dec Week 3 Midway, GA Available Jan Week 1 - Feb Week 3 Midway, GA Available Mar Week 1 - Apr Week 3 Madrona, Seattle, WA Available May Week 1 - Jun Week 3 Stanislo, Seattle, WA Available Summer 2013 Katy, Texas Pennypacker, Sara -- Clementine's Letter (3rd book in the Clementine series) Description: Clementine can't believe her ears - her beloved teacher, Mr. D'Matz, might be leaving them for the rest of the year to go on a research trip to Egypt! No other teacher has ever understood her impulsiveness, her itch to draw constantly, or her need to play "Beat the Clock" when the day feels too long. And in his place, he's left a substitute with a whole new set of rules that Clementine just can't figure out. The only solution, she decides, is to hatch a plan to get Mr. D'Matz back. If it means ruining her teacher's once-in-a-lifetime chance -- well, it's worth it. Isn't it? Winner of the 2009 Christopher Award, given for "affirming the highest values of the human spirit." Number of books available: 300 Website link for more information: www.sarapennypacker.com Reading Periods School Year 2012-13 School Year 2013-14 Sep Week 1 - Oct Week 3 Webster, TX Available Nov Week 1 - Dec Week 3 Austin, TX Available Jan Week 1 - Feb Week 3 Sparta, WI Norwood, MA Mar Week 1 - Apr Week 3 Hillsboro, TN Available May Week 1 - Jun Week 3 Sigonella ES, Italy Available Summer 2013 Available Participating Authors || Available Books || Program Guidelines || Email Us || Home