The Mark Twain Award

THE MARK TWAIN AWARD

2008 - 2009 Award Nominees

2007- 2008 Award Nominees

Each year, Missouri schoolchildren in grades 4-8 vote for their favorite book from a list of nominated titles. The Mark Twain Award is awarded to the author of this book by the Missouri Association of School Librarians.

2008 - 2009 Mark Twain Award Nominees
	The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett
	In the midst of a series of unexplained accidents and mysterious coincidences, sixth-graders Calder, Petra, and Tommy lead their classmates in an attempt to keep Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Robie House from being demolished.

	Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Lesley M. Blume
	A lonely city girl, Cornelia is told stories by an elderly adventuress that take her from Paris to Morocco to England and beyond.

	Uncharted Waters by Leslie Bulion
	Jonah's lies and his secret fear of the sea threaten to ruin his month at the shore with his favorite uncle, but a grumpy marina storekeeper and an attractive young college student help turn the summer into an adventure he will never forget.

	Million Dollar Putt by Dan Gutman
	Assisted by his neighbor, Birdie, blind thirteen-year-old Ed "Bogie" Bogard will win one million dollars if he can sink a ten-foot putt in Hawaii's fifth annual Angus Killick Memorial Tournament.

	Rules by Cynthia Lord
	Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with an young paraplegic.

	A Small White Scar by K.A. Nuzum
	Fifteen-year-old Will Bennon leaves his family and begins life as a cowboy, but his mentally retarded twin brother follows him and joins the journey.

	Archer's Quest by Linda Sue Park
	Twelve-year-old Kevin Kim helps Chu-mong, a legendary king of ancient Korea, return to his own time.

	Moon Shadow by Chris Platt
	Thirteen-year-old Callie is determined to save and raise a beautiful but sickly mustang foal after the filly is orphaned in a Nevada desert round-up.

	Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordin
	Demi-god Percy Jackson and his friends must journey into the Sea of Monsters to save their camp. But first Percy will discover a secret that makes him wonder whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or a cruel joke.

	Fairies of Nutfolk Wood by Barbara Bentler Ullman
	After her parents divorce and she moves to the country with her mother, fourth-grader Willa Jane, anxious and unhappy with the changes in her life, discovers a world of little people called Nutfolk living in the woods around her new home.

	Finest Kind by Lea Wait
	Jake's father has lost his job and savings in the economic panic of 1837. The family leaves its comfortable Boston surroundings and takes up residence in a dingy farmhouse in Wiscasset, ME, where the 12-year-old finds himself responsible for the household. With his father working as a lumberman and his mother caring for his younger brother, who has cerebral palsy, Jake carries the additional burden of keeping his sibling's existence a secret.

	Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop
	It's 1910 in Pownal, Vermont. At 12 Grace and her best friend Arthur must go to work in the mill, helping their mothers work the looms. Together Grace and Arthur write a secret letter to the Child Labor Board about underage children working in the mill. A few weeks later, Lewis Hine, a famous reformer arrives undercover to gather evidence. Grace meets him and appears in some of his photographs, changing her life forever.
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2007-2008 Mark Twain Award Nominees
	The Naked Mole Rat Letters by Mary Amato
	When her father begins a long-distance romance with a Washington, D.C. zookeeper, twelve-year-old Frankie sends fabricated email letters to the zookeeper in an attempt to end the relationship.

	Wing Nut by M. J. Auch
	When twelve-year-old Grady and his mother relocate yet again, they find work taking care of an elderly man, who teaches Grady about cars, birds, and what it means to have a home.

	On Etruscan Time by Tracy Barrett
	While spending the summer on an archaeological dig near Florence, Italy, with his mother, eleven-year-old Hector meets an Etruscan boy who needs help to foil his treacherous uncle's plan to make him a human sacrifice--1,000 years in the past.

	Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach
	Named after a character in a Shakespeare play, misfit sixth-grader Hero becomes interested in exploring this unusual connection because of a valuable diamond supposedly hidden in her new house, an intriguing neighbor, and the unexpected attention of the most popular boy in school.

	Do You Know the Monkey Man by Dori Hillestad Butler
	For thirteen-year-old Samantha, life consists of too many unanswered questions. Why has her father not tried to contact her all these years? How could he have allowed her twin sister to drown in Clearwater Quarry when they were only toddlers? And how can Samantha's mother expect her to accept some man she hardly knows as her new father?

	Lunch Money by Andrew Clements
	Twelve-year-old Greg, who has always been good at moneymaking projects, is surprised to find himself teaming up with his lifelong rival, Maura, to create a series of comic books to sell at school.

	Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix
	Thirteen-year-old Bethany's parents have always been overprotective, but when they suddenly drop out of sight with no explanation, leaving her with an aunt she never knew existed, Bethany uncovers shocking secrets that make her question everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.

	Defiance by Valerie Hobbs
	While vacationing in the country, eleven-year-old Toby, a cancer patient, learns some important lessons about living and dying from an elderly poet and her cow.

	Gentle's Holler by Kerry Madden
	12-year-old Livy longs to see the world outside the small mountain house she shares with her parents and eight siblings. Being a part of such a large family is an issue. Her father's pipe dream of writing a hit song is another. He spends his time trying to sell his music rather than working at a paying job. Gentle, Livy's younger sister, is blind. The family has many issues but few resources to deal with them. How Livy makes her way in these circumstances is the heart of this story.

	Deadly Drive by David Patneaude
	Casey is driven to suceed on her new basketball team, partly because her mother was a star player when she was a student at University of Iowa. Nine years ago a hit-and-run driver killed Casey's mother and Casey suffered an injured right arm. Casey swears revenge if she ever finds the killer. Complicating matters, every year on the anniversary of her mother's death, Casey receives an anonymous envelope full of money. Is it from her mother's killer? Is the killer someone Casey actually knows?

	Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park
	While working on a project for an after-school club, Julia, a Korean American girl, and her friend Patrick learn not just about silkworms, but also about tolerance, prejudice, friendship, patience, and more. Between the chapters are short dialogues between the author and main character about the writing of the book.

	The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson
	Finn Whitman, an Orlando teen, is hired to be hologramed as a Disney World park "guide" but soon finds himself being transported into the Magic Kingdom in the dead of night to help fight a group of Disney villains, led by Maleficent, who want to take over Disney World--and maybe more.

	The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
	Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson learns he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea. His mother sends him to a summer camp for demigods where he and his new friends set out on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

	First Boy by Gary Schmidt
	Dragged into the political turmoil of a presidential election year, fourteen-year-old Cooper Jewett, who runs a New Hampshire dairy farm since his grandfather's death, stands up for himself and makes it clear whose first boy he really is.

	Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith
	Twins, Grace and Marty, along with a mysterious uncle, are dropped into the middle of the Congolese jungle in search of their missing photojournalist parents.

	Jack's Run by Roland Smith
	Kidnapped by drug czar Alonzo Asnar and held hostage in Argentina, Jack and his sister Joanne attempt a daring escape while their parents, aided by some old friends, set out to rescue them.

	The Search for Belle Prater by Ruth White
	In 1955, Woodrow and his cousin Gypsy befriend a new girl in their seventh grade class in rural Virginia, and the three of them set off to find Woodrow's missing mother, encountering unlikely and intriguing coincidences along the way.

	Each Little Bird that Sings by Deborah Wiles
	Comfort Snowberger is well acquainted with death since her family runs the funeral parlor in their small southern town, but even so the ten-year-old is unprepared for the series of heart-wrenching events that begins on the first day of Easter vacation with the sudden death of her beloved great-uncle Edisto.

	Black Storm Comin' by Diane Lee Wilson
	Twelve-year-old Colton, son of a black mother and a white father, takes a job with the Pony Express in 1860 after his father abandons the family on their California-bound wagon train, and risks his life to deliver an important letter that may affect the growing conflict between the North and South.

	When Ratboy Lived Next Door by Chris Woodworth
	When his strange family moves into her quiet southern Indiana town, sixth-grader Lydia Carson initially despises her new neighbor and classmate, who seems as wild as the raccoon that is his closest companion.
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Past Mark Twain Award Winners
2007 - Abduction! by Peg Kehret
Thirteen-year-old Bonnie has a feeling of foreboding on the very day that her six-year-old brother Matt and their dog Pookie are abducted, and she becomes involved in a major search effort as well as a frightening adventure.

2006 - The City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

2005 - Wenny Has Wings by Janet Lee Carey
Having had a near-death experience in the accident that killed his younger sister, eleven-year-old Will tries to cope with the situation by writing her letters.

2004 - Zach's Lie by Roland Smith
When Jack Osborne is befriended by his school's custodian and a Basque girl, he begins to adjust to his family's sudden move to Elko, Nevada, after entering the Witness Security Program, but the drug cartel against which his father will testify is determined to track them down.

2003 - Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.

2002 - Dork in Disguise by Carol Gorman
Starting middle school in a new town, brainy Jerry Flack changes his image from “dork” to “cool kid,” only to discover that he’d rather be himself.

2001 - Holes by Louis Sachar
As further evidence of his family’s bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.

2000 - Saving Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Sixth-grader Marty and his family try to help their rough neighbor, Judd Travers, change his mean ways, even though their West Virginia community continues to expect the worst of him.

1999 - Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret
The author describes her battle against polio when she was thirteen and her efforts to overcome its debilitating effects.

1998 - Titanic Crossing by Barbara Williams
In 1912, thirteen-year-old Albert considers his younger sister a pest, but things change when they travel with their mother and uncle aboard the Titanic and are caught up in its tragic sinking.

1997 - A Time For Andrew by Mary Downing Hahn
When he goes to spend the summer with his great-aunt in the family’s old house, eleven-year-old Drew is drawn eighty years into the past to trade places with his great-great-uncle who is dying of diptheria.

1996 - The Ghosts of Mercy Manor by Betty Ren Wright
Twelve-year-old Gwen, an orphan who comes to live with the Mercy family, discovers that the house is haunted by the ghost of a sad-looking young girl and is determined to solve the mystery behind her appearances.

1995 - The Man Who Loved Clowns by June Rae Wood
Thirteen-year-old Delrita, whose unhappy life has caused her to hide from the world, loves her uncle Punky but sometimes feels ashamed of his behavior because he has Down’s syndrome.

1994 - Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog’s real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs.

1993 - Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee’s life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.

1992 - The Doll in the Garden by Mary Downing Hahn
Ater Ashley and Kristi find an antique doll buried in old Miss Cooper’s garden, they discover that they can enter a ghostly turn-of-the-century world by going through a hole in the hedge.

1991 - All About Sam by Lois Lowry
The adventures of Sam, Anastasia Krupnik’s younger brother, from his first day as a newborn through his mischievous times as a toddler.

1990 - There's a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Lewis Sachar
An unmanageable, but lovable, eleven-year-old misfit learns to believe in himself when he gets to know the new school counselor, who is a sort of misfit too.

1989 - Sixth-Grade Sleepover by Eve Bunting
Janey worries that the sixth grade Rabbit Reading Club’s all-night sleepover will expose her fear of the dark, but it turns out that she is not the only member with a secret.

1988 - Baby-sitting is a Dangerous Job by Willo Davis Roberts
A baby sitter and her three willful charges make a formidable team to outwit their surprised kidnappers.

1987 - The War With Grandpa by Robert K. Smith
Upset that he has to give up the room he loves to his grandfather, Pete decides to declare war in an attempt to get it back.

1986 - The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright
A dollhouse filled with a ghostly light in the middle of the night and dolls that have moved from where she last left them lead Amy and her retarded sister to unravel the mystery surrounding grisly murders that took place years ago.

1985 - A Bundle of Sticks by Pat Rhoads Mauser
At the mercy of the class bully, a fifth grader is sent to a martial arts school where he learns techniques to defend himself as well as a philosophy that allows him not to fight.

1984 - Secret Life of the Underwear Champ by Betty Miles
Ten-year-old Larry is “discovered” on the street and asked to appear in a television commercial. Only later does he find out what he is advertising.

1983 - The Girl With the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts
A 10-year-old girl, who has always looked different from other children, discovers that she not only has unusual powers but that there are others like her.

1982 - The Boy Who Saw Bigfoot by Marian T. Place
A ten-year-old boy, placed once again with new foster parents, becomes involved in a search for Bigfoot.

1981 - Soup for President by Robert Newton Peck
Rob manages Soup’s campaign for class president in their small Vermont town.

1980 - The Pinballs by Betsy Byars
Three lonely foster children learn to care about themselves and each other.

1979 - The Champion of Merrimack County by Roger Drury
The discovery of a bike-riding mouse in the bathtub is just the beginning of a series of humorous communications for the Berryfield family.

1978 - Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary
Six-year-old Ramona tries to cope with an unsympathetic first-grade teacher.

1977 - The Ghost on Saturday Night by Sid Fleischman
A thick tule fog and a ghost-raising lead to more excitement and reward than Opie had counted on.

1976 - The Home Run Trick by Scott Corbett
The Panthers try desperately to convincingly lose a baseball game when they find out the winners must play a girls’ team.

1975 - How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Two boys set out to prove that worms can make a delicious meal.

1974 - It’s a Mile From Here to Glory by Robert C. Lee
A shy undersized sixteen-year-old finds himself suddenly popular when he becomes star of the track team.

1973 - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
Having no one to help her with her problems, a widowed mouse visits the rats whose former imprisonment in a laboratory made them wise and long lived.

1972 - Sounder by William H. Armstrong
Angry and humiliated when his sharecropper father is jailed for stealing food for his family, a young black boy grows in courage and understanding by learning to read and with the help of the devoted dog Sounder.
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