Young Hoosier Nominees for 2011-2012 Picture Books

Princess K.I.M. and the Lie that Grew-After new girl Kim tells her classmates she is from a royal family, her lie grows and grows.







The Boy Who Invented TV -This picture-book biography explains how Farnsworth held on to his dream to develop television and the scientific concepts behind it.








Adventures in Cartooning -Once upon a time...a princess tried to make a comic. And with the help of a magical cartooning elf, she learned how--well enough to draw her way out of an encounter with a dangerous dragon, near-death by drowning, and into her very own adventure! --from publisher description.





Are You Ready to Play Outside? -Friends Elephant and Piggie are playing outside when it starts to rain, and then they must decide what to do.












The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau -This exciting picture book biography introduces young readers to Jacques Cousteau, the world's ambassador of the oceans.








Ain't Nothing But A Man- Historian Scott Reynolds Nelson recounts how he came to discover the real John Henry, an African-American railroad worker who became a legend in the famous song.







Bats at the Library-Bored with another normal, inky evening, bats discover an open library window and fly in to enjoy the photocopier, water fountain, and especially the books and stories found there.






Peace Week in Miss Fox's Class - For "Peace Week," the animals in Miss Fox's class find ways to be peaceful, instead of squabbling with each other.









The Mitten -A retelling of the traditional tale of how a boy's lost mitten becomes a refuge from the cold for an increasing number of animals.









Big Chickens Fly the Coop - Four fearful chickens venture out to see the farmhouse, with humorous results.







Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes -Retells the fable of a frustrated fox that, after many tries to reach a high bunch of grapes, decides they must be sour anyway.









Spot the Plot - Thirteen witty and wacky poems pose riddles that challenge readers to "Name That Book." With a glass slipper here and a spiderweb there, Lynn Munsinger's adorable illustrations lead young readers to the solutions. From Goodnight Moon to Madeline, children and parents alike will delight in recognizing their most cherished stories.






Before Columbus - This study of Native American societies is adapted for younger readers from Charles C. Mann's best-selling 1491. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, the book argues that the people of North and South America lived in enormous cities, raised pyramids hundreds of years before the Egyptians did, engineered corn, and farmed the rainforests.





The Curious Garden -Liam discovers a hidden garden and with careful tending spreads color throughout the gray city.










Miss Mingo and the First Day of School -Miss Mingo helps all of the animal students in her class overcome their shyness on the first day of school by encouraging them to share something special about themselves. Includes facts about animals.







Colonial Voices -Kay Winters' poems in the voices of different colonists, enhanced by historical notes, provide a glimpse into life in colonial times and the dramatic events of a famous rebellion.





Let's Do Nothing!- After playing actively all day two friends learn something when they try to do nothing at all.







Titanicat -A boy who has signed on as cabin boy aboard the Titanic helps ready the ship for its maiden voyage, but when it is time to set sail and he cannot find the ship's cat on board, he leaves the vessel to search for her.










Little Red Bird - After escaping from her cage to see the world, a little red bird finds it difficult to decide whether to stay free or to go home and never fly again.





Lady Liberty Biography -Tells the story of the Statue of Liberty, the sculptor, the engineer, the newspaper publisher, the poet and many others who had a part in the erection of this monument.

Young Hoosier Nominees for 2011-2012

Compound - After his parents, two sisters, and he have spent six years in a vast underground compound built by his wealthy father to protect them from a nuclear holocaust, fifteen-year-old Eli, whose twin brother and grandmother were left behind, discovers that his father has perpetrated a monstrous hoax on them all.







When the Whistle Blows - Jimmy Cannon tells about his life in the 1940s as the son of a West Virginia railroad man, loving the trains and expecting one day to work on the railroad like his father and brothers.















The Beef Princess of Practical County -Twelve-year-old Libby, the daughter of an Indiana cattle farmer, raises two calves in hopes of winning the annual steer competition at the county fair, but fails to follow her father's warning about developing a bond with animals that are destined to be sold at auction.






Bull Rider -When his older brother, a bull-riding champion, returns from the Iraq War partially paralyzed, fourteen-year-old Cam takes a break from skateboarding to enter a bull-riding contest, in hopes of winning the $15,000 prize and motivating his depressed brother to continue with his rehabilitation.





Scat - Nick and his friend Marta decide to investigate when a mysterious fire starts near a Florida wildlife preserve and an unpopular teacher goes missing.






Mudshark -Principal Wagner confidently deals with a faculty washroom crisis, a psychic parrot, and a terrorizing gerbil, but when sixty-five erasers go missing, he enlists the help of the school's best problem solver and locator of lost items, twelve-year-old Lyle Williams, aka Mudshark.













Any Which Wall -In the middle of an Iowa cornfield, four children find a magic wall that enables them to travel through time and space.









The Brooklyn Nine - Follows the fortunes of a German immigrant family through nine generations, beginning in 1845, as they experience American life and play baseball.







Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - Minli, an adventurous girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish, and then joins a dragon who cannot fly on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon in hopes of bringing life to Fruitless Mountain and freshness to Jade River.








The Year of the Bomb -In 1955 California, as "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is filmed in their hometown, thirteen-year-old Arnie discovers a real enemy when he and three friends go against a young government agent determined to find communists at a nearby university or on the movie set.







11 Birthdays -After celebrating their first nine same-day birthdays together, Amanda and Leo, having fallen out on their tenth and not speaking to each other for the last year, prepare to celebrate their eleventh birthday separately but peculiar things begin to happen as the day of their birthday begins to repeat itself over and over again.









Everything for a Dog - In parallel stories, Bone, an orphaned dog, finds and loses a series of homes, Molly, a family pet, helps Charlie through the grief and other after-effects of his brother's death, and lonely Henry pleads for a dog of his own.









Crossing Stones -In their own voices, four young people, Muriel, Frank, Emma, and Ollie, tell of their experiences during the first World War, as the boys enlist and are sent overseas, Emma finishes school, and Muriel fights for peace and women's suffrage.






Secret Science Alliance -Eleven-year-old Julian Calendar thought changing schools would mean leaving his "nerdy" persona behind, but instead he forms an alliance with fellow inventors Greta and Ben and works with them to prevent an adult from using one of their gadgets for nefarious purposes.






Surprises according to Humphrey -While continuing to help his classmates solve their problems, Humphrey, pet hamster of Longfellow School's Room 26, faces many surprises, like rolling in a hamster ball, a substitute janitor who might be an alien, and the possibility of Mrs. Brisbane retiring.








Faith, Hope and Ivy June - During a student exchange program, seventh-graders Ivy June and Catherine share their lives, homes, and communities, finding that although their lifestyles are total opposites, they still have a lot in common.







All the Broken Pieces - Two years after being airlifted out of Vietnam in 1975, Matt Pin is haunted by the terrible secret he left behind and, now, in a loving adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events forces him to confront his past.







A Thousand Never Evers - As the civil rights movement in the South gains momentum in 1963--and violence against African Americans intensifies--the black residents, including seventh-grader Addie Ann Pickett, in the small town of Kuckachoo, Mississippi, begin their own courageous struggle for racial justice.







Two-Minute Drill - Brainy Scott, a great kicker who otherwise struggles with football, and star quarterback Chris, who has dyslexia, team up to help each other succeed in both football and school.

We now have the 5th book in the series of Seekers
Fire in the Sky by Erin Hunter