Special Collections
Newbery Award Winners
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The Apple and the Arrow
by Mary Buff and Conrad BuffThe year is 1291, and Walter is the twelve-year-old son of William Tell, the greatest bowman in the land of Uri. Walter lives happily in the remote heights of the Alpine Mountains, caring for his family’s goat herd and practicing his marksmanship in the hopes of making his father proud. But as the end of the year approaches, Walter’s peaceful life is shaken as his country enters a revolution, and Walter must carry a secret that could threaten the life of the father he loves so dearly.
More than seven hundred years have passed since the day Walter stood in the marketplace balancing an apple on his head while the Austrian tyrant Gessler commanded Walter’s father, William Tell, to take aim at the apple with his great crossbow. The dramatic tale of William’s arrest and escape and the daring revolt of the Swiss against the Austrians has become a legend around the world.
Newbery Medal Honor Book.
The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles
by Padraic Colum and Willy PoganyEnter a world where harpies torment mortals, the Argonaut Orpheus sings, the mighty god Zeus wages war on the Titans, and Prometheus steals fire.
Author Padraic Colum weaves the tales of Jason and his Argonauts with classic Greek mythology to create this captivating epic about life, war, and astounding beings who lived in a time long past. Poetically written and wonderful for reading aloud, this collection of ancient stories will captivate modern readers.
Newbery Honor book
The Cow-tail Switch and Other West African Stories
by Harold Courlander and George HerzogThe Cow-tail Switch, based on a parable found by George Herzog in Liberia, is a type of story which has a special attraction for the West African audience, in that the audience itself participates in the working out of the solution.
Newbery Honor Book
The House of Sixty Fathers
by Meindert DejongTien Pao is all alone in enemy territory. Only a few days before, his family had escaped from the Japanese army, fleeing downriver by boat. Then came the terrible rainstorm. Tien Pao was fast asleep in the little sampan when the boat broke loose from its moorings and drifted right back to the Japanese soldiers. With only his lucky pig for company, Tien Pao must begin a long and dangerous journey in search of his home and family.
Newbery Medal Honor book
Crazy Lady
by Jane Leslie ConlyReceiving less and less attention from his widowed father, Vernon joins with his friends as they ridicule the neighborhood outcasts--Maxine, an alcoholic prone to public displays of crazy behavior, and Ronald, her retarded son. Then the social service decides to put Ronald into a special home, and Vernon finds himself fighting the agency. 1994 Newbery Honor Book
Notable Children's Books of 1994 (ALA)
1994 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)
1994 Young Adult Editors' Choices (BL)
1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)
Young Adult Choices for 1995 (IRA)
The Great Fire
by Jim MurphyA vertible cinematic account of the catastrophe that decimated much of Chicago in 1871, forcing more than 100,000 people from their homes. Jim Murphy tells the story through the eyes of several survivors. These characters serve as dramatic focal points as the fire sweeps across the city, their stories illuminated by fascinating archival photos and maps outlining the spread of fire.
1996 Newbery Honor Book.
A Ring of Endless Light
by Madeleine L'Engle"This wasn't the first time that I'd come close to death, but it was the first time I'd been involved in this part of it, this strange, terrible saying goodbye to someone you've loved."
These are Vicky Austin's thoughts as she stands near Commander Rodney's grave while her grandfather, who himself is dying of cancer, recites the funeral service. Watching his condition deteriorate over that long summer is almost more than she can bear. Then, in the midst of her struggle, she finds herself the center of attention for three young men. Leo, Commander Rodney's son, turns to her as an old friend seeking comfort but longing for romance. Zachary, whose attempted suicide inadvertently caused Commander Rodney's death, sees her as the one sane and normal person who can give some meaning to his life. And Adam, a serious young student working at the nearby marine-biology station, discovers Vicky, his friend's little sister, incipient telepathic powers that can help him with his experiments in dolphin communications. Vicky finds solace and brief moments of peace in her poetry, but life goes on around her, and the strain intensifies as she confronts matters of love and of death, of dependence and of responsibility, universal concerns that we all must face. The inevitable crisis comes and Vicky must rely on openness, sensitivity, and the love of others to overcome her private grief. Once again, Madeleine L'Engle has written a story that revels in the drama of vividly portrayed characters and events of the spiritual and moral dimensions of common human experiences.
Newbery Medal Honor book
The Animal Family
by Randall JarrellThis is the story of how, one by one, a man found himself a family. Almost nowhere in fiction is there a stranger, dearer, or funnier family--and the life that the members of The Animal Family live together, there in the wilderness beside the sea, is as extraordinary and as enchanting as the family itself.
Newbery Medal Honor Book
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
by Marguerite HenryJoel Goss knows that Little Bub is a special colt, even though he's a runt. And when schoolteacher Justin Morgan asks Joel to break the colt in, Joel is thrilled! Soon word about Little Bub has spread throughout the entire Northeast--this spirited colt can pull heavier loads than a pair of oxen. And run faster than thoroughbreds! This is the story of the little runt who became the father of the world-famous breed of American horses--the Morgan.
Newbery Medal Honors book.
Li Lun, Lad of Courage
by Carolyn TreffingerBanished to a mountaintop to learn to grow rice, Li Lun proves his courage as he fights the elements and his own loneliness to make his rice seedlings flourish where no one else has for generations.
A Newbery Honor book.
Hoot
by Carl HiaasenThis Newbery Honor winner and #1 New York Times bestseller is a beloved modern classic. Hoot features a new kid and his new bully, alligators, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes.A PARADE BEST KIDS BOOK OF ALL TIMEEverybody loves Mother Paula's pancakes. Everybody, that is, except the colony of cute but endangered owls that live on the building site of the new restaurant. Can the awkward new kid and his feral friend prank the pancake people out of town? Or is the owls' fate cemented in pancake batter?Welcome to Carl Hiaasen's Florida—where the creatures are wild and the people are wilder!
Sugaring Time
by Kathryn LaskyThe ice of winter has not yet melted, but the sap in the trees is flowing. Follow the family as they go out and collect the maple sap, boil it and make rich golden maple syrup.
Newbery Medal Honor book
Hatchet
by Gary PaulsenThis award-winning contemporary classic is the survival story with which all others are compared--and a page-turning, heart-stopping adventure, recipient of the Newbery Honor.
Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is on his way to visit his father when the single-engine plane in which he is flying crashes. Suddenly, Brian finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but a tattered Windbreaker and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present--and the dreadful secret that has been tearing him apart since his parent's divorce. But now Brian has no time for anger, self pity, or despair--it will take all his know-how and determination, and more courage than he knew he possessed, to survive.
Pictures of Hollis Woods
by Patricia Reilly GiffHollis Woods has been in so many foster homes she can hardly remember them all. She even runs away from the Regans, the one family who offers her a home.
When Hollis is sent to Josie, an elderly artist who is quirky and affectionate, she wants to stay. But Josie is growing more forgetful every day. If Social Services finds out, they’ll take Hollis away and move Josie into a home. Well, Hollis Woods won’t let anyone separate them. She’s escaped the system before; this time, she plans to take Josie with her.
Yet behind all her plans, Hollis longs for her life with the Regans, fixing each moment of her time with them in pictures she’ll never forget.
Newbery Honor book
The Wish Giver
by Bill BrittainA Newbery Honor Book that the New York Times called "an eerie delight," The Wish Giver is an engaging literary folk story about those who get what they wish for—whether they want it or not.The people of Coven Tree are no strangers to magic. In fact, the town's very name comes from a gnarled old tree where covens of witches used to gather. Even now, imps and fiends continue to appear, frightening the townsfolk with their devilish pranks. Usually these creatures are easy to spot. They have a particular smell, or sound, or way of moving, that betrays their dark nature. But Thaddeus Blinn showed none of these signs when he came to Coven Tree. He was just a funny little man who drifted into town with a strange tale about being able to give people whatever they wished—for only fifty cents.There was nothing scary about him. At least, not until the wishing began...
Like Jake and Me
by Mavis JukesA new family builds a relationship as a stepfather and stepson celebrate their differences and take heart in their similarities.
Newbery Honor Book
Elijah of Buxton
by Christopher Paul Curtis11-year-old Elijah is the first child born into freedom in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves just over the border from Detroit. Things change when a former slave steals money from Elijah's friend, who has been saving to buy his family out of slavery in the South. Elijah embarks on a dangerous journey to America in pursuit of the thief.
A Newbery Honor book
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Banner in the Sky
by James Ramsey UllmanThe Citadel
It stands unconquered, the last great summit of the Alps. Only one man has ever dared to approach the top, and that man died in his pursuit. He was Josef Matt, Rudi Matt's father.
At sixteen, Rudi is determined to pay tribute to the man he never knew, and complete the quest that claimed his father's life. And so, taking his father's red shirt as a flag, he heads off to face the earth's most challenging peak. But before Rudi can reach the top, he must pass through the forbidden Fortress, the gaping chasm in the high reaches of the Citadel where his father met his end. Rudi has followed Josef's footsteps as far as they will take him. Now he must search deep within himself to find the strength for the final ascent to the summit -- to plant his banner in the sky.
His father died while trying to climb Switzerland's greatest mountain -- the Citadel -- and young Rudi knows he must make the assault himself.
Newbery Medal Honor Book
Yolonda's Genius
by Carol FennerAfter moving from Chicago to Grand River, Michigan, fifth grader Yolonda, big and strong for her age, determines to prove that her younger brother is not a slow learner but a true musical genius.
Young Andrew creates beautiful music on his harmonica despite his reading difficulties, and when the bullies of his Chicago neighborhood destroy his harmonica, his older sister Yolanda struggles to replace it.
Newbery Honor Book
The Hundred Dresses
by Eleanor Estes and Louis SlobodkinAt the heart of the story is Wanda Petronski, a Polish girl in a Connecticut school who is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. Wanda claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesn't and bullies her mercilessly. The class feels terrible when Wanda is pulled out of the school, but by that time it's too late for apologies. Maddie, one of Wanda's classmates, ultimately decides that she is "never going to stand by and say nothing again."
Newbery Honor book
The Fledgling
by Jane LangtonWhen the mysterious Canada goose appears at Georgie's window, she climbs on his back and learns how to really fly. But one person will stop at nothing to prevent her lovely Goose Prince from coming.
A Newbery Honor Book.