It’s 1937 and the government is pushing to bring electricity to the mountains of southeastern Kentucky. It’s all Cora can think of; radios with news from around the world, machines that keep food cold, lightbulbs by which to read at night! Cora figures she can help spread the word by starting a school newspaper and convincing her neighbors to support the Rural Electrification Act. But resistance to change isn’t easy to overcome, especially when it starts at home. Cora’s mother is a fierce opponent of electrification. She argues that protecting the landscape of the holler—the trees, the streams, the land that provides for their way of life—is their responsibility. But Cora just can’t let go of wanting more.
2024-2025 Crown Award
Reading Level: 5.5
Published by Holiday House
Copyright July 11, 2023
ISBN# 978-0823453849 (HB)
Once Parker’s father catches wind of his latest scheme, he decides enough is enough, and Parker is sent halfway across the country to work on a farm alongside five other kids who aren’t his biggest fans. As Parker learns to roll up his sleeves and keep his head down, strange things start happening. And after he awakens one morning to find a seventeen-hundred-pound dairy cow on the roof of a barn, he suspects that something magical and mysterious is growing in the farm’s fields.
2024-2025 Lamplighter Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Copyright October 18, 2022
ISBN# 978-0316542647 (HB)
The Serpent Slayer and the Scroll of Riddles is a time travel adventure with a twist—middle school students will discover theological themes as they travel through God’s Word. By placing the characters into Bible events, Champ Thornton and Andrew Naselli show the Bible is far from being a boring book full of instructions. Readers will discover life-changing truths they’ll never forget.
2024-2025 Crown Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by New Growth Press
Copyright February 14, 2022
ISBN# 978-1645072331 (PB)
Maizy always assumed she knew everything about her grandmother, Jacuzzi. So when a box full of vintage Nancy Drew books gets left at her mom’s thrift store, Maizy is surprised to find an old photo of her grandmother and two other women tucked beneath the collection. Stranger still, when Maizy shows the photo to Jacuzzi she feigns ignorance, insisting the woman is someone else. Determined to learn the truth — and inspired by the legacy of Nancy Drew — Maizy launches her own investigation with the help of new friends, Nell and Cam. What they discover not only points to the origins of the iconic series, but uncovers a truth from the past that will lead to self-discovery in the present, connecting three generations of women.
2024-2025 Lamplighter Award
Reading Level: 5.1
Published by Christy Ottaviano Books
Copyright October 4, 2022
ISBN# 978-0316331074 (HB)
Imagine you could meet your favorite comic-book hero in the real world. What kinds of questions would you ask? Would you go on new and exciting adventures? While heroes might seem larger than life, everyone can use some help from a friend.
2024-2025 Gallery Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by Neal Porter Books
Copyright June 28, 2022
ISBN# 978-0823449767 (HB)
Even though she’s only 12 years old, Lily McKinley already feels the weight of the world’s brokenness. She’s seen it in her mother’s exhaustion, her grandmother’s illness, and the cruelty of Adam, the bully at her school. But most tragically, she experienced it two months ago when her father died in a terrible accident. As an artistic daydreamer, Lily has a brilliant imagination to help her cope, but that imagination often gets her into trouble. One day, it transports her to a fantasy world called the Somnium Realm, where her father’s secret history embroils her in an epic quest. With the help of a dragon guide named Cedric, Lily battles evil shrouds, harpies, and other creatures to find her way through grief, rescue the world from evil, and discover the power of redemption.
2024-2025 Crown Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by Crossway
Copyright May 10, 2022
ISBN# 978-1433579479 (PB)
Selvi is a free spirit who loves climbing in the beautiful mountains behind her home. There, she befriended Lokka, a leopard with a beautiful coat and huge golden eyes. Together, they roam the wilderness as they please.But when hunters come with bows and arrows, Selvi knows she must stop them before they hurt Lokka. But what can she do against such powerful enemies, especially when the friends and family she turns to for help are not all they seem to be? To rescue her leopard friend, first Selvi must outwit the poachers and expose the mastermind behind it all.
2024-2025 Crown Award
Reading Level: 4.6
Published by Peachtree
Copyright May 9, 2023
ISBN# 978-1682635810 (HB)
Twelve-year-old Isaiah Rawlings wished for only one thing this summer, a camping trip outside of Kentucky. I’m so tired of camping in my backyard, he groaned. Isaiah pleads with his parents to reconsider their usual summer trip to dusty old museums and big cities.When his dad unexpectedly announces a trip to Grand Teton National Park, Isaiah is ecstatic! On the second night of camping, He wakes to a thunderous noise that grows louder and louder. The ground begins to tremble. Earthquake?! Isaiah scrambles from his tent…When Isaiah, his cousin Ethan, and sister Sadie investigate the next morning, tracks lead them back to a broken fence. As they scan the surrounding area, something seems off…Why? More than one set of tracks lead into the park. Was this stampede accidental or is there more to the story?
2024-2025 Crown Award
Reading Level: 4.9
Published by Bakken Books
Copyright March 20, 2022
ISBN# 979-8436149448 (PB)
.png)