Things to be excited about: She’s chosen my Dr. Kate: Angel on Snowshoes as her January 2011 pick!

And finally, my illustrious company:

Book Selections

September
Preschool: My Garden by Kevin Henkes
Primary: Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton & Tom Lichtenheld
Intermediate: Justin Case: School, Drool and Other Daily Disasters by Rachel Vail
Middle School: One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
High School: Hate List by Jennifer Brown
The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang

October
Preschool: Boo to You! By Lois Ehlert
Primary: Z is for Zombie by Merrily Ruther
Intermediate: American Chillers: Wisconsin Werewolves by Johnathan Rand
Middle School: Boys Without Names by Kashmira Sheth
High School: Stitches by David Small
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

November
Preschool: What can you do with a Paleta?/ Que puedes hacer con una paleta?by Carmen Tafolla
Primary: The Village Garage by G. Brian Karas; Horse Song by Betsy and Ted Lewin
Intermediate: Going Home, Coming Home by Truong Tran
Middle School: Out of my Mind by Sharon M. Draper; Red Glass by Laura Resau
High School: Rush by Jonathan Friesen

December
Preschool: What Will You Be Sara Mee? By Kate Aver Avraham
Primary: Tiger and Turtle by James Rumford
Intermediate: Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Middle School: The Reinvention of Edison Thomas by Jacqueline Houtman
High School: Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas

January
Preschool: Yes Day! By Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld
Primary: Beautiful Moon/ Bella Luna by Dawn Jeffers
Intermediate: Dream: A Tale of Wonder, Wisdom & Wishes by Susan V. Bosak; Dr. Kate: Angel on Snowshoes by Rebecca Hogue Wojahn
Middle School: My Life with the Lincolns by Gayle Brandeis
High School: Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

February
Preschool: I Can Help by David Hyde Costello
Primary: My People by Langston Hughes
Intermediate: Looking Like Me by Walter Dean Myers
Dyamonde Daniel by Nikki Grimes
Middle School: Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
High School: Shooting Star by Fredrick McKissack Jr.

March
Preschool: Pouch! By David Ezra Stein
Primary: Book Fiesta! By Pat Mora
Intermediate: Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection by Matt Dembicki
Middle School: Shooting the Moon by Frances O’Roark Dowell
High School: Liar by Justine Larbalestier

April
Preschool: Never Smile at a Monkey by Steve Jenkins
Primary: A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems by Deborah Ruddell & Joan Rankin
Intermediate: Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat by Nikki Giovanni
Middle School: All the Broken Pieces by Ann. E. Burg
High School: Partly Cloudy: Poems of Love and Longing by Gary Soto; Crossing Stones by Helen Frost

May
Preschool: A Beach Tail by Karen Lynn Williams
Primary: What if? By Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Intermediate: Top of the Order by John Coy
Middle School: More About Boy by Roald Dahl
High School: Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco Stork

Summer
Preschool: Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
Primary: Pigs to the Rescue by John Himmelman
Intermediate: Volcano Wakes Up! By Lisa Westberg Peters
Middle School: Albert Einstein: Giants of Science by Kathleen Krull
High School: Candor by Pam Bachorz; Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

You can see their full list of 2009 winners here: http://societyofschoollibrarians.webs.com/2009bookawards.htm.

So you’d think these would be my favorites of 2009, right? Um, kind of. While I do still really like all of these books, when I consider my favorite-favorites, I always think about how much the book stuck with me. How much I remember it later. How much I’ve thought about it since I finished it. To me, those are the Truly Best Stories. And those are here:

And just in case you can’t read the covers, that’d be…

All the World

The Mistress of the Art of Death

One World, One Day

The Frog Scientist

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

When the Whistle Blows

Beka Cooper

The Dunderheads

Heart of a Shepherd

Ain’t Nothing But a Man

Ways to Live Forever

Home of the Brave