Prairie Pasque Nominees 2006-2007

Avi

Twelve-year-old New York City twins Meg and Edward have nothing in common, so they are just as shocked as everyone else when Meg’s hopes for popularity and Edward’s mischievous schemes coincidentally collide in a hilarious showdown.

Grade Level: 5-7
Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books

Andrew Clements

Life is usually easy for popular fifth grader Hart Evans, but when his music teacher puts him in charge of the holiday concert, Hart must use all of his leadership skills to unite the other students.

Grade Level: 4-7
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing

Michael De Guzman

Twelve-year-old Beekman O’Day has spent his entire life moving from place to place with his wheeler-dealer father, Leo. They’ve lived everywhere in Manhattan, from hotels to apartments to rented rooms, and Beekman has attended nine schools. Now Beekman is in a new home and about to enter school, ready to go through the motions of meeting new kids and teachers. He knows that this lifestyle has got to go; that it’s time to make a deal with Leo and put an end to their pick-up-and-go shenanigans. And with a little help from the neighbors and his first best friend, Beekman is going to do all it takes to make his big deal happen.

Grade Level: 5-8
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

John Grandits

An eleven-year-old boy named Robert voices typical—and not so typical—middle-grade concerns in this unique, memorable collection of hilarious poems. His musings cover the usual stuff, like pizza, homework, thank-you notes, and his annoying older sister. In addition, he speculates about professional wrestling for animals, wonders why no one makes scratch-and-sniff fart stickers, designs the ultimate roller coaster (complete with poisonous spiders), and deconstructs the origins of a new word, snarpy.

Grade Level: 4-8
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company

Dan Gutman

“We, the members of the Get Rich Quick Club, in order to form a more perfect summer, vow we will figure out a way to make a million dollars by September. We agree that neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night will prevent us from achieving our stated goal, until death do us part.” Summer vacation in their small Maine town does not look too promising until twelve-year-old Gina and four of her friends make a pact to become millionaires before school starts in September.

Grade Level: 3
Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books