Macon Public Library encourages young readers to explore the reading empire by participating in these amazing Awards! The Truman Readers Awards, Mark Twain Award, and Show Me Award lists have excellent literature and help us in our quest to spread our love of reading to everyone! MPL has two copies of every title, because we understand that many of these books are very popular among our youth. We hope our young readers strive to achieve these awards and improve their reading in every way. Happy reading!

Truman Readers Awards

Mark Twain Award

Show Me Readers Award

Truman Readers Awards

The Truman Readers Award encourages young teenagers to express themselves through new literary genres, communication, and honoring authors' writing.

This award is selected by students in grades 6 through 8 and is presented annually.

GUIDELINES FOR CHOOSING BOOKS:

1. Books should interest early teens in grades six through eight.
2. Books should be written by an author living in the United States.
3. Books should be of literary value which may enrich early teens' personal lives.
4. Books should be published two years prior to nomination on a Master List of 12 nominees.
5. Some consideration should be given to genre diversity, gender representation, range of reading level, racial diversity, and diversity of social, political, economic, and religious viewpoints.

WHO MAY VOTE:

Missouri students are eligible to vote for their favorite book if they have read at least FOUR of the titles on the current master list.

2009-2010 Truman Award Nominations

Bingham, Kelly. Shark Girl

After a shark attack causes the amputation of her right arm, fifteen-year-old Jane, an aspiring artist, struggles to come to terms with her loss and the changes it imposes on her day-to-day life and her plans for the future.

 Brewer, Heather. The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites

For thirteen years, Vlad, aided by his aunt and best friend, has kept secret that he is half-vampire, but when his missing teacher is replaced by a sinister substitute, he learns that there is more to being a vampire, and to his parents' deaths, than he could have guessed.

 Carman, Patrick. Atherton: The House of Power

Edgar, an eleven-year-old orphan, finds a book that reveals significant secrets about Atherton, the strictly divided world on which he lives, even as geological changes threaten to shift the power structure that allows an elite few to live off the labor of others.

 Cooney, Caroline. Diamonds in the Shadow

The Finches, a Connecticut family, sponsor an African refugee family of four, all of whom have been scarred by the horrors of civil war, and who inadvertently put their benefactors in harm's way.

 Cornwell, Autumn. Carpe Diem

Sixteen-year-old Vassar Spore's detailed plans for the next twenty years of her life are derailed when her bohemian grandmother insists that she join her in Southeast Asia for the summer, but as she writes a novel about her experiences, Vassar discovers new possibilities.

 Durst, Sarah Beth. Into the Wild

Having escaped from the Wild and the preordained fairy tale plots it imposes, Rapunzel, along with her daughter Julie Marchen, tries to live a fairly normal life, but when the Wild breaks free and takes over their town, it is Julie who has to prevent everyone from being trapped in the events of a story.

 Gorman, Carol. Games

When fourteen-year-old rivals Boot Quinn and Mick Sullivan fight once too often, the new principal devises the punishment of having to play games together at his office, where they learn which battles are worth fighting.

 Hershey, Mary. The One Where the Kid Nearly Jumps to his Death and Lands in California

Alastair, a thirteen-year-old who calls himself "Stump" because of his amputated leg, must face a summer at his wealthy but estranged father's beach house in Los Angeles, where he meets his stepmother, falls in love with a teenaged soap opera star, and decides to train for a race with a former Olympic swim coach.

 Kadohata, Cynthia. Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam

A young soldier in Vietnam bonds with his bomb-sniffing dog.

 Neff, Henry. Tapestry: Hound of Rowan

After glimpsing a hint of his destiny in a mysterious tapestry, twelve-year-old Max McDaniels becomes a student at Rowan Academy, where he trains in "mystics and combat" in preparation for war with an ancient enemy that has been kidnapping children like him.

 Sonneblick, Jordan. Zen and the Art of Faking It

When thirteen-year-old San Lee moves to a new town and school for the umpteenth time, he is looking for a way to stand out when his knowledge of Zen Buddhism, gained in his previous school, provides the answer--and the need to quickly become a convincing Zen master.

 Stead, Rebecca. First Light

When twelve-year-old Peter and his family arrive in Greenland for his father's research, he stumbles upon a secret his mother has been hiding from him all his life, and begins an adventure he never imagines possible.

  2008-2009 Truman Award Nominations

Carey, Janet Lee. Beast of Noor

Fifteen-year-old Miles Ferrell uses the rare and special gift he is given to break the curse of the Shriker, a murderous creature reportedly brought to Shalem Wood by his family's clan centuries before.

 Hautman, Pete. Rash

In a future society that has decided it would "rather be safe than free," sixteen-year-old Bo's anger management problems land him in a tundra jail where he survives with the help of his running skills and an artificial intelligence program named Bork.

 Jones, Kimberly K. Sand Dollar Summer

When twelve-year-old Lise spends the summer on an island in Maine with her self-reliant mother and bright--but oddly mute--younger brother, her formerly safe world is complicated by an aged Indian neighbor, her mother's childhood friend, and a hurricane.

 Key, Watt. Alabama Moon

After the death of his father, ten-year-old Moon Blake is removed from the Alabama forest where he was raised and sent to a boy's home, where, for the first time, he has contact with the outside world and learns about friendship, love, and humanity.

 Lisle, Janet Taylor. Black Duck

Years afterwards, Ruben Hart tells the story of how, in 1929 Newport, Rhode Island, his family and his best friend's family were caught up in the violent competition among groups trying to control the local rum-smuggling trade.

 Lupica, Mike. Heat

Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof.

 Miller, Kirsten. Kiki Strike Inside the Shadow City

Life becomes more interesting for Ananka Fishbein when, at the age of twelve, she discovers an underground room in the park across from her New York City apartment and meets a mysterious girl called Kiki Strike who claims that she, too, wants to explore the subterranean world.

 Nolan, Han. Summer of Kings

Over the course of the summer of 1963, fourteen-year-old Esther Young discovers the passion within her when eighteen-year-old King-Roy Johnson, accused of murdering a white man in Alabama, comes to live with her family.

 Pearsall, Shelly. All of the Above

Five urban middle school students, their teacher, and other community members relate how a school project to build the world's largest tetrahedron affects the lives of everyone involved.

 Pfeffer, Susan Beth. Life As We Knew It

Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

 Rorby, Ginny. Hurt Go Happy

When thirteen-year-old Joey Willis, deaf since the age of six, meets Dr. Charles Mansell and his chimpanzee Sukari, who use sign language, her world blooms with possibilities but that of the chimp begins to narrow.

 Van Draanen, Windelin. Runaway

Twelve-year-old Holly knows a lot about living on the streets, since she lived that life with her drug-addicted mother before the womans death from an overdose. She determines that it is preferable to continuing in her abusive foster home. A journal provided by a compassionate teacher is where she records her lonely and difficult struggle for survival.

Mark Twain Award

The Mark Twain Award is to provide the children of Missouri with a recommended reading list of literature that will enrich their lives through reading.

The Mark Twain Award is selected by students in grades 4 through 6 and presented annually.

GUIDELINES FOR CHOOSING BOOKS:

1. Books should interest children in grades four through six.
2. Books should be an original work written by an author living in the United States.
3. Books should be of literary value which may enrich children's personal lives.
4. Books should be published two years prior to nomination on a Master List of 12 Nominees.
    

WHO MAY VOTE:
Although the list is chosen for grades 4 through 6, any student regardless of grade level is eligible to vote for their favorite book if they have read or have had read to them at least FOUR of the titles on the current master Mark Twain list.