2009-2010 Bluebonnet Nominees

Last month, the 2009-2010 of Bluebonnet nominees were announced.  Get an early start and check them out of the DPL!

The Penderwicks on Gardham Street by Jeanne Birdsall

 

 

Surprises According to Humphrey by Betty Birney

 

 

Frogs by Nic Bishop

 

 

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale by Carmen Agra Deedy

 

 

The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman

 

 

The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating by AW Flaherty

 

 

Piper Reed: Navy Brat by Kimberly Willis Holt

 

 

What To Do About Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World and Drove her Father Teddy Crazy! by Barbara Kerley

 

Savvy by Ingrid Law

 

 

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, Schools, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look

 

 

Two-Minute Drill by Mike Lupica

 

 

Yum! MmMm! Que Rico!: America’s Sproutings by Pat Mora

The Hound of Rowan by Henry H. Neff

 

 

We are the Ship: The Story of the Negro Baseball League by Kadir Nelson

 

 

Lady Liberty: A Biography by Doreen Rappaport

Pale Male: Citizen Hawk of New York City by Janet Schulman

 

 

Maybelle in the Soup by Katie Speck

 

 

Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli

 

 

Help Me, Mr. Mutt by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

 

 

Someone Named Eva by Joan Wolf

Kids and Money

I wish that in my younger days, my parents had taught me the value of investment…oh wait, I think they did, I just chose to ignore them and buy the latest New Kids on the Block poster with my allowance instead.  Maybe if I had read a book like Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen, I would have been more inclined to forgo the pop culture detritus and open an IRA. 

 In this very short and amusing story, our unnamed, twelve year-old protagonist begins his summer with a lot of time and an old riding lawn mower.  After mowing his own lawn, the neighbors begin to request his services, and he soon has more clients than he can possibly handle.  His problems seem to be solved after he befriends a friendly stockbroker who becomes manager of the boy’s business and finances, which both balloon to mammoth proportions.  Soon, the boy finds out that his problems are just beginning.

 While there are other resources for teaching kids about money and investing, Lawn Boy might be more effective than non-fiction because the story and characters are entertaining and the length of the book makes it appropriate for reluctant readers. 

-Dana Zakrzewski