The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
	Blue Ribbons are chosen annually by the Bulletin staff and represent what we believe to be the best of the previous year's literature for youth. See the Blue Ribbon Archive for other lists from 1990 through the present. Please feel free to copy, download, or link to these lists. We ask only that you cite the source.
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	2008 Blue Ribbons

The good news this year:  we had an extremely strong group of fiction semifinalists, making the selection of the final list agonizing indeed.  The bad news:  it’s probably the oldest-aimed fiction list, overall, that we’ve ever put on Blue Ribbons.  Has the increasing attention to YA fiction in prestigious circles tipped the writing balance?  We don’t know, but we’re glad that there’s plenty of magnificent nonfiction and picture books to fill the gap.

Deborah Stevenson, Editor

FICTION

• Anderson, M. T.  The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing:  Traitor to the Nation:  Volume II:  The Kingdom on the Waves. Candlewick.  Gr. 8-12  (November)
  Slave Octavian, now escaped from his Boston owners, decides that joining the British army to fight against the revolting colonies is his only route to freedom, but soon he discovers that the Britons’ promises are as flimsy as those of his former masters.
  


• Benway, Robin.  Audrey, Wait!  Razorbill.  Gr. 9-12  (April)
  When Audrey dumps her boyfriend, he turns their breakup into a hit song, making Audrey into a pop-culture phenomenon and her life into a roller-coaster ride in this witty and knowing comedy.


• Bunce, Elizabeth C.  A Curse Dark as Gold.  Levine/Scholastic.  Gr. 7-10  (March)
  This ingenious novel takes the tale of “Rumpelstiltskin” for its inspiration, focusing on a young eighteenth-century Englishwoman who’s attempting to keep the family woollen mill afloat and who finds assistance from a mysterious visitor.


• de la Peña, Matt.  Mexican WhiteBoy.  Delacorte.  Gr. 7-10  (October)
  Shy Danny Lopez struggles to connect with his Latino father’s family despite his Anglo upbringing, and it looks like his prodigious baseball skills may be the key.


• Fletcher, Christine.  Ten Cents a Dance.  Bloomsbury.  Gr. 9-12  (May)
  Ruby Jacinski is perfectly resigned to leave school and become the breadwinner for her widowed mother, but the 1940s economy and social structure doesn’t leave her many options, so she finds herself working as a taxi dancer, renting dances to customers at a dance hall, trying to dance on the right side of that narrow line between respectable hostessing and the after-hours scamming and prostitution.


• Harris, Joanne.  Runemarks.  Knopf.  Gr. 7-10  (March)
  Fourteen and shunned by her village because of her magical ability, Maddy finds her life irrevocably changing when she’s sent on a quest to find a powerful object that will help tip the balance in the brewing battle between good and evil in this dramatic and compelling fantasy.


• Lanagan, Margo.  Tender Morsels.  Knopf.  Gr. 10 up  (November)
  This carefully crafted fantasy follows Liga, a village girl who leaves behind her abusive life with her father for a magically enabled existence in a utopia where she safely raises her two girls, only to find that the real world holds a place for her after all.


• Les Becquets, Diane.  Season of Ice.  Bloomsbury.  Gr. 8-12  (February)
  Seventeen-year-old Genesis, a tough, self-reliant resident of northern Maine, needs all her strength when her father disappears from his boat just before the lake ices over, leaving her to face the winter torn between accepting his almost certain death and believing that he’s survived but abandoned his family in this emotional and atmospheric novel.


• Monninger, Joseph.  Hippie Chick.  Front Street.  Gr. 9-12  (October)
  In a survival story that focuses more in internal realization than Robinsonian ingenuity, fifteen-year-old Lolly, thrown off her capsized boat in the Florida Keys, finds support for her survival from a trio of manatees.


• Pratchett, Terry.  Nation.  HarperCollins.  Gr. 7-10  (November)
  When a tidal wave devastates Mau’s island just as he comes into his manhood, he must negotiate a partnership with a stranded and strong-minded English girl, lead and heal a new society of rag-tag survivors, and question the implication of this event for the island’s polytheistic faith.
  

• Scott, Elizabeth.  Living Dead Girl.  Simon Pulse.  Gr. 9-12  (September)
  This harrowing, lacerating novel defies myths about victimhood as it follows fifteen-year-old Alice, who for five years has been the captive of her abductor and rapist, and who is now presented with a possible escape if she finds her own replacement.
  


• Sturm, James.  Satchel Paige:  Striking Out Jim Crow; illus. by Rich Tommaso.  Center for Cartoon Studies/Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, 2007.  Gr. 6-10  (March)
  This graphic novel, narrated by a fictional has-been black ball player, tells of the great Satchel Paige and his significance to his downtrodden fans in compelling text and spare, sinewy artwork.

NONFICTION

• Bishop, Nic.  Nic Bishop Frogs; written and illus. with photographs by Nic Bishop.  Scholastic.  Gr. 2-5  (March)
  Accessible, direct text and riveting (ribbeting?) photography combine to make this a stellar introduction to some eye-catching amphibians.
  
  
• Davies, Nicola.  What’s Eating You?:  Parasites—The Inside Story; illus. by Neal Layton.  Candlewick, 2007.   Gr. 3-5 (January)
  Browsers and young scientists alike will be fascinated (and enjoyably grossed out) by this irreverent and informative guide by biologist Davies to all the microscopic creatures that live on and inside us.
  
  


• Franco, Betsy, ed.  Falling Hard:  100 Love Poems by Teenagers. Candlewick.  Gr. 9 up  (November)
  This varied collection of deftly crafted poems isn’t just impressive because of the authors’ ages, it’s just plain impressive.
  
  


• Hopkinson, Deborah.  Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek:  A Tall, Thin Tale (Introducing His Forgotten Frontier Friend); illus. by John Hendrix.  Schwartz & Wade.  7-10 yrs  (October)
  This self-aware account of a childhood incident in Lincoln’s life slyly examines the way history is made and recounted even as it tells a roaring good story.
  
  


• Miller, Heather Lynn.  This Is Your Life Cycle; illus. by Michael Chesworth.  Clarion.  Gr. 3-6  (September)
  Dahlia the Dragonfly is the guest on the titular insect television show, with host Bob Beetle covering the details of her hatching and growth, in this comic natural history that begs for in-class performance.
  
  
  
• Moffett, Mark W.  Face to Face with Frogs; written and illus. with photographs by Mark W. Moffett.  National Geographic.  Gr. 3-5  (March)
  Amphibian aficionados will rejoice at National Geographic contributor Moffett’s photo-rich, personally chatty yet informative account of froggy lives.
  
  

• Nelson, Kadir.  We Are the Ship:  The Story of Negro League Baseball; written and illus. by Kadir Nelson.  Jump at the Sun/Hyperion.  Gr. 4-8  (April)
  Dramatic portraiture and compelling narration makes this faux-memoir into a gripping history.
  
  
  
• Nichols, Travis.  Punk Rock Etiquette:  The Ultimate How-to Guide for DIY, Punk, Indie, and Underground Bands; written and illus. by Travis Nichols.  Flash Point/Roaring Brook.  Gr. 7-12  (October)
  This offbeat, humorous nonfiction how-to, decked with lively line drawings, gives wise and genuinely helpful advice on  rock necessities  ranging from types of bandmates to survival on road trips to making and marketing merchandise.
  
  
  
• Rappaport, Doreen.  Abe’s Honest Words:  The Life of Abraham Lincoln; illus. by Kadir Nelson.  Hyperion.  6-9 yrs  (October)
  Able storytelling, clever selection of Lincoln’s own words, and portraiture that ranges from monumental to intimate provide a dramatic introduction to our sixteenth president.
  
  

PICTURE BOOKS

• Ahlberg, Allan.  The Pencil; illus. by Bruce Ingman.  Candlewick.  4-7 yrs  (September)
  It all starts with a pencil in this droll literary creation story, wherein a pencil, aided by a paintbrush (named Kitty), drafts the various human, animal, and other elements of a world only to find that the eraser he’s drawn endangers his creations. 
  
  


• Amato, Mary.  The Chicken of the Family; illus. by Delphine Durand.  Putnam.  6-9 yrs  (March)
  Teased by her older sisters that she is actually a chicken, young Henrietta resists at first but then turns the tables on her sibs by not only accepting but championing in the idea; lively, goofily appealing art adds further entertainment to the funny story.
  
  


• Becker, Bonny.  A Visitor for Bear; illus. by Kady McDonald Denton.  Candlewick.  4-7 yrs  (January)
  Bear doesn’t allow visitors, so he’s indignant—in humorously grandiose language—when a little mouse repeatedly infiltrates the bruin’s cozy home.
  
  


• Crow, Kristyn.  Cool Daddy Rat; illus. by Mike Lester.  Putnam.  5-8 yrs  (April)
  Crow’s text swings with scat-along possibilities (“Cool Daddy Rat/ shooby dooby doo dat/ grabbed his hat in his rat flat/ zowie zowie zoo zat”) in this lively tale of little son Ace, who stows away to join his cool Daddy Rat from gig to gig one night.
  
  


• Frazee, Marla.  A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever; written and illus. by Marla Frazee.  Harcourt.  6-9 yrs  (March)
  Frazee captures the joys of a summer vacation with a friend, with the best times turning up where you find them rather than where they’re planned, in this picture-book account of two obstreperous boys’ week at Nature Camp. 
  
  


• Grey, Mini.  Traction Man Meets Turbodog; written and illus. by Mini Grey. Knopf.  Gr. 2-4  (October)
  Animated action figure Traction Man returns here in a thrilling, hilarious, and oddly poignant quest to save his sidekick Scrubbing Brush from the garbage.
  
  


• Hills, Tad.  What’s Up, Duck?  A Book of Opposites; written and illus. by Tad Hills.  Schwartz & Wade.  2-3 yrs  (April)
  Hills’ Duck and Goose, with two birdie friends in brief hop-on roles, offer nine terse but grandly effective studies in contrast for this board-book concept treatment.
  
  


• Horácek, Petr.  Choo Choo; written and illus. by Petr Horácek. Candlewick, 2008  1-3 yrs (July/August)
  Get out of town literarily with this sturdy board book, punctuated with classic train noises, about an old-fashioned steam engine’s trip across the countryside and through a dark tunnel to get to the destination beach.
  
  


• Monroe, Chris.  Monkey with a Tool Belt; written and illus. by Chris Monroe.  Carolrhoda.  Gr. 2-4 (June)
  A tool-using handymonkey named Chico Bon Bon finds his skills advantageous when he’s captured by a nefarious organ grinder in this quirky and absurd outing.

• Ray, Mary Lyn.  Christmas Farm; illus. by Barry Root. Harcourt.  5-8 yrs  (December)
  In a book that combines math problem, ecological exploration, and charming holiday story, Wilma and her young neighbor, Parker, plant, tend, and finally sell a multitude of Christmas tree conifers.
  
  
  
• Schwarz, Viviane.  There Are Cats in this Book; written and illus. by Viviane Schwarz.  Candlewick.  3-6 yrs (December)
  Young viewers become part of the story by responding to the text’s request and lifting flaps to progress the action in this gentle and light-hearted account of a cat trio’s domestic adventures.
  
  
  
• Shea, Bob.  Dinosaur vs. Bedtime; written and illus. by Bob Shea.  Hyperion.  2-4 yrs  (October)
  Nothing can stop this fierce little dinosaur, who emerges victorious against foes such as a bowl of spaghetti, a couple of talking grownups, or toothbrush and toothpaste, but is he a match for bedtime?  Vigorous visuals and lively repeated phrases make this a roaring good time.