Announcing the 2017-2018 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List
AUSTIN – Children’s authors Jon Scieszka and Steven Weinberg joined students from the central Texas area in announcing the 2017-2018 Texas Bluebonnet Award (TBA) Master List on November 5 at the 2016 Texas Book Festival. The TBA Master List is considered one of the most prestigious children’s literature lists in the country. Every year, over one hundred thousand children in grades 3-6 vote on their favorite book from a list of 20 titles curated by librarians around the state who serve on the TBA Committee. Students, teachers, librarians, and booksellers statewide eagerly await the yearly release of a new master list. “The books on the list are chosen to enable the readers of Texas to identify with at least one of the stories, whether it is through authorship, plot, or characters,” says TBA coordinator Sharon Lawler. “With several genres represented, we feel there is something for everyone.” Presenting the 2017-2018 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List:
- Ada’s Violin by Susan Hood, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
- The Best Man by Richard Peck (Penguin/Dial)
- Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids, and a Hundred Sea Turtles by Philippe Cousteau and Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Meilo So (Chronicle)
- The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (Algonquin Young Readers/Workman Publishing)
- The Great Pet Escape (Pets on the Loose) by Victoria Jamieson (Macmillan/Henry Holt)
- The Great Shelby Holmes by Elizabeth Eulberg (Bloomsbury)
- In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall, illustrated by James Mark Yellowhawk (Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS)
- The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd (Scholastic Inc.)
- The Last Kids on Earth by Max Braillier, illustrated by Douglas Holgate (Penguin/Viking)
- Little Cat’s Luck by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Jennifer A. Bell (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
- Lola Levine: Drama Queen by Monica Brown, illustrated by Angela Dominguez (Little, Brown)
- The Magnificent Mya Tibbs: Spirit Week Showdown by Crystal Allen (HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray)
- Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Allison McGhee (Simon & Schuster/Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books)
- The Princess and the Warrior by Duncan Tonatiuh (Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS)
- Soar by Joan Bauer (Penguin/Viking)
- Some Kind of Courage by Dan Gemeinhart (Scholastic Inc.)
- The Storyteller by Evan Turk (Simon & Schuster/Atheneum)
- Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Little, Brown)
- Unidentified Suburban Objects by Mike Jung (Scholastic Inc.)
- Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton, illustrated by Don Tate (Charlesbridge)
The goal of the TBA program is to encourage reading for pleasure. The titles are chosen for both quality and appeal to children. In order to vote, children must read at least five of the titles on the list. Reading the entire list is not required as the titles are chosen to be appropriate for a wide age range. In January each year, students vote for their favorite of the 20 titles on the list, thus using critical thinking skills in selecting their choice. The winner will be announced in February 2017 and the award will be presented at the 2017 Texas Library Association (TLA) Annual Conference in San Antonio in April. The TBA reading program is one of several developed by the TLA for readers of all ages. For more information about these lists, including book titles, visit: txla.org/reading-lists
# # #
About the Texas Library Association
TLA is the largest state library association in the country with approximately 7,000 members who work in public, school, academic, and special libraries and who support educational institutions. TLA offers a wide range of services, including advocacy, continuing education, research, and public relations. To learn more about TLA, visit www.txla.org or call 512-328-1518.
Contact: Sara Ortiz | Communications & Marketing Specialist sarao@txla.org | 512-328-1518
