Young Reader’s Choice Award 2006

Tales of Despereaux -- Kate DiCamillo

The tale of Despereaux : being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread / Kate DiCamillo ; illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

Eragon -- Christopher Paolini

In Aagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

Fat Kid Rules the World -- Kelly Going

Seventeen-year-old Troy, depressed, suicidal, and weighing nearly three hundred pounds, gets a new perspective on life when Curt, a semi-homeless teen who is a genius on guitar, asks Troy to be the drummer in a rock band. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

Young Reader’s Choice Nominees for 2007

(Read two or more of these titles in order to be able to vote)

Chasing Vermeer -- Blue Balliett

When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

Peter and the Starcatchers -- Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

Peter, an orphan boy, and his friend Molly fight off thieves and pirates in order to keep the secret safe away from the diabolical Black Stache and his evil associate Mister Grin. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

Al Capone Does My Shirts -- Gennifer Choldenko

A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards’ families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

The Supernaturalist -- Eoin Colfer

In futuristic Satellite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill escapes from an abusive orphanage and teams up with three other people who share his unusual ability to see supernatural creatures, and together they determine the nature and purpose of the swarming blue Parasites that are invisible to most humans. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

Heartbeat -- Sharon Creech

Twelve-year-old Annie ponders the many rhythms of life the year that her mother became pregnant, her grandfather begins faltering, and her best friend (and running partner) becomes distant. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

Red Kayak -- Priscilla Cummings

Living near the water on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, thirteen-year-old Brady and his best friend J.T. and Digger become entangled in a tragedy which tests their friendship and their ideas about right and wrong. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

Bucking the Sarge -- Christopher Paul Curtis

Deeply involved in his cold and manipulative mother’s shady business dealings in Flint, Michigan, fourteen-year-old Luther keeps a sense of humor while running the Happy Neighbor Group Home for Men,  all the while dreaming of going to college and becoming a philosopher. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

The Sea of Trolls -- Nancy Farmer

After Jack becomes apprenticed to a Druid bard, he and his little sister Lucy are captured by Viking Berserkers and taken to the home of King Ivar the Boneless and his half-troll queen, leading Jack to undertake a vital quest to Jotunheim, home of the trolls. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

Dragon Rider -- Cornelia Funk

After learning that humans are headed toward his hidden home, Firedrake, a silver dragon, is joined by a brownie and an orphan boy in a quest to find the legendary valley known as the Rim of Heaven, encountering friendly and unfriendly creatures along the way, and the struggling to evade the relentless pursuit of an old enemy. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

Kira-Kira -- Cynthia Kadohata

Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1959s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place -- E.L. Konigsburg

Upon leaving an oppressive summer camp, twelve-year-old Margaret Rose Kane spearheads a campaign to preserve three unique towers her grand uncles have been building in their back yard for over forty years. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

Airborne -- Kenneth Oppel

Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth’s surface. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

The Teacher’s Funeral -- Richard Peck

In rural Indiana in 1904, fifteen-year-old Russell’s dreams of quitting school and joining a wheat threshing crew are disrupted when his older sister takes over the teaching at his one-room school house after mean old Myrt Arbuckle “hauls off and dies.” (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

2007 Kids Read The Same Book (Read Across Boise)

Heir Apparent – Vivian Vande Velde

While playing a total immersion virtual reality game of kings and intrigue, fourteen-year-old Giannine learns that demonstrators have damaged the equipment to which she is connected, and she must win the game quickly or be damaged herself. (for Young Adult and Middle School Choice) (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

Thief Lord – Cornelia Funke

Orphaned brothers Prosper and Bo, having run away from their cruel aunt and uncle, decide to hide out in Venice where they fall in with the Thief Lord, a thirteen-year-old boy who leads a crime ring of street children. – (Upper Elementary Grades(Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

How I Became a Pirate – Melinda Long

Jeremy Jacob joins Braid Beard and his pirate crew and finds out about pirate language, pirate manners, and other aspects of their life. (Early Elementary Grades) (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

2007 The Big Read (Adults)(Read Across Boise)

A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway

An American ambulance officer serving on the Austro-Italian front deserts to join an English nurse after the retreat of Caporetto. (Summary from Follett.com Titlewave.)

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