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Here is the latest Sunshine State Young Reader's Award (SSYRA) book list. The ones I’ve added a photo to are history themed and you can bet I’ll be making a priority of reading them :-)
SSYRA FOR GRADES 3-5
11 Birthdays
by Wendy Mass
Amanda and Leo, best friends with the same birthday, had a falling out on their tenth birthday and have not spoken since, but peculiar things begin to happen as the day of their eleventh birthday repeats itself again and again.
Bird Lake Moon
by Kevin Henkes
Twelve-year-old Mitch and his mother are spending the summer with his grandparents at Bird Lake after his parents separate, and ten-year-old Spencer and his family have returned to the lake where Spencer's little brother drowned long ago, and as the boys become friends and spend time together, each of them begins to heal.
Twelve-year-old Lily mourns her brother, and has not spoken since the accident she feels she could have prevented, but the summer Tinny comes to town she is the only one who realizes Lily's secret.
Eight-year-old Henry and nine-year-old Chin love to read about heroes in popular "penny dreadful" novels, until they both witness real courage while trying to survive the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
by Patricia Reilly Giff
When Sam, who can barely read, discovers an old newspaper clipping just before his eleventh birthday, it brings forth memories from his past, and, with the help of a new friend at school and the castle they are building for a school project, his questions are eventually answered.
by Victoria Forester
When farm girl Piper McCloud reveals her ability to fly, she is quickly taken to a secret government facility to be trained with other exceptional children, but she soon begins working with brilliant and wealthy Conrad to escape.
by Jody Feldman
Twelve-year-old Gil Goodson competes against thousands of other children at extraordinary puzzles, stunts, and more in hopes of a fresh start for his family, which has been ostracized since his father was falsely accused of embezzling from Golly Toy and Game Company.
by Tony DiTerlizzi
Book-loving Kenny the rabbit has few friends in his farming community, so when one, bookstore owner George, is sent to kill another, gentle dragon Grahame, Kenny must find a way to prevent their battle while satisfying the dragon-crazed townspeople.
Masterpiece
by Elise Broach
After Marvin, a beetle, makes a miniature drawing as an eleventh birthday gift for James, a human with whom he shares a house, the two new friends work together to help recover a Durer drawing stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Mogo, the Third Warthog
by Donna Jo Napoli
When Mogo is cast out of his burrow to make room for a new litter, he learns how to survive and an unlikely friendship with a young baboon blooms, Mogo finds the joy of friendship and love.
Obi, Gerbil on the Loose
by M. C. Delaney
Obie the gerbil must fend for herself in a dangerous household, consisting of a dog, three cats, a parrot, and a mouse hidden in the attic, when the Armstrongs go on vacation and instructions for taking care of Obie get lost.
Piper Reed: Navy Brat
by Kimberly Willis Holt
Piper is sad about leaving her home and friends behind when her father, a Navy aircraft mechanic, is transferred yet again, but with help from her often-annoying sisters and a surprise from their parents, she finds happiness in their new home in Pensacola, Florida.
Safe at Home
by Mike Lupica
Playing baseball was the one thing that made twelve-year-old Nick Crandall feel at home until he found acceptance with adoptive parents, but he faces a new struggle to fit in when he becomes the first seventh-grader ever to make the varsity baseball team.
The Seer of Shadows
by Avi
In New York City in 1872, fourteen-year-old Horace, a photographer's apprentice, becomes entangled in a plot to create fraudulent spirit photographs, but when Horace accidentally frees the real ghost of a dead girl bent on revenge, his life takes a frightening turn.
Someone Named Eva
by Joan M. Wolf
From her home in Lidice, Czechoslovakia, in 1942, eleven-year-old Milada is taken with other blond, blue-eyed children to a school in Poland to be trained as "proper Germans" for adoption by German families, but all the while she remembers her true name and history.
SSYRA FOR GRADES 6-8
Billy Creekmore
by Tracey Porter
Billy is taken from an orphanage to live with an aunt and an uncle of whose existence he was previously unaware. He enjoys his first taste of family life until his work in a coal mine and his involvement with a union bring trouble. He then joins a circus in hopes of finding his father.
by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
In October, 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hübener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people.
by Delia Sherman
In a parallel New York City, Neef, a changeling, breaks Fairy Law and will end up sacrificed to the Wild Hunt unless she can meet the challenge of the Green Lady of Central Park.
by Mike Lupica
Playing baseball was the one thing that made twelve-year-old Nick Crandall feel at home until he found acceptance with adoptive parents, but he faces a new struggle to fit in when he becomes the first seventh-grader ever to make the varsity baseball team.
The Seer of Shadows
by Avi
In New York City in 1872, fourteen-year-old Horace, a photographer's apprentice, becomes entangled in a plot to create fraudulent spirit photographs, but when Horace accidentally frees the real ghost of a dead girl bent on revenge, his life takes a frightening turn.
by Joan M. Wolf
From her home in Lidice, Czechoslovakia, in 1942, eleven-year-old Milada is taken with other blond, blue-eyed children to a school in Poland to be trained as "proper Germans" for adoption by German families, but all the while she remembers her true name and history.
SSYRA FOR GRADES 6-8
Billy Creekmore
by Tracey PorterBilly is taken from an orphanage to live with an aunt and an uncle of whose existence he was previously unaware. He enjoys his first taste of family life until his work in a coal mine and his involvement with a union bring trouble. He then joins a circus in hopes of finding his father.
In October, 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hübener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people.
In a parallel New York City, Neef, a changeling, breaks Fairy Law and will end up sacrificed to the Wild Hunt unless she can meet the challenge of the Green Lady of Central Park.
by Caroline B. Cooney
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.
by Kirkpatrick Hill
When Deet's father is jailed for using drugs, Deet learns that prison is not what he expected, nor are other people necessarily the way he thought they were.
Football Hero
by Tim Green
When twelve-year-old Ty's brother Thane is recruited out of college to play for the New York Jets, their Uncle Gus uses Ty to get insider information for his gambling ring, landing Ty and Thane in trouble with the Mafia.
by M. L. HerlongStill mourning the death of their mother, three brothers go with their father on an extended sailing trip off the Florida Keys and have a harrowing adventure at sea .
Teenagers Q and Angela become family when their rock star parents marry. While touring the United States together secrets about Angela’s believed to be dead mother are revealed.
Things get out of hand for a twelve-year-old boy when a neighbor convinces him to expand his summer lawn mowing business.
by Susan Maupin Schmid
Violynne, the twelve-year-old daughter of missing archaeologists on the planet Lindos, must solve the puzzle of her parents' disappearance before the dictatorial Arbiter captures her and forces her to do his bidding.
Violynne, the twelve-year-old daughter of missing archaeologists on the planet Lindos, must solve the puzzle of her parents' disappearance before the dictatorial Arbiter captures her and forces her to do his bidding.
by Audrey Shafer
When twelve-year-old Gabe tries to hide his uncle's death from the local authorities, he is not prepared for what happens when this secret is discovered.
by Gary Soto
At age thirteen, best friends Ronnie and Joey suddenly feel like chimps--long armed, big eared, and gangly--and when the coach humiliates Joey in front of a girl, he climbs up a tree and refuses to come down.
by Avi
In New York City in 1872, fourteen-year-old Horace, a photographer's apprentice, becomes entangled in a plot to create fraudulent spirit photographs, but when Horace accidentally frees the real ghost of a dead girl bent on revenge, his life takes a frightening turn.
by Jerry Spinelli
Will Tuppence's life has always been ruled by science and common sense but in ninth grade, shaken up by the discovery that protons decay, he begins to see the entire world differently and gains new perspective on his relationships with his little sister and two closest friends.
Taken
by Edward Bloor
In 2036 kidnapping rich children has become an industry, but when thirteen-year-old Charity Meyers is taken and held for ransom, she soon discovers that this particular kidnapping is not what it seems.
When twelve-year-old Gabe tries to hide his uncle's death from the local authorities, he is not prepared for what happens when this secret is discovered.
by Gary Soto
At age thirteen, best friends Ronnie and Joey suddenly feel like chimps--long armed, big eared, and gangly--and when the coach humiliates Joey in front of a girl, he climbs up a tree and refuses to come down.
by Avi
In New York City in 1872, fourteen-year-old Horace, a photographer's apprentice, becomes entangled in a plot to create fraudulent spirit photographs, but when Horace accidentally frees the real ghost of a dead girl bent on revenge, his life takes a frightening turn.
Will Tuppence's life has always been ruled by science and common sense but in ninth grade, shaken up by the discovery that protons decay, he begins to see the entire world differently and gains new perspective on his relationships with his little sister and two closest friends.
Taken
by Edward Bloor
In 2036 kidnapping rich children has become an industry, but when thirteen-year-old Charity Meyers is taken and held for ransom, she soon discovers that this particular kidnapping is not what it seems.
