Rhode Island Children's Book Awards 2015

Zach, Alice, and Poppy, friends from a Pennsylvania middle school who have long enjoyed acting out imaginary adventures with dolls and action figures, embark on a real-life quest to Ohio to bury a doll made from the ashes of a dead girl.

Gaby Ramirez Howard volunteers at the animal shelter by writing adoption advertisements and would like to adopt a cat named Feather but with her mother deported to Honduras Gaby has no home herself.

A history of the Galapagos Island, describing how the island formed and animals came to inhabit it.

Deza Malone, the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, accompanies her mother and older brother on a trip to find her father, an African American man who left to find work after the Great Depression hit.

When Tony's mother is sent to jail, he is sent to stay with a great uncle he has never met in Sierra Nevada. It is a daunting move—Tony's new world bears no semblance to his previous one. But slowly, against a remote and remarkable backdrop, the scars from Tony's troubled past begin to heal.

Kyle Keeley is the class clown and a huge fan of all games--board games, word games, and particularly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gamemaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the construction of the new town library. Lucky Kyle wins a coveted spot as one of twelve kids invited for an overnight sleepover in the library, hosted by Mr. Lemoncello and riddled with lots and lots of games. But when morning comes, the doors stay locked. Kyle and the other kids must solve every clue and figure out every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route!

Charlie Bumpers is sure he does not stand a chance of getting along with his fourth grade teacher and despite his best efforts to be neat and well-behaved, he always seems to be in trouble until he discovers her secret.

Twelve-year-old Tee moves to Nome, Alaska with her father, brother, and dog Henry, and one day when Tee is walking Henry down the street, a mysterious shadow appears to be following them.

When their two worlds collide in seventh grade, fraternal twins and opposites Owen and Russell find themselves in direct competition at school, on the court, and at home.

When eleven-year-old musician Elvis freezes during a competition, he's whisked away to tiny Wares Grove, New Jersey. Misfit local girl Cecilia, meanwhile, is trying to coax music out of trees. With Aaron's help, Cecilia's wish is fulfilled--only not in the way they expect. The tall-tale element adds depth to this story about a kid coping with the pressures of fame.

Award-winning author Sandra Markle explores the diverse world of bats. How does being big help one kind of bat? How does being little help another kind? Sometimes these extremes offer the key to survival. The biggest bat is the Flying Fox, which can have a wingspan as long as a bathtub. Its littlest cousin is the Bumblebee Bat, which weighs only as much as a penny. Stunning photographs from around the world invite young readers to investigate up close the features that make each bat unique.

Kelsey Kline is the best reader in the third grade—well, maybe tied for best with know-it-all Simon Ellis. When the principal, Mr. Boone, announces a school-wide reading contest—complete with a pizza party for the winning class and a special certificate for the top readers in each grade—she knows she's just the person to lead Mrs. Molina's third graders to victory. But how can they win when her classmate Cody Harmon doesn't want to read anything, and even Kelsey's best friends Annika and Izzy don't live up to her expectations?

As a dark force engulfs the land, the fate of Erdas has fallen on the shoulders of four young strangers who each have forged a rare bond with their spirit beasts -- a bond that gives great powers to all of them.

In this picture book biography, award-winning author and illustrator Kadir Nelson tells the story of Mandela, a global icon, in poignant free verse and glorious illustrations. It is the story of a young boy's determination to change South Africa, and of the struggles of a man who eventually became the president of his country by believing in equality for all people, no matter the color of their skin. Readers will be inspired by Mandela's triumph and his lifelong quest to create a more just world.

Gregory Korenstein-Jasperton is an eleven-year-old boy who likes to write stories and poems and is not excited by math, but he has a problem--he is the middle child in a family of math geniuses and his father expects him to participate in the City Math contest.

As a young Russian Jewish girl in the early 1900s, Anna and her family lived in fear of the Czar's soldiers. The family lived a hard life and had few possessions—their treasure was a beautiful china tea set. A wedding gift to Anna's parents, the tea set came with a wish that "Anyone who drinks from this will have blessings from God. They will never know a day of hunger. Their lives will always have flavor. They will know love and joy and they will never be poor."

Fourth grader Odessa Green-Light lives with her mom and her toad of a little brother, Oliver. Her dad is getting remarried, which makes no sense according to Odessa. If the prefix "re" means "to do all over again," shouldn't he be remarrying Mom?

Relates the tale of Rumpelstiltskin's childhood and youth, explaining why his name is so important, how he is able to spin straw into gold, and why a first-born child is his reward for helping the miller's daughter-turned-queen.

When Jack Baker’s mother dies, his father deposits him in the Morton Hill Academy for Boys in Maine, far from the only home he has ever known—Kansas. Alone and lonely, Jack befriends Early Auden, a strange, legendary boy who understands all manner of unknowable things, from the necessity of listening to Billie Holiday on rainy days to the secrets embedded in patterns of jelly beans. Most important, Early believes the unwinding digits in the calculation of pi hold a connection to his revered older brother, lost in the war.

In this novel told through poems, nine-year-old Sam loves fishing with his dad, so when his pesky little sister horns in on their fishing trip, he is none too pleased. Includes primer on rhyme, poetry techniques, rhythm, stanzas, and poetic forms.