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Texas Bluebonnet Award
2008-2009 Master List
The Texas Library Association sponsors the
Texas Bluebonnet Award reading list
solely to encourage free voluntary reading.
A student reading all the Bluebonnet books for the school year and passing
the A/R test for each book receives a beautiful trophy at the end of the
school year awards ceremony.
One-Handed Catch
Sixth grader Norm’s future plans are built around being either a pitcher or
an artist, but when he loses his hand helping his father by grinding meat
for a customer, his hopes are shattered. Norm must find the strength to not
give up on his dreams.
Atherton: the House of Power
Edgar lives in a place of three distinct worlds: The Highlands, Tabletop,
and The Flatlands. He has a vague memory of a voice telling him that there
is something hidden in the rock walls separating The Highlands of Atherton
from Tabletop. When he finds the message, he knows that he may be the only
one who can save Atherton from destruction.
The Middle of Somewhere
Twelve-year-old Ronnie wants to see the world. The opportunity for her and
her brother to travel with their wind prospector grandfather in his camper
comes when her mother is injured in a hilarious romp through the house
chasing a squirrel. The fact that her grandfather doesn’t really want
company and her brother is hyperactive just adds to the adventure.
Tall Tales
Sixth grade is the year Meg finally makes a friend after having to move time-
after-time as her alcoholic father is constantly trying to make a fresh
start. She is afraid to tell Grace her family secrets, so she makes up
stories of a wished-for life. As the truth comes out, Meg discovers what
friendship is about.
One Potato, Two Potato
Mr. and Mrs. O’Grady are so poor that they have had to share one coat, one
blanket, and one potato each day, but they don’t mind. When Mr. O’Grady is
digging for potatoes and finds a pot with the magical power of doubling any
object put into it, they have the chance to make big changes in their simple
life.
Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings
Verse, paintings and scientific facts bring the marvels of the Universe to
life. The changing of Pluto’s status as a planet is included.
The Thing About Georgie
Georgie is a Little Person, and for the most part he is happy with his
life. However, finding out he is about to become a brother, dealing with
Jeanie the Meanie, and having a major fight with his best friend all
converge during his fourth-grade year. Georgie has to learn that growing up
is not a height issue.
Just Grace
There are four girls named Grace in the same third grade class. When Miss
Lois asks Grace what she wants to be called, her reply is, “just Grace”– and
the name stuck. Grace prides herself in empathizing with others, but her
attempt at helping her neighbor feel better about her lost cat backfires.
Gabriel’s Horses
Though twelve-year-old Gabriel’s father is a free black man, his mother is a
slave; thus he is also a slave. His father trains thoroughbred race horses,
and it is Gabriel’s desire to be a jockey some day. When his father joins
the Union Army to earn money to buy his family’s freedom, it becomes
Gabriel’s job to protect the horses from the new trainer and a band of
Confederate raiders.
Toys Go Out: Being the Adventures of a Knowledgeable stingray,
a Toughy Little Buffalo, and Someone Called Plastic
Told in six episodic adventures, Lumpy, Stingray, and Plastic, three best
friends who are toys belonging to the Little Girl, discover the dangers and
adventures of life in these funny and endearing tales.
What You Never Knew About Beds, Bedrooms, and Pajamas
From The Stone Age to Modern Times the development of all that has to do
with sleeping is related in an entertaining, but factual manner. No one will
be able to get ready for bed in the same way again, and it might be
difficult getting to sleep just thinking about beds, bedrooms, and pajamas.
Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor
Inventor, Margaret Knight, was not the usual 19th century young woman. Her
first inventions were for her brothers, and at age twelve she invented a
shuttle-guard that prevented many mill injuries. She became part of history
when a man stole her invention for making square bottomed paper bags, and
she had to go to court to prove herself as the inventor to obtain the
patent.
How to Steal a Dog
One secret that Georgina plans to keep from everyone, including her best
friend, is that her father left; now she, her mother and her little brother,
Toby, are homeless. When she sees a sign offering a $500.00 reward for a
lost dog, she sees a way out of her troubles. Now she just has to steal a
dog.
The Winner’s Walk
Everyone in Case’s family has a special talent, and nine-year-old Case is
determined to find his. Things are beginning to look bleak as plan after
plan fails — until he finds a lost dog he names Noah. Since Noah has special
abilities, he and Case find success in dog agility contests. However, Case
soon discovers something else about Noah that leads him to find a special
talent for caring.
Lawn Boy
On his twelfth birthday he is broke and bored, and his grandmother gives him
an old riding lawnmower. Before long he’s working every day making $20.00 a
lawn and he becomes The Lawn Boy. Then, Arnold the stockbroker comes into
his life. The next thing he knows he’s got a crew working for him, he’s
rich, and one of his investments is the contract of prizefighter, Joey Pow.
No more boring summer.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures
In this first of a kind book that is novel, picture book, graphic novel, and
even film, the reader is introduced to Hugo, the orphaned son of a
clockmaker in 1931 Paris. Hugo has managed to keep the secret of his
father’s death by continuing the job of winding the huge clocks at the Paris
train station each day. When his job is done, he works on the secret his
father left him. Hugo becomes involved with a book-loving girl and an angry
old man; thus, the fast-paced mystery begins.
This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness
The assignment for this fictionalized class is to write poems of apology.
It’s a hit. The students ask the recipients of the apologies to reply, and
the class puts them together in a book. Through a wide variety of poetry the
emotion involved in “I’m sorry” and “you’re forgiven” is presented.
Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon
Everyone knows about the job of the astronauts in the space program, but
most don’t realize the thousands of people it takes behind the scenes to
have a successful mission. With photos from NASA and quotes from those
involved in Team Moon, everyone is given their due as the Apollo 11
spacecraft takes off on its history-making moon landing.
Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom
On one side of Bok Chitto is the plantation and on the other the Choctaws.
If a slave could get across the river to the Choctaw tribe, there was
freedom. With the aide of a Choctaw secret and a bit of magic, Little Mo’s
family is able to escape to freedom in this oral tradition tale from both
the Choctaw and African-American traditions.
Way Down Deep
The town Way Down Deep is full of delightful characters; among them, Ruby a
toddler found by the townspeople in the summer of 1944. Ruby lives with Miss
Arbutus, the owner of the boarding house, but is raised by the entire town.
She loves her life but has always wondered about her history. When she is
twelve, a new family that has clues to her past moves to Way Down Deep. The
discoveries lead to even more questions for Ruby who has decisions to make
about the rest of her life.
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