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The Black-Eyed Susan Book Award honors outstanding books

Chosen annually by Maryland students.

What is the Black-Eyed Susan Book Award?

Get the books from any library, book store or friend

Read at least 3 out of the 10 books from either category – or both

Complete a Book Review form for each book you read

Vote for the book you consider to be the most outstanding in each category you are eligible

Votes from across the state are sent in to the Black-Eyed Susan committees and tallied to determine the winners!

How can I participate?

And the 4 – 6 nominees are….

The following excerpts are from School Library Journal, Kirkus Review, Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist.

 

Brendan Buckley, a biracial ten-year-old, applies his scientific problem-solving ability and newfound interest in rocks and minerals to connect with his white grandfather, the president of Puyallup Rock Club, and to learn why he and Brendan's mother are estranged.

Brendan Buckley’s Universeby Sundee T Frazier

What do an inventor, a wooden lighthouse lit by candles and clinging to a treacherous reef, and a boy who hates the sea have in common? 

Fearlessby Elvira Woodruff

A twelve-year-old dragonkeeper and her friend must rescue a dragon’s egg, solving mysteries and outwitting a kidnapper in this quickly paced fantasy adventure.

Dragon’s Eggby Sarah Thomson

Twelve-year-old Willow would rather blend in than stick out. But she still wants to be seen for who she is. When Willow stumbles, it takes a surprising group of friends to help her make things right again.

Diamond Willowby Helen Frost

When parents turn to pigs and the bully next door arrives to take over the castle, it's up Igraine the Brave to save the day.

Igraine the Braveby Cornelia Funke

Maya was eleven before she learned what it was like to live free, outside the prison her grandmother's house had been.

Paint the Windby Pam Muñoz Ryan 

Samuel and Martha’s new life with their Aunt Eda in Norway is filled with rules, but most important is rule number nine: NEVER—UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES— GO INTO THE FOREST.

Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forestby Matt Haig

Zoe Elias is a smart, funny, interesting girl. If she wants to sit at your lunch table, take my advice: let her. You won’t want to let her go!

A Crooked Kind of PerfectBy Linda Urban

Griffin Bing was the Man with the Plan.  No matter how complex, no matter how dangerous, no matter how risky, Griffin could do it.  Stealing a baseball card was no problem.

Swindleby Gordon Korman

For generations, the Beaumont family has harbored a magical secret. They each possess a “savvy”—a special supernatural power.

Savvyby Ingrid Law

And the 6 – 9 nominees are….

The following excerpts are from School Library Journal, Kirkus Review, Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist.

 Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim board the London Eye, but after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off—except Salim.

The London Eye Mysteryby Shioban Dowd

The people ran as quickly as they could as the sound got louder.  From behind, the water came and destroyed everything in its path.  In the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that devastated Sumatra, Ruslan, an Indonesian boy,  searches desperately for his father who is missing.

The Killing Seaby Richard Lewis

If it’s exciting, it’s what they live for……but nothing can compare to what’s coming.

Go Big or Go Homeby Will Hobbs

In 1145 A.D., as foretold by Merlin, fourteen-year-old Rosalind, who will be the twenty-first Pendragon Queen of Wilde Island, has much to accomplish to fulfill her destiny, while hiding from her people the dragon's claw she was born with that reflects only one of her mother's dark secrets.

Dragon’s Keepby Janet Lee Carey

Jane, only 15, fullOf talent and promiseSwims into the mouthOf a shark.

Shark Girlby Kelly Bingham

It is 1963 and twelve-year-old Addie Ann Pickett seems unaffected by the civil rights movement until a near riot erupts in her community of Kackachoo, Mississippi. It all started when Old Man Adams willed his garden to the town. How does Addie Ann deal with these acts of racism?

A Thousand Never Eversby Shana Burg

When San starts at a new school in the middle of eighth grade, he decides to fit in by standing out.

Zen and the Art of Faking Itby Jordan Sonnenblick

Milada celebrates her eleventh birthday happily with family and friends. A few weeks later, German soldiers arrest the entire village. Milada and one other village girl are sent to Germany to be retrained and adopted by loyal Nazi families. They were told to forget their Czech homes and families.

Someone Named Evaby Joan Wolf

Capricorn Anderson had never watched a television show before. He'd never tasted a pizza. He had never even heard of a wedgie. And he had never, in his wildest dreams, thought of living anywhere but Garland Farm commune with his hippie caretaker, Rain.

Schooledby Gordon Korman

Who is Skulduggery Pleasant? He’s a wise-cracking, detective, master of dirty tricks and burglary. An, oh yea – he’s dead.

Skulduggery Pleasantby Derek Landy

You have to read anyway – these are some great books!

The Black-Eyed Susan Book Award is the ONLY award determined ONLY by students

We’ll have a PARTY! after you vote!

Why should you participate?

Created by Stephanie SchwinnSligo Middle SchoolSilver Spring, MD