2008
– 2009 William Allen White Master List
(Grades 6- 8)
Auch, Mary Jane. One-handed catch. After losing his hand in an accident in his father’s butcher shop in 1946, sixth-grader Norman uses hard work and humor to learn to live with his disability and to succeed at baseball, art and other activities.
Balliett, Blue. The Wright 3. In the midst of a series of unexplained accidents and mysterious coincidences, sixth graders Calder, Petra and Tommy lead their classmates in an attempt to keep Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Robie House from being demolished.
Larson, Kirby. Hattie big sky. After inheriting her uncle’s homesteading claim in Montana, sixteen-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks travels from Iowa in 1917 to make a home for herself and encounters some unexpected problems related to the war being fought in Europe.
Lord, Cynthia. Rules. Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with a young paraplegic.
Lowry, Lois. Gossamer. While learning to bestow dreams, a young dream giver tries to save an eight-year-old boy from the effects of both his abusive past and the nightmares inflicted on him by the frightening Sinisteeds.
Myers, Anna. Confessions from the principal’s chair. After participating in a cruel prank, her mother moves them to Oklahoma, where fourteen-year-old Robin is mistaken for the substitute principal and gets to see a new perspective on bullying.
Pearsall, Shelley. All of the above. Four urban middle school students, their teacher and other community members relate how a school project to build the world’s largest tetrahedron affects the lives of everyone involved.
Ray, Delia. Singing hands. In the late 1940’s, twelve-year-old Gussie, a minister’s daughter, learns the definition of integrity while helping with a celebration at the Alabama School for the Deaf – her punishment for misdeeds against her deaf parents and their boarders.
Roy, Jennifer. Yellow star. From 1939, when Syvia is four and a half years old, to 1945 when she has just turned ten, a Jewish girl and her family struggle to survive in Poland’s Lodz ghetto during the Nazi occupation.
Shafer, Audrey. The mailbox. 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.
Tolan, Stephanie. Listen! During her solitary convalescence from a crippling accident, twelve-year-old Charley finds a wild dog, and the arduous process of training him leads her to explore her feelings about her mother’s death two years earlier.
Weeks, Sarah. Jumping the scratch. After moving with his mother to a trailer park to care for an injured aunt who has lost her memory, eleven-year-old Jamie Reardon struggles to cope with a deeply buried secret from his own memory, one he would like to forget forever.
Winthrop, Elizabeth. Counting on Grace. It’s 1910 and at twelve Grace and her friend Arthur must go to work in the mill, helping their mothers work the looms. Together Grace and Arthur write a secret letter to the Child Labor Board about underage children working in the mill. A few weeks later, Lewis Hine, a famous reformer arrives undercover to gather evidence. Grace meets him and appears in some of his photographs changing her life forever.
2008
– 2009 William Allen White Master List (Grades 3-5)
Corbett, Sue. Free baseball. Angry with his mother for having too little time for him, eleven-year-old Felix takes advantage of an opportunity to become batboy for a minor league baseball team, hoping to someday be like his father, a famous Cuban outfielder.
Dowell, Frances O’Roark. Phineas L. MacGuire…erupts!: the first experiment. Fourth grade science whiz Phineas L. MacGuire is forced to team up with the new boy in class on a science fair project, but the boy’s quirky personality causes Phineas to wonder if they have any chance of winning.
Ferber, Brenda A. Julia’s kitchen. When her mother and younger sister are killed in a house fire, eleven-year-old Cara struggles to find a way to deal with her emotions and to reach out to her grieving father.
Grimes, Nikki. The road to Paris. Inconsolable at being separated from her older brother, eight-year-old Paris is apprehensive about her new foster family but just as she learns to trust them, she faces a life-changing decision.
Jenkins, Emily. Toys go out; being the adventures of a knowledgeable Stingray, a toughy little buffalo, and someone called Plastic.: Six stories relate the adventures of three best friends who happen to be toys.
Loizeaux, William. Wings. Ten-year-old Nick, who misses his father, finds companionship after rescuing an injured baby mockingbird.
Lombard, Jenny. Drita, my homegirl. When ten-year-old Drita and her family, refugees from Kosovo, move to New York, Drita is teased about not speaking English well, but after a popular student named Maxine is forced to learn about Kosovo as a punishment for teasing Drita, the two girls soon bond.
Lubar, David. Punished! Logan and his friend Benedict are playing tag in the library. Logan gets caught when he runs into a mysterious man. When Logan doesn’t apologize sincerely, the mysterious gentleman punishes him by causing him to speak in puns. Only finding seven examples each of oxymorons, anagrams and palindromes within the time limits will return Logan to normal.
Mackall Dandi Daley. Larger-than-life Lara. Using the writing techniques she has learned in school, fourth grader Laney relates how an obese girl new to the class changes the lives of those around her, despite being bullied by her peers.
Park, Linda Sue. Archer’s quest. Twelve-year-old Kevin Kim helps Chu-mong, a legendary King of ancient Korea, return to his own time.
Pennypacker, Sara. Clementine. While sorting through difficulties in her friendship with her neighbor, Margaret, eight-year-old Clementine gains several unique hairstyles while also helping her father in his efforts to banish pigeons from the front of their apartment building.