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Announcing the 2019 California Young Reader Medal Winners

We are pleased to announce the winners of this year’s California Young Reader Medal. Thank you to all the students, library staff, and teachers who participated in this wonderful program.

Without further ado, here are the 2019 winners of the California Young Reader Medal:

Primary Winner

Intermediate Winner

Middle School/Junior High Winner

Young Adult Winner

Picture Books for Older Readers Winner

Congratulations to all of the winners!

[cyrmreads]

Can I Be Your Dog?

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Author and Illustrator

Troy Cummings

Publisher

Penguin Random House

WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY TROY CUMMINGS

Published by Penguin Random House, 2018

2019-2020 Nominee- Primary

Synopsis

This picture book shares the tale of Arfy, a homeless mutt who lives in a box in an alley. Arfy writes to every person on Butternut Street about what a great pet he'd make. His letters to prospective owners share that he's house broken! He has his own squeaky bone! He can learn to live with cats! But, no one wants him. Won't anyone open their heart--and home--to a lonesome dog? Readers will be happily surprised to learn just who steps up to adopt Arfy.

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The Highest Mountain of Books in the World

Official Links

Author and Illustrator

Rocio Bonilla

Publisher

Peter Pauper Press

WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY ROCIO BONILLA

Published by Peter Pauper Press, 2016

2019-2020 Nominee- Primary

Synopsis

Lucas was convinced he was born to fly. He spent hours watching birds and airplanes in flight and tried to design his own sets of wingsmany times. But each time they failed. He wrote letters to Santa, pleading for help, but was disappointed with the toy wings and capes he received. Then one day something magical happened, without him even knowing it. His mother put a book in his handsand Lucas began to fly. And fly. And fly.

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The Bad Seed

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Author

Jory John

Illustrator

Pete Oswald

Publisher

Harper Collins Publishers

WRITTEN BY JORY JOHN AND ILLUSTRATED BY PETE OSWALD

Published by Harper Collins Publishers, 2017

2019-2020 Nominee- Primary

Synopsis

This is a book about a bad seed. A baaaaaaaaaad seed. How bad? Do you really want to know?

He has a bad temper, bad manners, and a bad attitude. He’s been bad since he can remember! This seed cuts in line every time, stares at everybody and never listens. But what happens when one mischievous little seed changes his mind about himself, and decides that he wants to be—happy?

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Let Me Finish!

Official Links

Author

Minh Le

Illustrator

Isabel Roxas

Publisher

Disney Hyperion

WRITTEN BY MINH LE AND ILLUSTRATED BY ISABEL ROXAS

Published by Disney Hyperion, 2016

2019-2020 Nominee- Primary

Synopsis

When our young hero settles in to read, the last thing he wants is for some noisy animals to ruin the ending of the story. But ruin it they do. And as it turns out, the boy is quickly approaching a surprise ending of his own! Maybe he should have listened to the animals after all. . . .

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The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors

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Author

Drew Daywalt

Illustrator

Adam Rex

Publisher

Harper Collins

WRITTEN BY DREW DAYWALT AND ILLUSTRATED BY ADAM REX

Published by Harper Collins, 2017

2019-2020 Nominee- Primary

Synopsis

You’ve played the game. Now read the legend of how it all began . . . Long ago, in an ancient and distant realm called the Kingdom of Backyard, there lived a warrior named ROCK. Meanwhile in the Empire of Mom’s Home Office, a second great warrior sought the glory of battle. And his name was PAPER. At the same time, in the Kitchen Realm, in the tiny village of Junk Drawer, lived a third warrior. They called her SCISSORS. These three were the strongest, smartest, and fastest in all the land. Time and again they beat the most fearsome opponents they could find: an apricot, a computer printer—even frozen, breaded, dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets! But when the warriors finally meet each other, the most epic round of battles begins . . . and never ends. That is why, to this day, children around the world honor these worthy adversaries by playing ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS!

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The  Losers Club

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Author

Andrew Clements

Publisher

Penguin Random House

WRITTEN BY ANDREW CLEMENTS

Published by Penguin Random House, 2017

2019-2020 Nominee- Intermediate

Synopsis

Sixth grader Alec can't put a good book down. So when Principal Vance lays down the law--pay attention in class, or else--Alec takes action. He can't lose all his reading time, so he starts a club. A club he intends to be the only member of. After all, reading isn't a team sport, and no one would want to join something called the Losers Club, right? But as more and more kids find their way to Alec's club--including his ex-friend turned bully and the girl Alec is maybe starting to like--Alec notices something. Real life might be messier than his favorite books, but it's just as interesting.

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The Detective’s Assistant

Official Links

Author

Kate Hannigan

Publisher

Little, Brown Book for Young Readers

WRITTEN BY KATE HANNIGAN

Published by Little, Brown Book for Young Readers, 2015

2019-2020 Nominee- Intermediate

Synopsis

Eleven-year-old Nell Warne arrives on her aunt's doorstep lugging a heavy sack of sorrows. If her Aunt Kate rejects her, it's the miserable Home for the Friendless. Luckily, canny Nell makes herself indispensable to Aunt Kate...and not just by helping out with household chores. For Aunt Kate is the first-ever female detective employed by the legendary Pinkerton Detective Agency. And Nell has a knack for the kind of close listening and bold action that made Pinkerton detectives famous in Civil War-era America. With huge, nation-changing events simmering in the background, Nell uses skills new and old to uncover truths about her past and solve mysteries in the present.

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The War I Finally Won

Official Links

Author

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Publisher

Penguin Random House

WRITTEN BY KIMBERLY BRUBAKER BRADLEY

Published by Penguin Random House, 2017

2019-2020 Nominee- Intermediate

Synopsis

Ada and her younger brother, Jamie, now have a permanent home with their loving legal guardian, Susan Smith. Although Jamie adapts more easily, Ada still struggles with the aftermath of her old life, and how to fit into her new life. World War II continues, and forces the small community to come together and rely on one another. Ada has never been interested in getting to know her friend’s family—especially Maggie’s mother, the formidable Lady Thorton. However, circumstances bring them in close proximity along with other unexpected characters. Ada comes face to face with another German! This time she isn’t sure what she should do. How can she help the ones she loves and keep them safe?

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Refugee

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Author

Alan Gratz

Publisher

Scholastic

WRITTEN BY ALAN GRATZ

Published by Scholastic, 2017

2019-2020 Nominee- Jr. High/Middle School

Synopsis

Three different kids. One mission in common: ESCAPE. Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world… Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety and freedom in America… Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe… All three young people will go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers–from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But for each of them, there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, surprising connections will tie their stories together in the end.

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It Ain’t So Awful Falafel

Official Links

Author

Firoozeh Dumas

Publisher

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

WRITTEN BY FIROOZEH DUMAS

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016

2019-2020 Nominee- Jr. High/Middle School

Synopsis

Zomorod (Cindy) Yousefzadeh is the new kid on the block . . . for the fourth time. California’s Newport Beach is her family’s latest perch, and she’s determined to shuck her brainy loner persona and start afresh with a new Brady Bunch name—Cindy. It’s the late 1970s, and fitting in becomes more difficult as Iran makes U.S. headlines with protests, revolution, and finally the taking of American hostages. Even mood rings and puka shell necklaces can't distract Cindy from the anti-Iran sentiments that creep way too close to home.

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When Friendship Followed Me Home

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Author

Paul Griffin

Publisher

Penguin Random House

WRITTEN BY PAUL GRIFFIN

Published by Penguin Random House, 2016

2019-2020 Nominee- Jr. High/Middle School

Synopsis

Ben Coffin has never felt like he fits in. A former foster kid, he keeps his head down at school to avoid bullies and spends his afternoons reading sci-fi books at the library. But that all changes when he finds a scruffy abandoned dog named Flip and befriends the librarian’s daughter, Halley. For the first time, Ben starts to feel like he belongs in his own life. Then, everything changes, and suddenly, Ben is more alone than ever. But with a little help from Halley’s magician father, Ben discovers his place in the world and learns to see his own magic through others’ eyes.

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Scythe

Official Links

Author

Neal Shusterman

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

WRITTEN BY NEAL SHUSTERMAN

Published by Simon and Schuster, 2016

2019-2020 Nominee- Young Adult

Synopsis

Thou shalt kill. A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

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Daughter of Deep Silence

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Author

Carrie Ryan

Publisher

Penguin Random House

WRITTEN BY CARRIE RYAN

Published by Penguin Random House, 2015

2019-2020 Nominee- Young Adult

Synopsis

I’m the daughter of murdered parents. I’m the friend of a dead girl. I’m the lover of my enemy. And I will have my revenge.  

In the wake of the devastating destruction of the luxury yacht Persephone, just three souls remain to tell its story—and two of them are lying. Only Frances Mace knows the terrifying truth, and she’ll stop at nothing to avenge the murders of everyone she held dear. Even if it means taking down the boy she loves and possibly losing herself in the process.

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The Hate U Give

Official Links

Author

Angie Thomas

Publisher

Harper Collins

WRITTEN BY ANGIE THOMAS

Published by Harper Collins, 2017

2019-2020 Nominee- Young Adult

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

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Lillian’s Right to Vote

Official Links

Author

Jonah Winters

Illustrator

Shane W. Evans

Publisher

Penguin Random House

WRITTEN BY JONAH WINTERS AND ILLUSTRATED BY SHANE W. EVANS

Published by Penguin Random House, 2015

2019-2020 Nominee-Picture Books for Older Readers

Synopsis

An elderly African American woman, en route to vote, remembers her family’s tumultuous voting history in this picture book publishing in time for the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.   As Lillian, a one-hundred-year-old African American woman, makes a “long haul up a steep hill” to her polling place, she sees more than trees and sky—she sees her family’s history. She sees the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment and her great-grandfather voting for the first time. She sees her parents trying to register to vote. And she sees herself marching in a protest from Selma to Montgomery. Veteran bestselling picture-book author Jonah Winter and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner Shane W. Evans vividly recall America’s battle for civil rights in this lyrical, poignant account of one woman’s fierce determination to make it up the hill and make her voice heard.

[cyrmreads]

Her Right Foot

Official Links

Author

Dave Eggers

Illustrator

Shawn Harris

Publisher

Chronicle Books

WRITTEN BY DAVE EGGERS AND ILLUSTRATED BY SHAWN HARRIS

Published by Chronicle Books, 2017

2019-2020 Nominee-Picture Books for Older Readers

Synopsis

If you had to name a statue, any statue, odds are good you’d mention the Statue of Liberty. Have you seen her? She’s in New York. She’s holding a torch. And she’s in mid-stride, moving forward. But why? In this fascinating and fun take on nonfiction, Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris investigate a seemingly small trait of America’s most emblematic statue. What they find is about more than history, more than art. What they find in the Statue of Liberty’s right foot is the powerful message of acceptance that is essential of an entire country’s creation.