What are the shortlisted Panda Award Books for 2012?
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There are twelve books in each of the four categories: younger readers (pre-K-2), middle readers (3-5), older readers (6-8), and mature readers (9-12). Here are the titles for each of the four categories of Panda books in alphabetical order:
YOUNGER READERS
Barnett, Mac. Extra Yarn. 2012. Annabelle lives in a black and white world until she finds a box full of beautiful colored yarn. Bringing color into her world, changes begin until the evil archduke “who was very fond of clothes”, wants her never-ending box of rainbow yarn for his own. Australian import infused with humor and ingenuity.
Coudray, Philippe. Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking: a toon book. 2011. Graphic novel translated from the French about a bear who faces organizational issues! Children are challenged to solve the problems that plague Benjamin.
Klassen, Jon. I Want My Hat Back. 2011. Bear loses his hat and asks all the animals, one by one, if they have seen his red hat. With a slightly dark turn, much to Rabbit’s eventual chagrin, Bear finds his hat.
Lichtenheld, Tom. Cloudette. 2012. Small cloud in a big sky, Cloudette manages to accomplish big tasks in this charmingly illustrated and funny book using inventive narrative, eye-catching format, and evocative colors.
Manushkin, Fran. The Tricky Tooth. 2011. Everyone in Katie Woo’s class has lost a tooth – her loose tooth refuses to budge, culminating in a visit by the tooth fairy in this short and lively four chapter book.
Modarressi, Mitra. Owlet’s First Flight. 2012. Owlet awakes on a moonlit night and mama tells him it is time to take flight! Owlet, with his mother’s help, experiences overcoming obstacles, being brave, and having adventures.
Nesbitt, Kenn. More Bears. 2010. As the author writes the story, children demand more and more bears…with highly inventive names…in this very funny read aloud children, parents, and teachers will enjoy.
Padmanabhan, Manjula. I Am Different: Can You Find Me? 2011. Exploring differences through language and vibrant colors, this double-spread layout effectively presents 16 languages with short facts and a “Can you find me?” sentence with actual objects to find and identify. Unique, inclusive, and perfect for international schools!
Rasmussen, Halfdan. A Little Bitty Man and Other Poems for the Very Young. 2011. Translated from Danish, this colorful collection of poetry for very young children is a charming introduction to rhyme and humor in poetry.
Thomas, Jan. Is Everyone Ready for Fun? 2011. Chicken must lay down the law to his three cow friends who want to jump about on his couch! Funny, movement and multi-voice oriented, this will be a delight to read aloud.
Van Mol, Sine. Meena. 2011. Translated from the Dutch. The children of Fly Street fear their neighbor is a witch but when they meet her granddaughter and visit grandmother’s home, things change.
Weitzman, Jacqueline Preiss. Superhero Joe. 2011. Armed with a trash can lid and a blanket cape, Joe saves the day in this lively book which displays a combination of traditional and graphic illustrations.
MIDDLE READERS
Angleberger, Tom. Darth Paper Strikes Back : An Origami Yoda Book. 2011. It is a dark time at Ralph McQuarrie Middle School. Dwight is suspended for being a troublemaker and Yoda asks Tommy and Kellen to save Dwight by creating a case file that proves Dwight is an asset to the school. (School fiction)
Applegate, Katherine. The One and Only Ivan. 2012. When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life. (Animals fiction)
Boyce, Frank Cottrell. The Unforgotten Coat. 2011. When two Mongolian brothers inexplicably appear one morning in Julie’s sixth grade class, no one, least of all Julie, knows what to do with them. But when Chingis, the older of the two brothers, proclaims Julie as their “Good Guide” – a nomadic tradition of welcoming strangers to a new land – Julie must somehow navigate them through soccer, school uniforms, and British slang. (Refugees fiction)
Craig, Joe. Lifters. 2011. Adaq and Maya are siblings – urban professionals with a unique set of thieving skills. When Adaq lifts a package from his latest target, he has no idea what he’s getting into. Before he can blink, the target is lying dead on the ground and he is running for his life. (Action/adventure)
Holm, Jennifer L. Squish. No. 1, Super Amoeba. 2011. Squish prefers to spend his time reading comic books starring Super Amoeba but has to attend elementary school with his friends Pod, who’s a bit of a mooch, and Peggy, who’s always happy and a bit naive. Once at school, they face more danger from bullies than most of the students. (Graphic novel)
Hopkins, Lee Bennett (Ed.). I Am the Book. 2011. An illustrated collection of poems that celebrates reading, featuring selections by Karla Kuskin, Jill Corcoran, Jane Yolen, and others. (Poetry)
Lin, Grace. Dumpling Days. 2012. Embarrassed that she and her two sisters are dressed in matching hot-pink dresses for a family visit to Taiwan, Pacy is a reluctant traveler. Once she arrives, Pacy begins to open up to the new relationships, foods, and other new experiences. (Family life)
Markle, Sandra. The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: a Scientific Mystery 2012. Panamanian golden frogs started to disappear in the mid-1990s. What’s killing them? Follow a team of scientists working to save the frogs and protect frog populations worldwide in this real-life photo rich science mystery. (Non-fiction)
Orr, Wendy. Lost: A Dog Called Bear. 2011. When Logan’s dog runs away as he and his mother are moving to a new home after his parents separate, a girl named Hannah, who longs for a dog of her own, finds him. (Dogs/family)
Skye, Obert. Wonkenstein. 2011.Twelve-year-old Rob does not like to read and stuffs most of the books his parents give him into his closet with the rest of his junk, but when he finds a funny little creature behind the door that seems to be a cross between Willy Wonka and Frankenstein, he begins to see that reading can be an adventure. (Monsters/humor)
Ursu, Anne. Breadcrumbs. 2011. Hazel and Jack are best friends until an accident with a magical mirror and a run-in with a villainous queen find Hazel on her own, entering an enchanted wood in the hopes of saving Jack’s life. (Fantasy)
Wilson, Nathan D. The Dragon’s Tooth.2011. When their parents’ seedy old motel burns down on the same night they are visited by a strange man covered in skeleton tattoos, Cyrus, Antigone, and their brother Daniel are introduced to an ancient secret society, and discover they have an important role in keeping it alive and safe. (Magic)
OLDER READERS
Alban, Andrea. Anya’s War. 2011. Anya Rosen moves with her family from Odessa to Shanghai in order to escape religious persecution from Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. But after Anya discovers a newborn baby abandoned in the middle of the street, and her hero, Amelia Earhart, goes missing, Anya fears that there is no safe place for her family. (Historical fiction)
Avi. City of Orphans. 2011. In 1893 New York, thirteen-year-old Maks, a newsboy, teams up with Willa, a homeless girl, to clear his older sister, Emma, from charges that she stole from the brand new Waldorf Hotel, where she works. (Historical fiction)
Barton, Chris. Can I See Your ID?: True Stories of False Identities. 2011. Ten stories of true crime, fraud, and adventure, including accounts of a fake Asian princess, master thief Frank Abagnale, and a teen who “stole” a subway in 1993. (Non-fiction)
Detorie, Rick. The Accidental Genius of Weasel High. 2011. A typical boy in ninth grade draws comics and records his thoughts in his journal, describing life with his two parents, adolescent sister, and a bully. (Humor)
Dickinson, Matt. Mortal Chaos. 2012. When a butterfly startles a young rabbit, and the rabbit makes a horse rear, it starts a chain of events, over the course of one day, that will change people’s lives … and end people’s lives. (Action)
Edginton, Ian. The Sign of Four. 2010. A graphic novel adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes story in which the great detective and his sidekick Dr. Watson become caught up in a treasure hunt after agreeing to help a woman learn the identity of her secret admirer. (Graphic novel)
Evans, Lissa. Small Change for Stuart. 2011. Stuart Horten – ten years old and small for his age – moves to the dreary town of Beeton, far away from all his friends. And then he meets his new next-door neighbors, the unbearable Kingley triplets, and things get even worse. (Mystery)
Fine, Anne. The Devil Walks. 2011. Raised in secrecy by a mother everyone thinks has gone mad, Daniel’s only link to his past is the intricately built model of the family home – High Gates. As Daniel is reunited with his Uncle Severn, his life starts to change, and not for the better. (Horror)
Meloy, Colin. Wildwood. 2011. Prue’s life shifts from ordinary to extraordinary when her baby brother is abducted by crows and she must embark into the Impassable Wilderness, a dense forest in the center of Portland, Oregon. (Fantasy)
Messner, Kate. Eye of the Storm. 2012. Jaden’s summer visit with her meteorologist father, who has just returned from spending four years in Russia conducting weather experiments not permitted in the United States, fills her with fear as she discovers that living at her father’s planned community Placid Meadows is anything but placid. (Adventure)
Morpurgo, Michael. Shadow. 2010. Never have Aman and his mother needed a friend more than when a springer spaniel appears in the mouth of their Afghan cave. As life in Afghanistan becomes more dangerous by the moment, Aman, his mother and Shadow find the courage to leave. But how far can Shadow lead them? (Realistic fiction)
Pitcher, Annabel. My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece. 2011. Narrated by ten-year old Jamie, a stunning debut novel about the tragedy that tears apart his family after a terrorist attack, and how they rebuild their lives. (Realistic fiction)
MATURE READERS
Blackman, Malorie. Boys Don’t Cry. 2010. You’re waiting for the postman – he’s bringing your A level results. University, a career as a journalist – a glittering future lies ahead. But when the doorbell rings it’s your old girlfriend; and she’s carrying a baby. Your baby. You’re happy to look after it, just for an hour or two. But then she doesn’t come back… (Realistic fiction)
Brooks, Kevin. iBoy. 2010. Sixteen-year-old Tom Harvey was an ordinary Londoner until an attack causes fragments of an iPhone to be embedded in his brain, giving him incredible knowledge and power, but using that power against the gang that attacked him and a friend could have deadly consequences. (SF, gangs & Internet fiction)
Brosgol, Vera. Anya’s Ghost. 2011. Anya, embarrassed by her family and lacking confidence in her body and her social skills, finally finds a friend after falling down a well, but quickly learns there are drawbacks to having a ghost for a friend. (Graphic novel)
Crowley, Cath. Graffiti Moon. 2011.Told in alternating voices, an all-night adventure featuring Lucy, who is determined to find an elusive graffiti artist named Shadow, and Ed, the last person Lucy wants to spend time with, except for the fact that he may know how to find Shadow. (Artists & graffiti fiction)
French, Paul. Midnight in Peking. 2011. A suspenseful murder mystery set on the eve of the Japanese invasion of old Peking in 1937. (Non-fiction, murder mystery)
Geda, Fabio. In the Sea There Are Crocodiles. 2011.One night before putting him to bed, Enaiatollah’s mother tells him three things: don’t use drugs, don’t use weapons, and don’t steal. The next day he wakes up to find she isn’t there. Ten-year-old Enaiatollah is left alone in Pakistan to fend for himself. (Biographical fiction)
Handler, Daniel. Why We Broke up: Novel. 2011. (art by Maira Kalman) Sixteen-year-old Min Green writes a letter to Ed Slaterton in which she breaks up with him, documenting their relationship and how items in the accompanying box, from bottle caps to a cookbook, foretell the end. (Romance fiction)
Horowitz, Anthony. The House of Silk. 2012.In London, 1890, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson try to stop the fine arts dealer Edmund Carstairs from being harassed only to find themselves mixed up in murder plots and an international conspiracy linking the worst criminals to the highest levels of government. (Crime & mystery fiction)
Maberry, Jonathan. Rot & Ruin. 2010.In a post-apocalyptic world where fences and border patrols guard the few people left from the zombies that have overtaken civilization, fifteen-year-old Benny Imura is finally convinced that he must follow in his older brother’s footsteps and become a bounty hunter. (Zombies & survival fiction)
Obreht, Téa. Tiger’s Wife. 2011. Natalia, a young doctor on a medical mission to an orphanage in the Balkans, ponders the mystery of her beloved grandfather’s recent death. She finds the answers she seeks in the story of an abused deaf-mute woman in the village of his childhood who formed a bond with a tiger that escaped from the zoo following the German bombardment in 1941. (Realistic fiction)
Robbins, Alexandra. The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory, and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School. 2011. The stories in this book beautifully demonstrate things we know intrinsically: being popular is not always the same as being liked, that high school is more rigid and conformist than the military, and that the people who are excluded and bullied for their offbeat passions and refusal to conform are often the ones who are embraced and lauded for those very qualities in college and beyond. (Non-fiction)
Winter, Kathleen. Annabel. 2011. A child born neither fully boy nor fully girl in Labrador, Canada, in 1968, is raised as Wayne by his parents, even though his mother and midwife/neighbor, the only person outside the family to know the truth, secretly nurture his feminine side, and it is not until he is able to leave his hometown and settle in St. John that he has the freedom to explore his dual identity. (Gender issues fiction)
