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http://mppl.org/services/youth-department/good-books/?category=awards&list=2023%20Bluestem%20Award%20Nominees

List: 2023 Bluestem Award Nominees


A photo of Eva Evergreen, semi-magical witch

Eva Evergreen, semi-magical witch

Also available in Overdrive. Eva must travel to a seaside town to complete her training and earn the rank of Adept Witch before her thirteenth birthday, or be banned from using magic forever.

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A photo of The spirit of Springer : the real-life rescue of an orphaned orca

The spirit of Springer : the real-life rescue of an orphaned orca

"A heart-warming and true story about an orphaned orca named Springer who was found swimming alone in the Puget Sound in 2002. The book takes us on Springer's journey from being near starvation to rescued to then the challenges of her release, eventual adoption, and the start of her own family."--

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A photo of The last human

The last human

Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. After machines take control of Earth, following the extinction of humans, twelve-year-old robot XR 935A confronts its prejudices about humans and begins to reconsider its own existence within robot society after discovering and befriending a twelve-year-old human girl.

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A photo of Mac undercover

Mac undercover

Also available in Overdrive. One day, Mac (smartest boy in his class in a small town in California) receives a telephone call from the Queen of England, recruiting him to find the crown jewels (well, actually just the Coronation Spoon) and so Mac embarks on his first adventure as a secret agent--with the assurance that the Queen will give him a note excusing him from school.

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A photo of Above the rim : how Elgin Baylor changed basketball

Above the rim : how Elgin Baylor changed basketball

Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. "Though not as widely known as other basketball legends, hall-of-famer Elgin Baylor was one of the game's all-time greatest players--an innovative athlete, team player, and quiet force for change. A member of the early, scrappy NBA and one of the first professional African American players, Elgin (b. 1934) played in the late 1950s and early 1960s for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers, taking risks on and off the court. Known for his acrobatic style of moving and shooting, he inspired others to get creative with their game. But when traveling for away games, hotels and restaurants weren't as welcoming of Elgin as they were of his white teammates. Together, Elgin and his teammates boycotted places practicing segregation until the entire NBA followed suit.

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A photo of Winterborne Home for vengeance and valor

Winterborne Home for vengeance and valor

Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. After years in foster care, April gets to live in a mansion where she and four other children are caught up in a mystery related to a missing heir, a lost legacy, and the Phantom.

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A photo of Shirley Chisholm is a verb!

Shirley Chisholm is a verb!

Also available in Overdrive. "A picture book biography celebrating the life and contributions of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman in Congress, who sought the Democratic nomination to be the president of the United States"--

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A photo of The Losers Club

The Losers Club

Also available in Overdrive. Alec, a sixth-grade bookworm always in trouble for reading instead of listening and participating in class, starts a book club, solely to have a place to read, and discovers that real life, although messy, can be as exciting as the stories in his favorite books.

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A photo of A thousand questions

A thousand questions

Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. Told in two voices, eleven-year-olds Mimi, who is visiting her wealthy grandparents in Karachi, Pakistan, for the first time and Sakina, daughter of the grandparents' cook, form an unexpected friendship.--

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A photo of The Amelia Six

The Amelia Six

Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. Eleven-year-old Millie and five other girls, snowed in at Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum in Atchison, Kansas, are on a scavenger hunt when the lights go out and Amelia's aviator goggles go missing.

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A photo of The great Chicago fire : rising from the ashes

The great Chicago fire : rising from the ashes

Also available in Overdrive. In History Comics: The Great Chicago Fire, writer Kate Hannigan and illustrator Alex Graudins tell the true story of how a city rose up from one of the worst catastrophes in American history, and how this disaster forever changed how homes, buildings, and communities are constructed. A deadly blaze engulfs Chicago for two terrifying days! A brother, a sister, and a helpless puppy must race through the city to stay one step ahead of the devilish inferno. But can they reunite with their lost family before it's too late?

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A photo of The lion of Mars

The lion of Mars

Also available in Overdrive. Bell has spent his whole life--all eleven years of it--on Mars. But he's still just a regular kid-he loves cats, any kind of cake, and is curious about the secrets the adults in the US colony are keeping. Like, why don't have contact with anyone on the other Mars colonies? Why are they so isolated? When a virus breaks out and the grown-ups all fall ill, Bell and the other children are the only ones who can help. It's up to Bell--a regular kid in a very different world--to uncover the truth and save his family...and possibly unite an entire planet. Mars may be a world far, far away, but in the hands of Jennifer L. Holm, beloved and bestselling author of The Fourteenth Goldfish, it can't help but feel like home.

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A photo of Twins

Twins

Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. "Maureen and Francine Carter are twins and best friends. They participate in the same clubs, enjoy the same foods, and are partners on all their school projects. But just before the girls start sixth grade, Francine becomes Fran -- a girl who wants to join the chorus, run for class president, and dress in fashionable outfits that set her apart from Maureen. A girl who seems happy to share only two classes with her sister! Maureen and Francine are growing apart and there's nothing Maureen can do to stop it. Are sisters really forever? Or will middle school change things for good?"--

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A photo of Song for a whale

Song for a whale

Also available in Overdrive. Twelve-year-old Iris and her grandmother, both deaf, drive from Texas to Alaska armed with Iris's plan to help Blue-55, a whale unable to communicate with other whales.

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A photo of Measuring up

Measuring up

Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. Having just moved to Seattle from Taiwan, twelve-year-old Cici enters a cooking competition to win the chance to see her grandmother again, but she only knows how to cook Taiwanese food.

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A photo of Glitch

Glitch

Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. Regan Fitz and Elliot Mason have been enemies since they started training to become Glitchers--people who travel through time to preserve important historical events. But everything changes when they find a letter from Regan's future self, warning them about an impending disaster that threatens them and everyone they know. Will they be able to set aside their past in order to save the future?--

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A photo of Caterpillar summer

Caterpillar summer

Also available in Overdrive. Since her father's death, Cat has taken care of her brother, Chicken, for their hardworking mother but while spending time with grandparents they never knew, Cat has the chance to be a child again.

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A photo of Becoming Muhammad Ali : a novel

Becoming Muhammad Ali : a novel

Also available in Overdrive. A biographical novel tells the story of Cassius Clay, the determined boy who would one day become Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers of all time.

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A photo of Tune it out

Tune it out

Also available in Overdrive. Twelve-year-old Lou Montgomery's life has been centered on her mother's terrifying plan to make her a singing star, but a crisis reveals Lou's sensory processing disorder and people determined to help her address it.

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A photo of Unspeakable : the Tulsa Race Massacre

Unspeakable : the Tulsa Race Massacre

Also available in Overdrive and Hoopla. The 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma, race massacre was one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation's history. On May 31 and June 1 an armed mob looted homes and businesses as Black families fled. The police did nothing to protect Greenwood, and as many as three hundred African Americans were killed, most buried in unmarked graves. No official investigation occurred until seventy-five years later. Weatherford helps young readers understand the events of this incident. --

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