Reader's choice awards

I'm a fan. Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, and others are just fine for the literary folk (read: adults reading kidlit), but I want to know what the kids actually like to read. So, I've happily begun promoting the Rebecca Caudill Award to my fifth graders. The trouble is, the award is for grades 4-8 - that's a wide age gap. We only ordered 13 of the 20 titles because of this. I wonder how that will play out when it comes time to tally up the votes from schools across the state. If more middle schools and junior highs participate, then we can pretty much guarantee that The Hunger Games will win - everyone loves it. But I certainly wouldn't hand it to a fifth grader. Here are some of the books on the list that I hope to read sometime soon:

The Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull was on my summer to-read list, but that never happened. This was the book that most of my students were interested in reading, just by the cover alone, of course. We'll see how many actually do. I'm more intrigued by Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix - mostly because of this trailer I happened across:

Found Book Trailer from KSD140 on Vimeo.

KSD140 actually has trailers for all the Caudill nominees this year, which were great for me to watch since I hadn't read any of the books I was booktalking. Unfortunately, Vimeo is blocked at school (but YouTube wasn't!), so I wasn't able to share the trailers with students.

Anyhow, Savvy by Ingrid Law has been on my bedside table for months. I won it in a contest at The O.W.L. quite awhile ago, but I just haven't gotten to it yet. Maybe this weekend? I'm just kinda magicked out at the moment. And I don't know too much about Scarlett by Cathy Cassidy, but can I be a kid and say that I like the cover? :)

Whenever I'm settled somewhere, I'd like to create a homegrown reader's choice award, where teachers nominate titles, and students choose a winner. It seems more authentic than a state-wide program because it's tailored to a specific population. And there's a sense of pride that goes toward choosing a school winner - it's much more personal.

Oof, I'm in a sick funk, so pardon the absence and occasional incoherent thoughts. I'm hoping for a weekend of reading, relaxation, and recovery.