Past Winners
2018
Grades 3-5: Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Grades 6-8: Took by Mary Downing Hahn
2017
Grades 3-5: Life on Mars by Jennifer Brown
Grades 6-8: A Million Ways Home by Dianna Dorisi Winget
2016
Grades 3-5: The Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech
Grades 6-8: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein
2015
Grades 3-5: Malcolm at Midnight by W.H. Beck
Grades 6-8: Buddy by M.H. Herlong
2014
Grades 3-5: America is Under Attack: September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell by Don Brown
Grades 6-8: Hidden by Helen Frost
2013
Grades 3-5: “Guinea Dog" by Patrick Jennings
Grades 6-8: “Ghost Dog Secrets” by Peg Kehret
2012
Grades 3-5: 11 Birthdays, Wendy Mass
Grades 6-8: Confetti Girl, Diana López
2011
Grades 3 - 5: Eleven, Patricia Reilly Giff
Grades 6 - 8: The Boy Who Dared: a Novel Based on the True Story of Hitler Youth, Susan Campbell Bartoletti
2010
Grades 3 - 5: How to Steal a Dog, Barbara O'Connor
Grades 6 - 8: Cracker! The Best Dog in Viet Nam, Cynthia Kadohata
2009
Grades 3 - 5: Clementine, Sara Pennypacker
Grades 6 - 8: Yellow Star, Jennifer Roy
2008
Grades 3 - 5: A Dog's Life; The Autobiography of a Stray, Ann M Martin, Scholastic Press
Grades 6 - 8: Airball; My Life in Briefs, L.D. Harkrader, Roaring Brook Press
2007
Grades 3 - 5: The Report Card, Andrew Clements, Simon & Schuster Children's
Grades 6 - 8: So B. It, Sarah Weeks, Laura Geringer Books/Harper Collins
2006
Grades 3-5: Donuthead, Sue Stauffacher, Knopf Books for Young Readers
Grades 6-8: THE CITY OF EMBER, Jeanne Duprau, Random House
2005
Grades 3-5: LOSER, Jerry Spinelli, Joanna Cotler Books
Grades 6-8: SURVIVING THE APPLEWHITES, Stephanie S. Tolan, Harper Collins
2004
3rd – 5th Grade Winner: GHOST SITTER by Peni R. Griffin
6th – 8th Grade Winner: SURVIVING HITLER: A BOY IN THE NAZI DEATH CAMPS by Andrea Warren
2003
3rd – 5th Grade Winner: BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE by Kate DiCamillo
6th – 8th Grade Winner: DOVEY COE by Frances O’Roark Dowell
2002
3rd - 5th Grade Winner: THE LANDRY NEWS by Andrew Clements
6th - 8th Grade Winner: BUD, NOT BUDDY by Christopher Paul Curtis
2001
3rd - 5th Grade Winner: THE GHOST OF FOSSIL GLEN by Cynthia C. DeFelice
6th - 8th Grade Winner: HOLES by Louis Sachar
2000
WHITE WATER by P. J. Petersen
1999
FRINDLE by Andrew Clements
1998
MICK HARTE WAS HERE by Barbara Park
1997
TIME FOR ANDREW, A GHOST STORY by Mary Downing Hahn
1996
THE GIVER by Lois Lowry
1995
THE MAN WHO LOVED CLOWNS by June Rae Wood
1994
SHILOH by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
1993
MANIAC MAGEE by Jerry Spinelli
1992
THE DOLL IN THE GARDEN: A GHOST STORY by Mary Downing Hahn
1991
BEAUTY by Bill Wallace
1990
HATCHET by Gary Paulsen
1989
ON MY HONOR by Marion Dane Bauer
1988
CRACKER JACKSON by Betsy Byars
1987
THE WAR WITH GRANDPA by Robert Kimmel Smith
1986
DAPHNE'S BOOK by Mary Downing Hahn
1985
THE LAND I LOST: ADVENTURES OF A BOY IN VIETNAM by Huynh Quang Nhuong
1984
A LIGHT IN THE ATTIC by Shel Silverstein
1983
PEPPERMINTS IN THE PARLOR by Barbara Brooks Wallace
1982
THE MAGIC OF THE GLITS by Carole S. Adler
1981
THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS by Katherine Paterson
1980
THE PINBALLS by Betsy Byars
1979
SUMMER OF THE MONKEYS by Wilson Rawls
1978
THE GREAT CHRISTMAS KIDNAPING CAPER by Jean Van Leeuwen
1977
HARRY CAT'S PET PUPPY by George Selden Thompson
1976
SOCKS by Beverly Cleary
1975
DOMINIC by William Steig
1974
MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH by Robert O'Brien
THE HEADLESS CUPID by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
1973
THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN bv Elwyn Brooks White
1972
SASHA: MY FRIEND by Barbara Corcoran
1971
KAVIK: THE WOLF DOG by Walter Morey
1970
FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER by Elaine (Lobl) Konigsburg
1969
HENRY REED'S BABY-SITTING SERVICE by Keith Robertson
1968
THE MOUSE AND THE MOTORCYCLE by Beverly Cleary
1967
THE GRIZZLY by Annabel and Edgar Johnson
1966
RASCAL by Sterling North
1965
BRISTLE FACE by Kelly R. Masters (Zachary Ball, pseud.)
1964
THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY by Sheila (Every) Burnford
1963
ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS by Scott O'Dell
1962
THE HELEN KELLER STORY by Catherine Owens Peare
1961
HENRY REED, INC. by Keith Robertson
1960
FLAMING ARROWS by William O. Steele
1959
OLD YELLER by Fred Gipson
1958
WHITE FALCON by Elliott Arnold
1957
DANIEL 'COON by Phoebe Erickson
1956
BRIGHTY OF THE GRAND CANYON by Marguerite Henry
1955
CHEROKEE BILL: OKLAHOMA PACER by Jean Bailey
1954
LITTLE VIC by Doris Gates
1953
AMOS FORTUNE, FREE MAN by Elizabeth Yates