Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Dexter, Missouri - The purpose of the Mark Twain Award is to provide children of Missouri with a recommended reading list of literature that will enrich their lives. The winner of the Mark Twain Readers Award is selected annually by students in grades four through six throughout Missouri.
Shown in the photo above are the 4th grade students who read at least 4 of the 12 book nominees. There are 26 students. They also attended the party and voted for their favorite book.
Students will be casting their votes at the Mark Twain, Truman, and Gateway Voting Parties. Each of these Voting Parties is divided into different age groups. The Gateway books are focused on the high school students (9-12th grade), while the Truman books are more associated with the junior high readers (6-8th grade), and the Mark Twain books are more open to the elementary readers.
Central Elementary students just celebrated their Voting Party. To be able to attend the party and cast their vote, the students were required to read at least four of the twelve books on this year’s Mark Twain Award Nominees.
The winning book and author of each of the Award Nominee categories will be announced in April at a Missouri Association of School Librarians conference that will take place in Tan-Tar-A.
Close to Famous, by Joan Bauer. Viking Juvenile.
Missing on Superstition Mountain, by Elise Broach. Henry Holt and Co.
Will at the Battle of Gettysburg, by Laurie Calkhoven. Dutton Juvenile.
Barn Boot Blues, by Catherine Friend. Amazon Children's Publishing.
Hidden, by Helen Frost. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
The Underdogs, by Mike Lupica. Philomel.
13 Gifts, by Wendy Mass. Scholastic Press.
In Front of God and Everybody, by K.D. McCrite. Thomas Nelson.
The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann. Aladdin.
Sparrow Road, by Sheila O'Connor. Putnam Juvenile.
Wonderstruck, by Brian Selznick. Scholastic Press.
Pie, by Sarah Weeks. Scholastic Press.
"I had a total of 60 students that were eligible to vote this year, and 19 that read all 12," stated Camie Richard, Central Elementary Librarian. "That is a record number of voting students."
Congratulations to all of the students who read their books. Reading can be fun!!
Thank you Camie Richard for the awesome photos!
