Golden Sower Award

The Nebraska Library Association sponsors the Golden Sower program. The purpose of the program is to stimulate students' thinking, introduce them to different types of literature, and encourage them to do independent reading.

There are ten Golden Sower nominees at each of the three levels, K-3, 4-6, and Young Adult (6-9). To participate in voting for their favorite title, students need to read at least four of the ten titles. Voting takes place the first week in April through the English classes.

The winners for the year 2006-2007 were:

Intermediate winner grades 4-6
The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn

Young Adult winner grades 6-9
Perfect by Natasha Friend

The Irving Media Center has seven to ten copies of each title and students are welcome to check them out from the public libraries as well. In the fall, I give book talks on the titles and students receive a "ticket" sheet. After a student has read a book, a parent/guardian or teacher may sign the title to confirm the student has read the book. This sheet is what is presented to vote.

Below are the grades 4-6 and grades 6-9 lists for the 2007 - 2008 school taken from the Golden Sower Award site.

Intermediate
Grade 4-6 Category

Birdsall, Jeanne. THE PENDERWICKS: A SUMMER TALE OF FOUR SISTERS, TWO RABBITS, AND A VERY INTERESTING BOY.
While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother.

Birney, Betty G. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY.
Humphrey, pet hamster at Longfellow School, learns that he has an important role to play in helping his classmates and teacher.

Byars, Betsy, Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers. THE SOS FILE.
The students in Mr. Magro's class submit stories for the SOS file about their biggest emergencies and they read them aloud for extra credit.

Creech, Sharon. HEARTBEAT.
Twelve-year-old Annie ponders the many rhythms of life the year that her mother becomes pregnant, her grandfather begins faltering, and her best friend (and running partner) becomes distant.

Going, K. L. THE LIBERATION OF GABRIEL KING.
In Georgia during the summer of 1976, Gabriel, a white boy who is being bullied, and Frita, an African American girl who is facing prejudice, decide to overcome their many fears together as they enter fifth grade.

Hobbs, Valerie. DEFIANCE.
While vacationing in the country, eleven-year-old Toby, a cancer patient, learns some important lessons about living and dying from an elderly poet and her cow.

Noble, Trinka Hakes. THE SCARLET STOCKINGS SPY.
In 1777 Philadelphia, young Maddy Rose spies for General Washington's army by using an unusual code to communicate with her soldier brother.

Park, Linda Sue. PROJECT MULBERRY.
While working on a project for an after-school club, Julia, a Korean American girl, and her friend Patrick learn not just about silkworms, but also about tolerance, prejudice, friendship, and more. Between the chapters are short dialogues between the author and main character about the writing of the book.

Repka, Janice. THE STUPENDOUS DODGEBALL FIASCO.
Eleven-year-old Phillip's dream of running away from his circus family comes true when his parents allow him to stay with relatives in Hardington, Pennsylvania, where dodgeball is practically a religion and life is anything but normal.

Ryan, Pam Munoz. BECOMING NAOMI LEON.
When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.

Grade 6 - 9 Category

Alphin, Elaine Marie. THE PERFECT SHOT.
Brian uses basketball to block out memories of his girlfriend and her family, who were gunned down a year ago, but the upcoming murder trial and a high school history assignment force him to face the past and decide how far he should go to see justice served.

Bruchac, Joseph. CODE TALKER: A NOVEL ABOUT THE NAVAJO MARINES OF WORLD WAR TWO.
After being taught in a boarding school run by whites that Navajo is a useless language, Ned Begay and other Navajo men are recruited by the Marines to become code talkers, sending messages during World War II in their native tongue.

Cooney, Caroline B. CODE ORANGE.
While conducting research for a high school biology report, a teenage boy unwittingly puts himself and others in danger.

Hiaasen, Carl. FLUSH.
With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of this floating casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected waters around their Florida Keys home.

Riordan, Rick. THE LIGHTNING THIEF.
After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

Shusterman, Neal. THE SCHWA WAS HERE.
A Brooklyn eighth-grader nicknamed Antsy befriends the Schwa, an ?invisible-ish? boy who is tired of blending into his surroundings and going unnoticed by nearly everyone.

Sonnenblick, Jordan. DRUMS, GIRLS, AND DANGEROUS PIE.
When his younger brother is diagnosed with leukemia, thirteen-year-old Steven tries to deal with his complicated emotions, his school life, and his desire to support his family.

Westerfeld, Scott. UGLIES.
Tally is faced with a difficult choice when her new friend Shay decides to risk life on the outside rather than submit to the forced operation that turns sixteen-year-old girls into gorgeous beauties, and realizes that there is a whole new side to the pretty world that she doesn't like.

White, Andrea. SURVIVING ANTARCTICA: REALITY TV 2083. NO CHILD'S GAME: REALITY TV 2083.
In the year 2083, five fourteen-year-olds who were deprived by chance of the opportunity to continue their educations reenact Scott's 1910-1913 expedition to the South Pole as contestants on a reality television show, secretly aided by a Department of Entertainment employee.

Wilson, Diane Lee. BLACK STORM COMIN'.
Twelve-year-old Colton, son of a black mother and a white father, takes a job with the Pony Express in 1860 after his father abandons the family on their California-bound wagon train, and risks his life to deliver an important letter that may affect the growing conflict between the North and South.