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  Bluestem Awards 2021  
The Ambrose Deception

Emily Ecton - Disney-Hyperion
Format: Paperback

Melissa is a nobody. Wilf is a slacker. Bondi is a show-off. At least that's what their middle school teachers think. To everyone's surprise, they are the three students chosen to compete for a ten thousand-dollar scholarship, solving clues that lead them to various locations around...
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Animals by the Numbers: A Book of Infographics

Steve Jenkins - Harcourt
Format: Print book

How many species are there across the globe? How much do all of the insects in the world collectively weigh? How far can animals travel? Steve Jenkins answers these questions and many more with numbers, images, innovation, and authoritative science in his latest work of illustrated...
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Bob

Wendy Mass
Format: Book

It’s been five years since Livy and her family have visited Livy’s grandmother in Australia. Now that she’s back, Livy has the feeling she’s forgotten something really, really important about Gran’s house. It turns out she’s right. Bob, a short, greenish...
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Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code: A Navajo Code Talker's Story

Liz Amini-Holmes - Albert Whitman & Company
Format: Hardcover

As a young Navajo boy, Chester Nez had to leave the reservation and attend boarding school, where he was taught that his native language and culture were useless. But Chester refused to give up his heritage. Years later, during World War II, Chester - and other Navajo men like him - was recruited...
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Click

Kayla Miller - HMH Books for Young Readers
Format: Paperback

For fans of Smile and Real Friends comes a debut graphic novel about friendship and finding where you "click" in middle school.Olive wants to get in on the act . . .. . . Any act! Olive "clicks" with everyone in the fifth grade - until one day she doesn't....
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Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover

MARKUS MOTUM - Candlewick
Format: Hardcover

Full of eye-catching retro illustrations, a look at NASA's beloved Mars rover is sure to fascinate budding space explorers - and set inquisitive minds soaring.Maybe you remember when a little robotic spacecraft landed on a far-off planet. On August 6, 2012, the rover Curiosity touched...
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Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble

Anna Meriano - Walden Pond Press
Format: Paperback

"A charming and delectably sweet debut. Mischief, friendship, and a whole lot of heart - Love Sugar Magic has it all." - Zoraida Crdova, award-winning author of the Brooklyn Brujas seriesLeonora Logroo's family owns the most beloved bakery in Rose Hill, Texas, spending their...
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Finding Langston

Cline-Ransome, Lesa - HOLIDAY HOUSE INC
Format: Book

A Coretta Scott King Honor BookWinner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, with 5 Starred Reviews, and a School Library Journal Best Book of 2018 When eleven-year-old Langston's father moves them from their home in Alabama to Chicago's...
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Hope in the Holler

Tyre, Lisa Lewis
Format: Book

Right before Wavie's mother died, she gave Wavie a list of instructions to help her find her way in life, including this one: Be brave, Wavie B! You got as much right to a good life as anybody, so find it! But little did Wavie's mom know that events would conspire...
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Lifeboat 12

Susan Hood - Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Format: Paperback

"This page-turning true-life adventure is filled with rich and riveting details and a timeless understanding of the things that matter most." - Dashka Slater, author of The 57 Bus "Brilliantly told in verse, readers will love Ken Sparks." - Patricia Reilly Giff,...
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Max and the Midknights (Max & The Midknights)

Lincoln Peirce - Crown Books for Young Readers
Format: Hardcover

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES * Join Maxs quest to become a knight in this laugh-filled, New York Times bestselling adventure from theauthor of the Big Nate series!"Max is epic fun!" --JEFF KINNEY, New York Times bestselling author of the DIARY OF A WIMPY KID series. Max wants...
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Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere

BARB ROSENSTOCK - Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Format: Hardcover

The suspenseful, little-known true story of two determined pioneers who made the first dive into the deep ocean.On June 6, 1930, engineer Otis Barton and explorer Will Beebe dove into the ocean inside a hollow metal ball of their own invention called the Bathysphere.They knew dozens of things...
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Power Forward

Hena Khan - Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Format: Paperback

From the critically acclaimed author of Amina's Voice comes the first book in an exciting new chapter book series about a fourth-grader with big dreams of basketball stardom.Fourth grader Zayd Saleem has some serious hoop dreams. He's not just going to be a professional basketball...
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Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero

PATRICIA MCCORMICK - Balzer + Bray
Format: Hardcover

The inspiring true story of Reckless, the brave little horse who became a Marine.When a group of US Marines fighting in the Korean War found a bedraggled mare, they wondered if she could be trained to as a packhorse. They had no idea that the skinny, underfed horse had one of the biggest...
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Stef Soto, Taco Queen

JENNIFER TORRES - Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Format: Paperback

A heartwarming middle grade about family, friendship, and finding your voice (plus, tacos!) .Seventh grader Estefania "Stef" Soto is itching to shake off the onion-and-cilantro embrace of Tia Perla, her family's taco truck. She wants nothing more than for her dad to get a normal...
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Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen

Candace Fleming - Schwartz & Wade
Format: Hardcover

For fans of Balto and other real-life dog stories, here's a heavily illustrated middle-grade novel about a canine movie star of the 1920s, dramatically told in both words and pictures by an acclaimed author and a Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator.When movie director Larry Trimble...
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The Undefeated

Kwame Alexander - Versify
Format: Hardcover

The Newbery Award-winning author of THE CROSSOVER pens an ode to black American triumph and tribulation, with art from a two-time Caldecott Honoree. Originally performed for ESPN's The Undefeated, this poem is a love letter to black life in the United States. It highlights the unspeakable...
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The Van Gogh Deception

Deron R. Hicks - HMH Books for Young Readers
Format: Paperback

A Sunshine State Young Readers Award nominee "A suspenseful mystery romp with art appreciation and heartening trust in readers' intelligence." - Kirkus, starred review Dan Brown meets Jason Bourne in this riveting middle-grade mystery thriller. When a young boy is discovered...
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Wedgie & Gizmo

SUZANNE SELFORS - Katherine Tegen Books
Format: Hardcover

Fans of Stick Dog and My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish will love Suzanne Selfors's hilarious new illustrated series about the growing pains of blended families and the secret rivalry of pets."A delightfully fun read that will leave you in stitches!" - Caldecott Medalist Dan SantatWhen...
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A Whole New Ballgame

Phil Bildner - Square Fish
Format: Print book

Rip and Red are best friends whose fifth-grade year is nothing like what they expected. They have a crazy new tattooed teacher named Mr. Acevedo, who doesn't believe in tests or homework and who likes off-the-wall projects, the more "off" the better. And guess who's also...
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