I spent the day combing through your 2012 Nerdy Book Club Award nominations–discovering many new titles and revisiting many books that my students, colleagues, and I enjoyed reading this year. Thank you to the hundreds of readers who took the time to nominate books. Narrowing a wonderful year of reading into a short list of titles challenges avid readers, and I know you had to make tough choices!
The 2011 Nerdies shortlist contained 97 titles. Click the link on the blog’s tool bar if you would like the 2011 list or visit last year’s Nerdy Book Club Award finalists post, Mooning Over Book Lists. This year’s finalists’ list contains 154 titles in seven categories. We planned to shortlist the top twenty nominees in each category, but tie votes and landslide nominations for many books resulted in more or less titles than twenty in some categories. You don’t mind more books, do you?
In two weeks, we will open the final ballot and invite readers to select our final 2012 Nerdy Book Club Award winners. These two weeks will give readers time to review the finalists and consider titles before voting begins. I plan to spend the next fourteen days catching up on the unread Nerdy nominees I have in my to-read pile. I want to be as informed as possible before I cast my final vote! I hope you enjoy poring over the list and finding new books to read and share.
Congratulations to our Nerdy Book Club Award authors and illustrators! Your work has been chosen by teachers, librarians, children, booksellers, and readers everywhere as one of the best books of 2012. Thank you for providing marvelous reading experience for the children in our lives (and us). Everyone here at the Nerdy Book Club looks forward to sharing your books with more readers!
2012 Nerdy Book Club Award Nominations
Picture Books: Fiction (22)
A Home For Bird by Philip C. Stead
And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano and Erin Stead
Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead and Erin Stead
Boy and Bot by Ame Dyckman and Dan Yaccarino
Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett and Adam Rex
Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Scott Magoon
Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson and E. B. Lewis
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen
Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
hello! hello! by Matthew Cordell
I’m Bored by Michael Ian Black and Debbie Ridpath Ohi
The Monsters’ Monster by Patrick McDonnell
Oh, No! by Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann
One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo and David Small
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean and Eric Litwin
Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills
The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce
This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole
Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul Zelinsky
Picture Books: Nonfiction (20)
A Leaf Can Be . . . by Laura Purdie Salas and Violeta Dabija
A Rock Is Lively by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long
Annie and Helen by Deborah Hopkinson and Raul Colon
Birds of a Feather by Bernadette Gervais and Francesco Pittau
Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child by Jessie Hartland
A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson and John Hendrix
Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team by Audrey Vernick and Steven Salerno
Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by Robert Byrd
Fifty Cents and a Dream: Young Booker T. Washington by Jabari Asim and Bryan Collier
Helen’s Big World: The Life of Helen Keller by Doreen Rappaport and Matt Tavares
Here Come the Girl Scouts!: The Amazing All-True Story of Juliette ‘Daisy’ Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure by Shana Corey and Hadley Hooper
I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. and Kadir Nelson
Island: A Story of the Galápagos by Jason Chin
It Jes’ Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw by Don Tate and R. Gregory Christie
Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Claire A. Nivola
Looking at Lincoln by Maira Kalman
Nic Bishop Snakes by Nic Bishop
The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins
There Goes Ted William: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived by Matt Tavares
Those Rebels, John and Tom by Barbara Kerley and Edwin Fotheringham
Early Reader/ Chapter Books (10) 
Bad Kitty for President by Nick Bruel
Bink and Gollie, Two for One by Kate DiCamillo, Alison McGhee and Tony Fucile
Let’s Go For A Drive! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) by Mo Willems
Listen to My Trumpet! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) by Mo Willems
Lulu Walks the Dogs by Judith Viorst and Lane Smith
Marty McGuire Digs Worms! by Kate Messner and Brian Floca
Penny and Her Doll by Kevin Henkes
Penny and Her Song by Kevin Henkes
Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover by Cece Bell
Sadie and Ratz by Sonya Hartnett and Ann James
Graphic Novels (20)
Amulet #5: The Prince of Elves by Kazu Kibuishi
Babymouse #16: Babymouse for President by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm
Bird & Squirrel on the Run by James Burks
Cardboard by Doug TenNapel
Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral
Drama by Raina Telgemeier
Earthling! by Mark Fearing
Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
Giants Beware! by Jorge Aguirre
Hades: Lord of the Dead (Olympians) by George O’Connor
Legends of Zita the Space Girl by Ben Hatke
Little White Duck: A Childhood in China by Na Liu and Andres Vera Martinez
Lunch Lady #7: Lunch Lady and the Mutant Mathletes by Jarrett Krosoczka
Lunch Lady #8: Lunch Lady and the Picture Day Peril by Jarrett Krosoczka
Mal and Chad: Food Fight! by Stephen McCranie
Squish #3: The Power of the Parasite by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm
Squish #4: Captain Disaster by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm
Teen Boat by John Green and Dave Roman
A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle and Hope Larson
The Year of the Beasts by Cecil Castellucci and Nate Powell
Poetry (20)
Dare to Dream…Change the World by Jill Corcoran and J. Beth Jepson
Edgar Allan Poe’s Pie: Math Puzzlers in Classic Poems by J. Patrick Lewis and Michael Slack
Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart by Mary Ann Hoberman and Michael Emberley
Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It: False Apology Poems by Gail Carson Levine and Matthew Cordell
In the Sea by David Elliott and Holly Meade
I’ve Lost My Hippopotamus by Jack Prelutsky and Jackie Urbanovic
Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses by Ron Koertge and Andrea Dezso
A Meal of the Stars: Poems Up and Down by Dana Jensen and Tricia Tusa
National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs That Squeak, Soar, and Roar! by J. Patrick Lewis
October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Leslea Newman
Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature by Nicola Davies and Mark Hearld
Poem Runs: Baseball Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian
The President’s Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About the Presidents by Susan Katz and Robert Neubecker
Step Gently Out by Helen Frost and Rick Lieder
A Stick Is an Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play by Marilyn Singer and LeUyen Pham
A Strange Place to Call Home: The World’s Most Dangerous Habitats & the Animals That Call Them Home by Marilyn Singer and Ed Young
UnBEElievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian
Walking on Earth and Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School by Timothy P. McLaughlin, S. D. Nelson and Joseph Marshall III
Water Sings Blue by Kate Coombs and Meilo So
What’s Looking At You Kid? by J. Patrick Lewis
Middle Grade and Young Adult Nonfiction (19)
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship by Russell Freedman
Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust by Doreen Rappaport
A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano and Michael Carroll
Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
The Book of Blood: From Legends and Leeches to Vampires and Veins by H.P. Newquist
The Fairy Ring: Or Elsie and Frances Fool the World by Mary Losure
Guy-Write: What Every Guy Writer Needs to Know by Ralph Fletcher
The Impossible Rescue: The True Story of an Amazing Arctic Adventure by Martin W. Sandler
Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure by Jim Murphy and Alison Blank
The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity (Scientists in the Field Series) by Elizabeth Rusch
Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose
The Plant Hunters: True Stories of Their Daring Adventures to the Far Corners of the Earth by Anita Silvey
Seymour Simon’s Extreme Earth Records by Seymour Simon (new addition to the list)
Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World by Sy Montgomery and Temple Grandin
The Giant and How He Humbugged America by Jum Murphy
Titanic: Voices From the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth’s Strangest Animals by Michael Hearst, Jelmer Noordeman, Christie Wright and Arjen Noordeman
We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by Cynthia Levinson
Zombie Makers: True Stories of Nature’s Undead by Rebecca L. Johnson
Middle Grade Fiction (22)
Capture the Flag by Kate Messner
The Cloak Society by Jeramey Kraatz
Crow by Barbara Wright
Eye of the Storm by Kate Messner
Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger
The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen
Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood
The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy
The Humming Room by Ellen Potter
Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead
The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
May B by Caroline Starr Rose
The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee by Tom Angleberger
Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Young Adult Fiction (21)
Ask the Passengers by A.S. King
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Boy21 by Matthew Quick
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth E. Wein
The Crown of Embers (Girl of Fire and Thorns) by Rae Carson
The Diviners by Libba Bray
Endangered by Eliot Schrefer
Every Day by David Levithan
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Grave Mercy by R.A. LaFevers
Immortal Lycanthropes by Hal Johnson
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Me & Earl & the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama
No Crystal Stair by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and R. Gregory Christie
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
The Raven Boys Maggie Steifvater
See You at Harry’s by Jo Knowles
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
The Wicked and the Just by Jillian Anderson Coats
** Corrections
No Crystal Stair by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and R. Gregory Christie was incorrectly placed in the nonfiction category. It has been moved to the YA fiction category. Thanks to Monica Edinger for the heads-up.
How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg and Kevin O’Malley is ineligible because it was originally published in 2011. Seymour Simon’s Extreme Earth Records by Seymour Simon earned the next nomination slot.
Donalyn Miller is a fourth grade teacher at Peterson Elementary in Fort Worth, TX. She is the author of The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child. Donalyn co-hosts the monthly Twitter chat, #titletalk (with Nerdy co-founder, Colby Sharp), and facilitates the Twitter reading initiative, #bookaday.
First – I am so excited about how many of these books I HAVE read this year! Last year’s list included so many more titles I didn’t know. Some of these categories are going to be SOOO hard to vote in!
I agree with Maria! How can some of these categories have one winner. It has been a great year for kid lit!
Eek- question mark should be in place:(
What a nerdily fabulous list!
I’m ready to vote in one category, but for the others? I’m glad we have a couple of weeks before voting.
Last year, we opened voting right away, but we felt readers needed more time to catch up on titles they may have planned to read, but hadn’t. I spent part of the morning combing through my shelves for unread nominees. It does help me prioritize!
I’m so happy you’re giving us time to catch up! I was at the library today!
What an amazing list! It sure has been a great year for reading. Looks like I have some reading to do before the vote. So exciting!
Gorgeous list of book treasures! A few new titles to investigate as well, can’t wait!
Oh my! Do I have a lot of reading to do! And I thought I was doing so well this year! So, Donalyn…are you giving us a hint to your favorites by the books that you have pictured? ;D
Carol, I love so many books on this list– including the ones I featured. I chose the images for color variety if anything, although I did include Ivan for Colby’s benefit!
So many books on this list I already know and love, but lots more I haven’t met yet. Thanks for the introduction (and I’m honored that A LEAF CAN BE… made the shortlist!).
What a great list and resource! Lovely to see my May here. Taking notes on picture book titles I’m not familiar with. And can I say YAY for Schwartz and Wade!!
For the rest of my life I’ll be able to say “Nerdy-Nominated Author Elizabeth Fama.” I am a total nerd for loving that.
Fantastic list! One thing though, NO CRYSTAL STAIR is fiction not nonfiction.
Fixing it now. Thanks for the correction. It was nominated in both fiction and nonfiction categories.
Excited about this list and even more excited that it gives me a whole bunch of books to recommend and read!
I love this list! I am proud of how many I have read, as well as thinking that I have so much reading to do in the next 2 weeks (and my school library is out of commission for the book fair!) As someone new to the Nerdies, how am I deciding on these books? My favorites, my student’s favorites, quality of literature, a combination of the three? The nominees seem to cover the gamut!
Yay!! All my reading has paid off this year. I have read many of the Nerdy nominated titles. Now to see which ones I still have to find and read. Thanks for organizing this post.
Super duper list. Thank you for the nomination of Glory Be.:)
And also thanks for giving me more books I must read!
Well, this may add confusion, but No Crystal Stair by Micheaux is actually NF. I read it this year and it’s wonderful! It tells the life story of Louis Micheaux, Harlem’s first black bookseller. It was meticulously researched by Louis’s great niece (the author) over 15 years, and has primary source pictures and documents throughout. The interesting thing is that the author included some fictionalization of characters based on what she found in her research. So, basically, a little fiction is thrown in to create a more complete picture of a real man and his real contribution. I would respectfully request to return it to the NF/Bio category.
The subtitle is A Documentary Novel and so I’m guessing the author considers it fiction which, mind you, can be as meticulously researched as nonfiction. I agree that the book is marvelous!
It is categorized as fiction though based on Vaunda’s great-uncle. I can see it and the biography section.
Totally thrilled that I’M BORED is a nominee, considering the high quality of the other nominees. Thank you so much for this wonderful list — I’ve ordered a few more books as holiday gifts today as a result, and can’t wait to check out some of the other titles as well. Thank you!!
Great list – thanks! Some of my favorite books are on this! I just discovered your blog through Caroline Starr Rose who recommended it and it’s terrific. If you ever need/want a guest post . . . I’m available . . .
The more, the nerdier, Kimberley. I look forward to reading your post soon:)
It will be extremely difficult to vote for just one in each category! Two weeks to ponder… hmmm…
You vote for your top five. Does that make it easier?
I can’t wait to show this list to my 4th graders. We’ve read quite a few of the titles, but I know that they’ll want to read as many of them as they can. It’s time to hit the library!
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Wow! So honored to be a Nerdy Nominee. Thanks so much! Honored to be in such company–wow. I also love the ideas for holiday shopping on the other lists. I love to give books! But of course!
OMG, you are all SO nerdy! (Me, too.) What a great list. Now I better go get reading! I’m especially looking forward to catching up with Raven Boys, Me & Earl, October Mourning, and Year of the Beasts.