2014 NERDY AWARDS FOR MIDDLE GRADE FICTION ANNOUNCED BY COLBY SHARP

January 01

Posted by Colby Sharp on January 1, 2015 in 2014 Nerdies | 9 Comments

Chances are if you are anything like me the first thing you did when you opened this post was scroll down and look at the winners. I’m hoping that you saw some of your favorite 2014 books obelow, and that you maybe found a book or two to add to your to-read list. Thanks for scrolling back up and reading my little introduction.

I think that there is something very special about middle grade books and the middle grade reader. I feel that for many kids the books that they read and the books read aloud to them during this time in their life are books that will stay with them throughout their lives. I know that I will never forget when the student teacher in my fourth grade classroom read us Hatchet, or when my third grade teacher introduced me to Judy Blume’s Fudge and Beverly Cleary’s Ramona.

I asked my friends on Twitter if they could share with me what middle grade books from their childhood have stuck with them. I sent the tweet, and then headed out the door on a date with my lovely wife. When I checked my phone when I got home, I was flooded with tweets. Tweets about how middle grade books remained in the hearts of my friends long after they left their elementary and middle school classrooms. I’ve embedded a few of these tweets below. To read more search the #NerdyMG hashtag on Twitter.

 

@MrSchuReads @colbysharp Tales of a Fourth Grade nothing- my 4th grade teacher read it. My favorite teacher & my favorite book! #nerdymg

— Niki Ohs Barnes (@daydreamreader) December 30, 2014

 

Pippi Longstocking. I wanted to be her. #NerdyMG — Nancy Paulsen (@nancyrosep) December 30, 2014

 

Definitely Charlotte’s Web! A spider taught me everything about being a good friend. I even named a kid after her! #NerdyMG @colbysharp

— Sara Ralph (@sralph31) December 30, 2014

 

@colbysharp Judy Blume and Matilda for sure! #NerdyMG Judy taught me that funny can be found in small, real places ❤ — Jess Keating (@Jess_Keating) December 30, 2014

 

@colbysharp The Dolls’ House (by Rumer Godden), From the Mixed Up Files, On the Banks of Plum Creek… #NerdyMG

— Deborah Freedman (@DeborahFreedman) December 30, 2014

@colbysharp I’ll answer for @patgmcree. The Secret Garden. #NerdyMG — Amber McRee Turner (@ambermcturner) December 30, 2014

As you look back through this list of amazing books, I hope you take a moment to think about how 20, 30 and even 40 years from now, these books will still be found in the hearts of today’s readers.

Happy Reading!

Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson

Circa Now by Amber McRee Turner

Courage for Beginners by Karen Harrington

Dash by Kirby Larson

Death by Toilet Paper by Donna Gephart

Five, Six, Seven, Nate by Tim Federle

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm

The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson

Greenglass House by Kate Milford

Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord

How to Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied by Jess Keating

The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson

Nest by Esther Ehrlich

Nightingale’s Nest by Nikki Loftin

Rain, Reign by Ann M. Martin

Revolution by Deborah Wiles

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd

The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel

The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage

The Meaning of Maggie by Jean Sovern

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

The Riverman by Aaron Starmer

The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holzcer

The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill

Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie Lamana

West of the Moon by Margi Preus

 Colby Sharp is a third grade teacher in Parma, Michigan. 

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