2012-2013 Georgia Peach Award Books

1. 2012-2013 Georgia Peach Award Books

2. Fish • Maurice Reidy – Fish - nicknamed for his incredible swimming abilities--is a twelve-year-old boy from a poor farming family. After taking a job as a courier for his uncle, Fish is waylaid by pirates, who steal the package he's carrying. He soon learns that it's the key to locating the Chain of Chuacar, a legendary treasure. As he works to earn the trust of Cobb, the fortune-hunting captain of the Scurvy Mistress, Fish learns of a mutiny headed by a nasty pirate called Scab. With time running out to find the Chain, Fish and some fellow shipmates still loyal to Cobb must thwart Scab's dastardly plan.

3. Ashes Thirteen-year-old Gabriella Schramm’s favorite pastime is reading. With Adolf Hitler slowly but unstoppably rising to power, Gaby turns to her books for comfort while the world around her changes dramatically: The streets become filled with soldiers, Gaby’s sisters boyfriend raises his arm in a HeilHitler salute, and the Schramms’ family friend Albert Einstein flees the country. When Gaby’s beloved books come under attack, she fears she may have to leave behind the fiction, and the life, she has always cherished.

4. The Great Wall of Lucy Wu In this humorous and heartfelt debut about a split cultural identity, nothing goes according to plan for sixth-grader Lucy Wu.Lucy Wu, aspiring basketball star and interior designer, is on the verge of having the best year of her life. She's ready to rule the school as a sixth grader and take over the bedroom she has always shared with her sister. In an instant, though, her plans are shattered when she finds out that Yi Po, her beloved grandmother's sister, is coming to visit for several months -- and is staying in Lucy's room. Lucy's vision of a perfect year begins to crumble, and in its place come an unwelcome roommate, foiled birthday plans, and Chinese school with the awful Talent Chang.

5. Words in the Dust In the tradition of SHABANU, DAUGHTER OF THE WIND and THE BREADWINNER, a beautiful debut about a daughter of Afghanistan discovering new friends and opportunities after the defeat of the Taliban.Zulaikha hopes. She hopes for peace, now that the Taliban have been driven from Afghanistan; a good relationship with her hard stepmother; and one day even to go to school, or to have her cleft palate fixed. Zulaikha knows all will be provided for her--"Inshallah," God willing.Then she meets Meena, who offers to teach her the Afghan poetry she taught her late mother. And the Americans come to her village, promising not just new opportunities and dangers, but surgery to fix her face. These changes could mean a whole new life for Zulaikha--but can she dare to hope they'll come true?

6. The Rock and the River For thirteen-year-old Sam it's not easy being the son of known civil rights activist Roland Childs. Especially when his older (and best friend), Stick, begins to drift away from him for no apparent reason. And then it happens: Sam finds something that changes everything forever. Sam has always had faith in his father, but when he finds literature about the Black Panthers under Stick's bed, he's not sure who to believe: his father or his best friend. Suddenly, nothing feels certain anymore. Sam wants to believe that his father is right: You can effect change without using violence. But as time goes on, Sam grows weary of standing by and watching as his friends and family suffer at the hands of racism in their own community. Sam beings to explore the Panthers with Stick, but soon he's involved in something far more serious -- and more dangerous -- than he could have ever predicted. Sam is faced with a difficult decision. Will he follow his father or his brother? His mind or his heart? The rock or the river?

7. Kick Kevin Johnson is thirteen years old. And heading for juvie. He's a good kid, a great friend, and a star striker for his Highland, New Jersey, soccer team. His team is competing for the State Cup, and he wants to prove he has more than just star-player potential. Kevin's never been in any serious trouble . . . until the night he ends up in jail. Enter Sergeant Brown, a cop assigned to be Kevin's mentor. If Kevin and Brown can learn to trust each other, they might be able to turn things around before it's too late.

8. Wild Things A headstrong girl. A stray cat. A wild boy. A man who plays with fire. Eleven-year-old Zoë trusts no one. Her father left before she was born. At the death of her irresponsible mother, Zoë goes to live with her uncle, former surgeon and famed metal sculptor Dr. Henry Royster. She's sure Henry will fail her as everyone else has. Reclusive since his wife's death, Henry takes Zoë to Sugar Hill, North Carolina, where he welds sculptures as stormy as his moods. Zoë and Henry have much in common: brains, fiery and creative natures, and badly broken hearts. Zoë confronts small-town prejudice with a quick temper. She warms to Henry's odd but devoted friends, meets a mysterious teenage boy living wild in the neighboring woods, and works to win the trust of a feral cat while struggling to trust in anyone herself. In this ALA Notable Children's Book and Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book of the Year, Zoë's questing spirit leads her to uncover the wild boy's identity, lay bare a local lie, and begin to understand the true power of Henry's art. Then one decisive night, she and the boy risk everything in a reckless act of heroism.

9. My Life in Pink & Green Twelve-year-old Lucy Desberg is a natural problem solver. After the local homecoming queen shows up at her family’s struggling drugstore with a beauty disaster that Lucy helps to fix, Lucy has a long line of makeover customers for every school dance and bat mitzvah. But all the makeup tips in the world won’t help save the pharmacy. If only she could find a way to make the pharmacy the center of town again—a place where people want to spend time, like in the old days. Lucy dreams up a solution that could resuscitate the family business and help the environment, too. But will Lucy’s family stop fighting long enough to listen to a seventh-grader?This book is a funny and sweet debut featuring an unforgettable narrator who knows what she wants, whether it’s great makeup, a killer business plan, or a better world

10. Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Not Reading Charlie Joe Jackson may be the most reluctant reader ever born. And so far, he’s managed to get through life without ever reading an entire book from cover to cover. But now that he’s in middle school, avoiding reading isn’t as easy as it used to be. And when his friend Timmy McGibney decides that he’s tired of covering for him, Charlie Joe finds himself resorting to desperate measures to keep his perfect record intact. This is the hilarious story of an avid non-reader and the extreme lengths to which he’ll go to get out of reading a book.

11. Crunch Dewey Marriss is stuck in a crunch. He never guessed that the gas pumps would run dry the same week he promised to manage the family's bicycle-repair business. Suddenly everyone needs a bike. And nobody wants to wait. Meanwhile, the crunch has stranded Dewey's parents far up north. It's up to Dewey and his older sister, Lil, to look after their younger siblings and run the bike shop all on their own. To top things off, Dewey discovers that bike parts are missing from the shop. He's sure he knows who's responsible—or does he? Will exposing the thief only make more trouble for Dewey and his siblings?

12. Close to Famous Foster McFee dreams of having her own cooking show like her idol, celebrity chef Sonny Kroll. Macon Dillard's goal is to be a documentary filmmaker. Foster's mother Rayka longs to be a headliner instead of a back-up singer. And Miss Charleena plans a triumphant return to Hollywood. Everyone has a dream, but nobody is even close to famous in the little town of Culpepper. Until some unexpected events shake the town and its inhabitants - and put their big ambitions to the test. Full of humor, unforgettable characters, surprises, and lots and lots of heart, this is Joan Bauer at her most engaging.

13. Dark Life Earthquakes shattered the continents, toppling entire regions into the rising water. Now, humans live packed into stack cities. The only ones with any space of their own are those who live on the ocean floor, the Dark Life. Ty has spent his whole life living deep undersea, helping his family farm the ocean floor. But when outlaws attack his homestead, Ty finds himself in a fight to save the only home he has ever known. Joined by Gemma, a girl from the Topside who has come subsea to look for her brother, Ty ventures into the frontier's rough underworld and discovers some dark secrets to Dark Life . . . secrets that threaten to destroy everything. In Dark Life, Kat Falls has created a breathtaking world where the deep can be dangerous, the darkness can be deadly, and sometimes it takes extraordinary power to survive.

14. The Grimm Legacy Elizabeth has a new job at an unusual library—a lending library of objects, not books. In a secret room in the basement lies the Grimm Collection. That’s where the librarians lock away powerful items straight out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales: seven-league boots, a table that produces a feast at the blink of an eye, Snow White’s stepmother’s sinister mirror that talks in riddles. When the magical objects start to disappear, Elizabeth embarks on a dangerous quest to catch the thief before she can be accused of the crime—or captured by the thief. Polly Shulman has created a contemporary fantasy with a fascinating setting and premise, starring an ordinary girl whose after-school job is far from ordinary—and leads to a world of excitement, romance and magical intrigue.

15. Hero Sportswriter and novelist Lupica (Million-Dollar Throw) offers a change of pace from his previous sports stories for younger readers, deftly reworking the traditional superhero origin story into a moving tale of adolescent growth. Shortly after his father dies in a plane accident, 14-year-old Zach Harriman discovers that his father was more than just a highly placed government adviser; he might have been a superhero. As he investigates his father's death, he meets an old man named Mr. Herbert, who claims that Zach has magic within him, and Zach soon discovers that the mild hints of power he'd shown--a sixth sense about danger and an ability to heal quickly--are only the tip of the iceberg. Lupica nicely coaxes sympathy for characters who are immersed in privilege (only Zach's friend Kate, who lives with her housekeeper mother in Zach's huge Fifth Avenue apartment, doesn't exude wealth), instead focusing on Zach's grief, his conflicting emotions over his discoveries, and his uncertainty over who to trust. As superhero stories go, it follows a classic arc, but Lupica's characters avoid cliché

16. The Limit In a world eerily similar to our own, the government imposes debt limits on families. Exceed the limit, and the family’s oldest child will be taken away to a special workhouse. Thirteen-year-old Matt doesn’t think he has anything to worry about. After all, his parents are financially responsible, unlike the parents of those other kids. But after Matt’s family unexpectedly surpasses their limit, Matt’s whisked away to a workhouse where far more serious dangers exist than anyone on the outside realizes. Highly relevant to modern financial challenges and sure to captivate readers, The Limit is a fast-paced thriller that never lets up.

17. The luck of the buttons It's the summer of being twelve and Goodhue's Independence Day picnic is coming up with its races and raffles and contests. But Tugs Button is from an unlucky family. Not only are the Buttons prone to misfortune, they like it that way. Buttons keep their expectations low and avoid situations that could lead to getting a swell head. What's a girl to do when opportunity, in the person of the swift and coordinated Aggie Millhouse, knocks on her screen door? 

18. MILO: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze Milo Cruikshank is a 13 year-old new kid, who has to find a way to hit the "restart" button all over again. The truth is, ever since Milo's mother died nothing has felt right. Now, instead of the kitchen being filled with music, the whole house is filled with Fog. Nothing's the same. Not his Dad. Not his sister. And definitely not him. In love with the girl he sneezed on the first day of school and best pals with Marshall, the "One-Eyed Jack" of friends, Milo struggles to survive a school year that is filled with reminders of what his life "used to be". Brimming with heart, humor and ultimately hope, Milo: Sticky Notes & Brain Freeze is a powerhouse of a novel that will stay with you well after you've turned the last page.

19. Ninth Ward Lanesha lives with her guardian in New Orlean’s Ninth Ward. Lanesha and Mama Ya-Ya don’t have much in the way of worldly possessions but they have each other. Lanesha struggles to fit in and cope with her ability to see ghosts. Lanesha becomes friends with TaShon as they bond over a dog that Lanesha takes in for TaShon. Mama Ya-Ya’s visions see Hurricane Katrina and an even bigger problem that she isn’t sure what it is. Lanesha and Mama Ya-Ya are too poor to evacuate when the hurricane starts so they prepare their house and settle in. Lanesha grows up through the story as she proves herself resourceful and capable during the hurricane. Even though Mama Ya-Ya doesn’t live through the hurricane, Lanesha feels her love and knows she is strong enough to create a new life for herself.

20. The Secret Science Alliance Julian can’t make any friends because no one appreciates an eleven-year-old science genius. It doesn’t help that he looks like a stereotypical nerd with his glasses, small stature and orthopedic shoes. He’s tormented by bullies at school and no one cares how smart he is. His scientific experiments are ignored and derided. To add insult to injury, even his parents don’t get him. So when his family moves into a new town and he starts at a new school, he’s determined to make some friends, no matter what the cost. He decides to act stupid.Will acting stupid really get him friends? The ploy doesn’t work, anyway. He can’t stop himself from spouting his knowledge, and then he cowers in fear of what the other kids will do to him.

21. Turtle in Paradise Life isn't like the movies and 11-year-old Turtle is no Shirley Temple. She's smart and tough and has seen enough of the world not to expect a Hollywood ending. After all, it's 1935 and money and sometimes even dreams are scarce. So when Turtle's mother gets a job housekeeping for a lady who doesn't like kids, Turtle says goodbye and heads off to Florida to live with relatives. Florida's like nothing Turtle's ever seen before though. It's full of rag tag boy cousins, family secrets to unravel . . . and even a little bit of fun. Before she knows what's happened, Turtle finds herself coming out of her shell and as she does, her world opens up in the most unexpected ways. Inspired by family stories, three-time Newbery Honor winner Jennifer L. Holm blends family lore with America's past, in this charming, gem of a novel rich in history, humor, and the unique flavors of Key West.

22. Sources: • Book jacket images from Destiny library catalog and alibris.com • Descriptions from book jackets and from goodreads.com, Amazon.com, or the author’s website Compiled by Madeline Hall, Media Specialist Clark Creek Elementary STEM Academy, Cherokee County School District, Georgia