Youths4Peace

2003
Jane Addams
Award Books

2003 Jane Addams Awards

Books for Older Children

Ellis, Deborah.  Parvana's Journey.  Douglas & McIntyre, 2002.  ISBN:  0888995148.

Winner Book for Older Children.  The second in The Breadwinner Trilogy, this international young adult bestseller, Parvana is the gripping story of a young girl's journey in search of her family, somewhere in war-ravaged Afghanistan, and of her courage and compassion in the face of many shocking hardships along the way.  Gr. 5-8.

Honor Books

Paterson, Katherine.  The Same Stuff as Stars.  Harper Trophy, 2004.  ISBN:  0060557125.

When Angel's self-absorbed mother leaves her and her younger brother with their poor great-grandmother, the eleven-year-old girl worries not only about her mother and brother, her imprisoned father, the frail old woman, but also about a mysterious man who begins sharing with her the wonder of the stars.  Gr. 5-9.

Park, Linda Sue.  When my name was Keoko.  Clarion Books, 2002.  ISBN:  0618133356.

Sun-hee and her older brother Tae-yul are proud of their Korean heritage.  Yet they live their lives under Japanese occupation.  All students must read and write in Japanese and no one can fly the Korean flag.  Hardest of all is when the Japanese Emperor forces all Koreans to take Japanese names.  Sun-hee and Tae-yul become Keoko and Nobuo.  Korea is torn apart by their Japanese invaders during World War II.  Everyone must help with war preparations, but it doesn’t mean they are willing to defend Japan.  Tae-yul is about to risk his life to help his family, while Sun-hee stays home guarding life-and-death secrets.  (Also available on audiocassette and book and CD cassette.)  Gr. 5-9.

Picture Books

Myers, Walter Dean Patrol.  Illustrated by Ann Grifalconi.  Patrol:  An American Soldier in Vietnam.  HarperCollins, 2002.  ISBN:  0060283637.

A young American soldier waits for his enemy, rifle in hand, finger on the trigger.  He is afraid to move and yet afraid not to move.  Gunshots crackle in the still air.  The soldier fires blindly into the distant trees at an unseen enemy.  He crouches and waits -- heart pounding, tense and trembling, biting back tears.  When will it all be over?  Walter Dean Myers joined the army on his seventeeth birthday, at the onset of American involvement in Vietnam, but it was the death of his brother in 1968 that forever changed his mind about war.  In a gripping and powerful story-poem, the award-winning author takes readers into the heart and mind of a young soldier in an alien land, who comes face-to-face with the enemy.  Strikingly illustrated with evocative and emotionally wrenching collages by Caldecott Honor artist Ann Grifalconi, this unforgettable portrait captures one American G.L's haunting experience.  Gr. 4 and 7.

Honor Books

Cohn, Diana.  Essay & poem by Luis J. Rodríguez.  Illustrated by Francisco Delgado.  ˇSi, Se Puede! Yes We Can! Janitor Strike In L.A. Cinco Puntos Press, 2002.  ISBN:  0938317660.

Every night Carlitos sleeps while his mother, a janitor, goes to work in a skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles.  When she comes home in the morning, she sends Carlitos off to school before she goes to sleep herself.  She and the other janitors must go on strike to demand higher wages and a better way of life.  Carlitos finds his own special way to help and support her.  Gr. 4-6.

Grifalconi ,Ann.  Illustrated by Kadir Nelson.  The Village That Vanished.  Dial, 2002.  ISBN:  0803726236.

Young Abekenile and all the villagers of Yao feel safe sheltered deep within the jungle.  But word has now come that slavers are on their way!  Abekenile looks to the women of her tribe: her mother, who comes up with a clever plan to fool the slavers, and a tribal elder, who stays behind to face the slavers, steadfast in her trust that the ancestor-spirits will watch over her.  But as the villagers retreat within the forest, it is Abekenile who finds that she too has the bravery and daring to help her people stay safe and free.  Kadir Nelson's lush and striking artwork beautifully expresses this inspiring tale.  Gr. 1-6.

2002

2004