Youths4Peace

2008
Jane Addams
Award Books

2008 Jane Addams Awards

Award Book for Older Children

Brimner, Larry Dane  We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin  Calkins Creek, 2007.  ISBN:  1590784983.

Bayard Rustin was a man with purpose and a man with heart. His was a life dedicated to helping others - fighting injustices and discriminations - so that people could live as one. with style and careful attention to history, Larry Dane Brimner captures a story of passion, courage, and triumph through Bayard's own words and archival photographs - and through spirituals and protest songs that Bayard often sang.  Gr. 7 & up. 

Honor Books for Older Children

Perkins, Mitali.  Rickshaw Girl Illustrated by Jamie Hogan.   Charlesbridge, 2007.  ISBN: 1580893084.

Naima loves to create the traditional alpana patterns Bangladeshi women and girls paint in their homes for special celebrations. But naima wishes she could help earn money for her family. Mitali Perkins draws on her own experiences living in Bangladesh to dramatize Naima's struggle to be true to her heritage and to her own artistic talent. Rickshaw Girl is not only timely, with the 2006 Nobel Peace prize going to Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh for his work with microloans (or microfinancing) in local communities, it's also a universal tale about a girl trying to prove her worth and equality to herself, her family and her community. Gr. 4 and up.

Curtis, Christopher Paul. Elijah of Buxton. Scholastic Press, 2007. ISBN: 0439023443.

Elijah is the first free-born child in the Settlement of Buxton, Canada - a haven for slaves fleeing the American south. Caught in the middle of a dangerous situation, Elijah uses his wits and and skills to buy a family's freedom. Gr. 6 & up.

Weatherford, Carole Boston.  Birmingham, 1963.   Wordsong, 2007.  ISBN:  1590754402.

On Sunday, September 15, 1963, members of the Ku Klux Klan planted nineteen sticks of dynamite under the back steps of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, which served as a meeting place for civil rights organizers. The explosion claimed the lives of four girls. Their murders shocked the nation and turned the tide in the struggle for equality. Here is a book that captures the heartbreak of that tragic day as seen through the eyes of a fictional witness to the bombing. Grade 3 and up. 

Award Book for Younger Children

McCully, Emily Arnold. The Escape of Oney Judge: Martha Washington's Slave Finds Freedom. . Farrar Straus Giroux, 2008. ISBN: 0374322250.

With the permission and encouragement of Mrs. Washington, ten-year-old Oney is taught to sew. She learned quickly and soon became proficient seamstress. Impressed by her skill level, Mrs. Washington made Oney her personal mistress; and though Oney felt she had more freedom from other slaves she knew, she understood that she wasn't truly free. One day she finds that opportunity and runs. She does not know where she will end up, only that she wants to be free with no mistress but herself.  Gr. 3 & up.

Honor Book for Younger Children

Judge, Lita.    One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II.   Hyperion Books for Children, 2007.  ISBN:  1423100089.

When author-illustrator Lita Judge discovered hundreds of tracings of feet in her grandparents' attic, she was intrigues and inspired to share the story behind it. In the aftermath of World War II, many Europeans were homeless and starving. This is the story of one American family's triumphant effort to relieve their suffering. Gr. 3 & up. 

2007

2009 in progress