Guest Post by Room 209

Each year, the Massachusetts Children’s Book Awards are given to books nominated and voted on by children in grades 4-6. In order to vote for the MCBA, students must have read (or had read to them) a minimum of five books from the list of 25 nominees.

On Thursday, 37 Pine Glen 5th graders qualified and cast their votes for their favorite books. Found (The Missing, Book 1), by Margaret P. Haddix, was far and away the local winner with 13 votes. Swindle and How to Steal a Dog were next in line with 4 votes each. The Lemonade War, Billy the Fish, Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat, The Green Glass Sea, The Big Field, and Paint the Wind also received multiple votes. The overall winner and runners-up will be announced by Salem State College in May.

It has been wonderful to hear the conversations between students as they have reviewed books and made suggestions to their friends. Students looking for a new book during independent reading have looked to the MCBA bookshelf for kid-recommended titles.

Just because the voting has closed, there’s no reason to stop reading these great books. Check them out in the Pine Glen library or from the Burlington Public Library. A list of all books are available at: http://www.salemstate.edu/academics/schools/3698.php . Just click on the link for Master List.