VOTE HERE FOR THE READERS’ CHOICE AWARD
BUT, before you vote, check out the book talks below. These book talks were made by students. They made them so you will vote for their book.
For your vote to count, please fill in all the fields.
Teachers/Librarians who are polling multiple students or patrons, please submit your tallies to PiL2011@partnersinliteracy.org by Thursday, April 3 at 4:00.
Southern Region
1. From the Duck O’Tears, Dolores School District RE-4A, Dolores: THE ISLAND by Natasha Preston. (336 pages, 2023)
Central
2. From Novels & Nachos, Mesa Ridge HS, Colorado Springs: LOOKING FOR SMOKE by K.A. Cobell. (402 pages, 2024)
Northern
3. From West Grand MS, Granby: The IMPOSSIBLE ESCAPE: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe by Steve Sheinkin. (256 pages, 2023)
IMPOSSIBLE ESCAPE by Steve Sheinkin
Nomination and Book Talk by The Mustangs
Mentor: Nellie Thomson, Instructional Coach West Grand K8
Can you give me a quick plot summary?
It was World War II. and Rudi was keen to join the fight against Adolf Hitler. Rudi was a Jew who left his only home before the Nazis could collect him and his family, determined to make it across the Hungary border and fight to death. Unfortunately, he was captured by Hungarian Guards and got beat up badly, waking up barely alive. The guards had dumped him in a transit camp to wait to be resettled. Later a train came to take him and many other Jews to Auschwitz, a concentration camp. He immediately went to work. He stayed in the camp for quite some time, moving from job to job. Many of his friends had tried to escape but failed, coming back dead only days later. But Rudi had a different approach to escaping. He had to hide in the camp. He hid in a log pile for many hours till night when he escaped. He went and got fake papers, changed his name and told everyone possible about the camp and the Mass Murders. He sounded the alarm, then went to fight against Hitler.
If the ending of this book was different, how would this change the meaning of this book?
If the ending changed it would be more of an expected ending. We know how difficult it was for Jews to survive being in concentration camps, or just survive the Nazi rule in general. If Rudi had died, what would be the point of the book? With the ending being how it was, it was more inspiring because he was able to tell his story.
Why did you nominate this book?
We nominated this book because it kept people reading. It taught us a lot about how bad it really was from a perspective from someone who actually made it. It also made us realize how lucky we are to live how and when we do.
If the character lived next door would you be friends?
Yes, because you would learn a lot from him and his stories and you could make sure he was okay.
No, it would be awkward because many of his friends in the book died. It would also be hard to relate to him.
I think if we tried to be his friend he may not want to be our friend because he has had so much loss.
4. From Louisville Public Library, Louisville: DARKNESS RISES by Stacy Stokes. (336 pages, 2024)
5. From Poudre HS, Fort Collins: WREN MARTIN RUINS IT ALL by Amanda Dewitt.(392 pages, 2023)
Metro
6. From McAuliffe International School, Denver: REGGIE AND DELILAH’S YEAR of FALLING by Bryant. (400pages, 2023)
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1F0UG-Z-8ZxXaZsf3mSI6-WJKZyZg_UtetINHmqPIQpw/edit?usp=sharing
-McAuliffe had two internal teams which competed for the book nomination. the vote was actually a tie. The second team supported THE ISLAND by Preston, also nominated by the Dolores book team. Below is McAuliffe second book talk.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1w-54n0-_FLvl_Iyr5qD6aMBTuin99LYHQla2i3xlKbg/edit?usp=sharing
7. From Regis Jesuit HS, Aurora, LIES WE SING TO THE SEA by Sarah Underwood. (432 pages, 2023)
8. From Odyssey School of Denver, Denver, KILL HER TWICE by Stacey Lee. (400 pages, 2024)
9. From Denver Public Library- Sam Gary Branch, Denver, LIES WE SING TO THE SEA by Sarah Underwood. (432 pages, 2023)
