LibraryAware Bluestem Award Nominees

Dogtown
by Katherine Applegate

When Chance, a real dog, and Metal Head, a robot dog, break out of the Dogtown shelter, they embark on an adventure to find their fur-ever homes. Along the way they encounter both danger and unexpected kindness.

The Area 51 Files
by Julie Buxbaum

When Sky Patel-Baum is sent to live with her mysterious uncle, she never imagines she'll end up in Area 51, a top-secret military base. Area 51 is full of aliens. But something even stranger is happening in Area 51--aliens are going missing. Sky must team up with her pizza-obsessed pet hedgehog, Spike, her otherworldly next-door neighbor, Elvis, and his fluffy pup, Pickles, to solve the case!

Swim Team
by Johnnie Christmas

When she has to take Swim 101, middle schooler Bree must face one of her greatest fears, But with a little help from an elderly neighbor and former swim team captain, she becomes her school's best hope to beat their rival.

Fighting for Yes!: The Story of Disability Rights Activist Judith Heumann
by Maryann Cocca-Leffler

In the 1970s an important disability rights law, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, was waiting to be signed. Judy Heumann and other disability rights activists held a sit-in until it was signed into law. Section 504 laid the foundation for the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A Plate of Hope: The Inspiring Story of Chef Josâe Andrâes and World Central Kitchen
by Erin Frankel

From the earthquake in Haiti to the war in Ukraine, the creator of World Central Kitchen recounts how he and his team have been at the frontlines, serving more than 200 million meals.

Rumaysa: A Fairytale
by Radiya Hafiza

For as long as she can remember, Rumaysa has been locked away in her tower, forced to spin straw into gold for the evil Witch, unable to leave. Until one day, after dropping a hijab out of her small tower-window, Rumaysa realizes how she might be able to escape . . . Join Rumaysa as she adventures through enchanted forests and into dragon's lairs, discovers her own incredible magical powers, and teams up with Cinderayla and Sleeping Sara!

Good Different
by Meg Eden Kuyatt

When neurodivergent Selah explodes at school one day and hits a fellow student, she must figure out more about who she is in order to understand that different doesn't mean damaged.

Butt or Face?: Can You Tell Which End You're Looking at?
by Kari Lavelle

Move over, Jeopardy, Family Feud, and The Price Is Right - this book will be your new favorite laugh-until-your-stomach-hurts family game! Kids must guess: are they seeing seeing...um...err... the bottom or the top? On every reveal page, kids can enjoy the animals' complete photos and fascinating scientific facts.

The Deep!: Wild Life at the Ocean's Darkest Depths
by Lindsey Leigh

Did you know that there are animals that are completely transparent? That some tube worms live for 1,000 years? That the Pigbutt Worm is also known as the "Flying Buttocks?" Or that there is a type of sea cucumber that is nicknamed "the headless chickenmonster?" These are just some of the scientific facts, presented comics-style, that kids will pore over again and again.

Squished
by Megan Wagner Lloyd

Tired of feeling squished by her six siblings, 11-year-old aspiring artist Avery Lee hatches a plan to finally get her own room until everything around her gets complicated, especially when she finds out her family might move across the country.

Millionaires for the Month
by Stacy McAnulty

After seventh graders Benji and Felix "borrow" $20 from a lost wallet, the billionaire owner challenges them to spend over $5 million dollars in thirty days in order to learn life lessons about money.

Curlfriends: New in Town
by Sharee Miller

Starting a new middle school, Charlie learns that being her true self is the best way to make lasting friendships when she meets the Curlfriends, a group of Black girls who couldn't be more different from each other.

Better With Butter
by Victoria Piontek

Afraid of absolutely everything, 12-year-old Marvel momentarily forgets her anxiety when she rescues a fainting goat named Butter and must fight for her new friend.

Batcat
by Meggie Ramm

Batcat loves being all alone in their home on Spooky Island. But when Batcat suddenly finds themself haunted by an annoying, ice cream-stealing ghost, they visit the local Island Witch for a spell to remove their ghastly guest permanently! With their Ghost-B-Gone spell in hand, Batcat travels across Spooky Island to gather ingredients--to the Cavernous Caves where the bats tell them they're too round to be a bat, and to the Whispering Cemetery where the cats will help only if they commit to being a true cat. But Batcat is neither and that's what makes them special, right?

The Guardian Test
by Christina Soontornvat

Accepted to the Guardian Academy on Lotus Island, a place where kids transform into magical creatures sworn to protect the natural world, young Plum finds herself struggling to embrace her inner animal.

The Lost Library
by Rebecca Stead

When a mysterious Little Free Library guarded by a large orange cat appears overnight, eleven-year-old Evan plucks two weathered books from its shelves, never suspecting that his life is about to change.

Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Normal Fairy-tale Life
by Emma Steinkellner

While having the world's worst apprenticeship, aspiring artist Nell is immersed in friend drama, adventure, and mystery when weird strangers arrive. They want to turn the magical town of Gumbling into a fancy resort, which freaks everyone out, including her fairy best friend Myra.

Escape at 10,000 Feet: D.B. Cooper and the Missing Money
by Tom Sullivan

This minute-by-minute account of the only unsolved airplane hijacking in the United States uses comics panels, reproductions of FBI files, and investigation photographs to chronicle the events surrounding an unidentified extortionist's 1971 hijacking and disappearance.

The Double Life of Danny Day
by Mike Thayer

Danny Day, age eleven, lives every day twice, which allows him to skip class, play video games for hours, and try to bring down bullies at his new middle school.

A Royal Vonundrum
by Lisa Yee

Dropped off at the strangest boarding school ever, Olive discovers the “reforming arts” academy isn't what it seems and neither is she. She has joined an elite group of misfits who fight crime and need her help to stop the heist of the century.