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What is the SSYRA?
The Sunshine State Young Reader’s Award Program is a statewide reading
motivation program for students in grades 3-5 and grades 6-8. The program began in 1983, and it is
cosponsored by the School Library Media Services Office of the Department of
Education and the Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME). The reading motivation program was designed
to entice students to read high interest, contemporary literature for
personal enjoyment. The long term goal
of the program is to nurture lifelong readers who will continue to read for
information needs and personal pleasure.
Books are
nominated for the SSYRA program by Media Specialists in the state of Florida. Nominated books are recent fiction titles
that have gotten favorable reviews, appropriate and appealing to children and
representing various genres. Students
are encouraged to read at least three of the titles, so they are eligible to
vote for their favorite. Voting takes place in the spring. The author of the book receiving the most
votes is presented with an award at the annual FAME conference.
At Littlewood
· Program starts in the Spring: Reading
will take place from January to March.
Students in 3rd to 5th grades are eligible to
participate.
·
Book
Availability: There will be a
special shelf with the SSYRA books in the Media Center. Most of the books are also available at the
Alachua County Public Libraries. All
titles will be available at our Winter Book Fair, and they make wonderful holiday presents for your children,
as well as gifts for the classroom library!
·
Proof of Reading: After reading each book, students should
take the AR test. Tests for all these
titles are available at Littlewood. Students can take the test on books that
they have read by themselves, and those read in class by the teacher as
well. If they do not pass the test,
they will be given a second opportunity with a short quiz about the book
given in the Media
Center.
· Recommend the Book: Once proof of reading is completed, students
can rate the book on a chart in the Media Center
(Loved it, Liked it, Not my Favorite), to help other students in their
selection of books.
· Voting: Students who
read at least three of the books can vote for their favorite. Voting takes place in March. Participating schools throughout the state
submit their votes, and the winner of the Sunshine State Young Reader’s award
is announced by May.
·
Celebrate: Littlewood
students who read ALL 15 books will be invited to a special celebration at the end of the year.
·
More
Information: To learn more
about this program visit the SSYRA website at http://myssyra.org/default.html
, or contact Kristina Belvin at tbelvin@bellsouth.net.
List of Titles 2008 – 2009
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Bauer,
Marion Dane. The Blue Ghost When
a strange blue light glows and a voice calls her name, nine-year-old Liz
wakes to find a ghostly woman dressed in old-fashioned clothes in the
bedroom of the family’s old homestead. The woman beckons to Liz and then
disappears through the log cabin wall. Liz is at first bewildered by the
woman’s actions, but soon learns that she is being pulled back in time to
help the ghost’s family. (Grades
2-4 Level 3.2 AR Points: 1.0)
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Clements,
Andrew. No Talking The “unshushables,” Dave Packer’s fifth-grade classmates, are known for being nonstop talkers. After
Dave learns that Mahatma Gandhi practiced being silent one day a week to
bring order to his mind, he decides to try it. An encounter with Lynsey, another fifth-grade talker, initiates a contest
between the boys and girls for the next 48 hours. The principal and
teachers negatively react to the contest and insist that the students
return to their previous behavior.
(Grades 3-6 Level 5.0 AR Points: 4.0)
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DeFelice, Cynthia. The Missing Manatee 11-year-old Skeet Waters was excited about
spring vacation in his Florida
home, but his hopes are soon dashed by the fact that his parents are
splitting up and his father is moving out. After hearing this devastating
news, Skeet finds a dead manatee floating in the water. He quickly goes
back to shore to get the sheriff, but when they return to the spot, the
manatee is missing. Skeet is determined to solve the crime. (Grades 5-7 Level 4.9 AR Points: 5.0)
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Gutman, Dan. The Homework Machine Four
very different students are bound together by a big secret – Brenton has created a homework machine! Their teacher
divides the class into groups and the four central characters form the D
group, forcing them to spend a lot of time together. At first, they do not
get along with one another, but their secret binds them together and leads
them into a world of trouble.
(Grades 4-6 Level 4.8 AR Points: 4.0)
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DiSalvo, DyAnne. The
Sloppy Copy Slipup Brian Higman,
also known as Big Hig, does not have his writing
assignment ready to turn in to the teacher. He has a good excuse, but the
teacher is not willing to listen. Brian cleverly invents a verbal account
of his hectic weekend that involves one crisis after another. This
creative, verbal “sloppy copy” narrative flows throughout the story. (Grades 2-5 Level 3.9 AR Points: 2.0)
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Dowell, Frances O’Roark.
Phineas
L. MacGuire. . . Erupts!:
The First Experiment. Phineas Listerman
MacGuire, also known as “Mac,” is a budding
scientist who is upset because his best friend moved away, leaving him
without a science fair partner. Eventually, Mac is paired with the new kid
in class, also known as Mac, who is obnoxious and has already alienated the
entire class. Along the way to building their erupting volcano, the two
boys also build a friendship and learn to respect each other’s differences.
(Grades 3-5 Level 5.0 AR Points: 2.0)
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Gorman,
Carol and Ron J. Findley Stumptown
Kid. Charlie Nebras,
11, lives in a small Iowa
town in 1952. He misses his father, who died in the Korean War, dislikes
his mother’s domineering boyfriend, and wants to play baseball on the famed
Wildcats team, but is cut instead. Then in walks Luther Peale, a former
Negro Leagues player with a big secret. Luther agrees to coach Charlie’s “Stumptown” team in a game against the Wildcats. The
townspeople become more accepting of Luther until his secret is revealed
and a harrowing chase ensues.
(Grades 5-8 Level 3.7 AR Points: 7.0)
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Graff,
Lisa. The Thing about Georgie. Georgie has a
height issue. As a dwarf, nine-year-old Georgie
will not get much taller than his current 42 inches. His mother is
expecting a baby and Georgie knows that the
brother/sister will soon physically outgrow him. Georgie
must work on the Abraham Lincoln project with Jeanie the Meanie who recommends him to play Abe in the school
play. (Grades 3-6 Level 4.3 AR Points: 5.0)
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Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Dexter the Tough Dexter’s introduction
to his new school and fourth-grade class is not a good one. He slips in the
hall on the newly waxed floor and the other students laugh at him. He then
goes into the restroom and punches classmate Robin. At the moment, Dexter’s
life is difficult. His father has cancer and both parents moved to Seattle for
treatments. Dexter must live with his grandmother in Kentucky. (Grades
2-5 Level 4.2 AR Points: 3.0)
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Kehret, Peg. The Ghost’s Grave Twelve-year-old Josh is stuck
with his eccentric great-aunt while his mom and step-dad go to India
for the summer. Josh eventually
meets the ghost of the coal miner who died in 1903 in a mining accident.
Unfortunately, the coal miner’s leg was buried separately from his body and
his mission over these long years was to find a kind person who would dig
up his leg and rebury it with the rest of him. When Josh exhumes the leg,
he also finds a box of cash! (Grades 4-7 Level 5.0 AR Points: 6.0)
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Lord,
Cynthia. Rules. Catherine, 12, has an autistic brother
that she alternately is ashamed of and loves. To deal with her brother’s
eccentricities, Catherine creates rules that her brother needs to follow.
In the meanwhile, she befriends a nonverbal paraplegic boy who communicates
by using a book of pictures, including a card for “whatever.” Catherine’s
relationship with the boy, Jason, helps her better understand her complex
feelings toward her brother. (Grades
4-7 Level 3.9 AR Points: 4.0)
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Naylor,
Phyllis Reynolds Roxie
and the Hooligans.
Poor nine-year-old Roxie is the target of the class bullies known as Helvetia’s Hooligans. They have chosen her to be the
Victim of the Year because she has ears that stick out. The Hooligans chase
Roxie into a dumpster and they all end up on a barge pulling out to sea.
Eventually, they are stranded on a deserted island with two robbers who are
hiding out. Roxie, however, comes to the rescue with her survival skills
memorized from a book written by her Uncle Dangerfoot’s
colleague, Lord Thistlebottom. (Grades
2-4 Level 5.3 AR Points: 2.0)
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Pennypacker, Sara. Clementine. Clementine is an
outrageous, but ingenuous, third-grader who is constantly in trouble. Her
parents often remind her to “Think about the Consequences” before she acts.
Clementine tries to focus on the teacher, but her mind is constantly
redirected to other problems around her.
(Grades 2-4 Level 4.5 AR Points: 2.0)
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Repka, Janice. The Stupendous Dodgeball Fiasco. Leaving his parents and the circus
behind, Philip Stanislaw goes to live with his aunt and uncle in Hardingtown, the Unofficial Dodgeball
Capital of the World. Much to his surprise, Philip learns that every gym
class has a sadistic version of the game. After his glasses are broken by a
wild pitch from the coach’s daughter, sixth-grader Philip decides to sue
for damages and ends up serving as his own lawyer. (Grades
4-6 Level 4.7 AR Points: 6.0)
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Tolan, Stephanie S.
Listen! Twelve-year-old Charley
is grieving for her mother while trying to recuperate from a car accident
that has left her with a slowly healing leg. Summer looms as a lonely time
for her since her best friend is at tennis camp and her father has buried
himself in work because of his own pain. Charley decides to take her
physical therapist’s advice and go for long walks in the woods. On her
first day out, she meets a stray dog that she names Coyote. As she tries to
tame him, they develop a deep and lasting bond. (Grades
4-8 Level 5.0 AR Points: 6.0)
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This page was last updated on 11/24/08
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