Sunshine State Young Readers Award Books

2021-2022 List for Grades 3-5

Amelia Six by Kristin L Gray
Eleven-year-old Amelia (Millie) doesn’t realize just how much adventure awaits her when she’s given the
opportunity of a lifetime: to spend the night in Amelia Earhart’s childhood home with five other girls.
Once at Amelia’s house in Atchison, Kansas, Millie stumbles upon a display of Amelia’s famous flight gog-
gles. But her luck changes quickly when the goggles disappear, and Millie was the last to see them. It’s up
to the Amelia Six to find the culprit and return the goggles to their rightful place.

Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes

As one of the few black boys at Middlefield Prep, most of the students don’t look like Donte. They don’t
like him either. When an incident leads to his arrest and suspension, he knows the only way to get even is
to beat the king of the school at his own game: fencing. Donte embarks on a journey to carve out a spot
on Middlefield Prep’s fencing team and maybe learn something about himself along the way.

Charlie & Frog by Karen Kane

Charlie heads into the village where an old woman gives him a desperate message in sign language, then
suddenly disappears. All Francine (aka Frog) wants is to be the world’s greatest detective. Frog, who is
Deaf, would jumps at the chance to tackle a real-life case. Together, Charlie and Frog set out to decipher a
series of clues and uncover the truth behind the missing woman’s mysterious message.

The Disaster Days by Rebecca Behrens

Hannah loves living on a tiny island. It’s a little disconnected from the outside world, but she’s always felt
completely safe there. Which is why when she’s asked one day to babysit after school, she thinks it’s no
big deal. Then the shaking begins. The terrifying earthquake only lasts four minutes but it changes every-
thing, damaging the house, knocking out the power, and making cell service nonexistent. Hannah and the
youngsters are stranded and alone with Hannah in charge, as things go from bad to dangerous.

A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Joy McCullough

Sutton is having robot problems. She must have gotten something wrong in the coding. Luis spends his days
writing thrilling stories about brave kids, but there’s only so much inspiration you can find when you’re stuck inside
all day—allergic and afraid. Sutton and Luis couldn’t be more different from each other. Except now that their par-
ents are dating, these two have to find some common ground. Will they be able to navigate their way through life?

Following Baxter by Barbara Kerley

Jordie has been waiting forever for someone to move in next door, so she is thrilled when Professor Reece
arrives: she has a laboratory in her basement and an extraordinary dog named Baxter—who seems to un-
derstand everything Jordie says. JShe begins walking Baxter and helping Professor Reese in the lab. But
being lab assistant ends up being more than Jordie bargained for and leads her to an unexpected secret.
When Professor Reece goes missing, it is up to Jordie to use her smarts and Baxter’s magical powers to
find her. Will they be able to save Professor Reece before it’s too late?

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks

What does a girl say to the father she’s never met and who’s been in prison for a terrible crime? A crime
he says he never committed. Zoe is determined to uncover the truth. Even if it means hiding his letters
and her investigation from the rest of her family. With bakery confections on one part of her mind, and
her father on the other, this is one recipe Zoe doesn’t know how to balance. The only thing she knows to
be true: Everyone lies.
 Sunshine State Young Readers Award Books
2021-2022 List for Grades 3-5, Page 2
The Great Pet Heist by Emily Ecton
Butterbean knew she wasn’t always a good dog. Then her owner, Mrs. Food, fell in the hallway. Now
Butterbean and her fellow pets (Oscar the mynah bird, Walt the cat, and rats Marco and Polo),have to
come up with a plan to support themselves. When they discover a mysterious man in their building who
seems to have lots of loot, they plan a heist. Can these animal friends pull off the heist of the century?

How to Test a Friendship by Theanne Griffith

Violet and Pablo are best friends who love science! So when they discover a riddle that opens a magic portal in
the Science Space at school, they can’t wait to check it out! Along with their new classmate, Deepak, the friends dis-
cover a magical makerspace called the Maker Maze. It’s a laboratory full of robots, 3D printers, an antigravity cham-
ber, and more. Doors line the walls of the makerspace, with a new science adventure waiting behind each one.

The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter by Aaron Reynolds

Rex Dexter is itching to have a dog but ends up with a pet chicken. One hour and fourteen minutes later,
the chicken is dead, Rex is cursed, and wild animal ghosts are haunting Rex's room. Rex's uninvited ghostly
guests are a chatty, messy bunch. And they need Rex to solve their mysterious deadly departures from the
Middling Falls Zoo before it happens again. But how?

Midnight at the Barclay Hotel by Fleur Bradley

When JJ’s mom accepts an invitation to a weekend getaway at the Barclay Hotel, he never imagined that
he’d find himself in the midst of a murder mystery. When he arrives at the Barclay Hotel and his mother is
blamed for the hotel owner’s death, he realizes his weekend is going to be anything but ordinary. Now he
must track down a killer, clear his mother’s name, and maybe even meet a ghost or two along the way.

The Newspaper Club by Beth Vrabel

There are rumors of vandalism and attacks at the only park in town. Something is happening at the park,
but what? All of the fake online news and rumors are clouding the truth. Nellie wants to break the story
— and break free from the front yard — but she can’t do it alone. She needs a whole club if she’s going to
start the Cub Report, the town’s first independent newspaper. Creating a newspaper from scratch is going
to be tough; but for Nellie, making friends is even harder.

Roll With It by Jamie Sumner

Ellie’s a girl who tells it like it is. That surprises some people, who see a kid in a wheelchair and think she’s
going to be all sunshine and cuddles. The thing is, Ellie has big dreams: one day she’s going to be a profes-
sional baker. But when Ellie and her mom move so they can help take care of her grandpa, Ellie has to
start all over again in a new town at a new school. Except she’s not just the new kid—she’s the new kid in
the wheelchair who lives in the trailer park on the wrong side of town.
The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez by Adrianna Cuevas
Nestor doesn’t want anyone find out his deepest secret: that he can talk to animals. But when the animals
in his new town start disappearing, Nestor's grandmother becomes the prime suspect. Nestor learns that
they are being seized by a tule vieja—a witch who can absorb an animal’s powers by biting it during a so-
lar eclipse. And the next eclipse is just around the corner…Now it’s up to Nestor’s extraordinary ability
and his new friends to catch the tule vieja—and save a place he might just call home.

Wish Upon a Sleepover by Suzanne Selfors

Leilani is planning to host the best sleepover in the history of the world. But her grandmother accidentally
sends the invitations to the "do NOT invite" list and now Leilani is stuck hosting a group of kids she can't
stand. This is sure to be the worst sleepover in the history of the world. Or...maybe the unexpected will
happen.