Sequoyah Book Award facts for kids
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| Formation | 1959 |
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| Website | Sequoyah Book Awards |
The Sequoyah Book Award is a special honor for books chosen by students in Oklahoma. Every year, kids from elementary, middle, and high schools vote for their favorite books. The award is named after Sequoyah (c. 1770–1843), a very smart Cherokee man. He created a writing system for the Cherokee language, called the Cherokee syllabary, in 1825.
The Oklahoma Library Association runs these awards. They have a committee that helps choose the books. Each year, different teams read and pick books for special lists. These lists then go to schools in Oklahoma. Students read the books and vote. The winners are announced in the spring. The winning authors are invited to a big conference to get their awards and meet the students!
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Award Categories
The Sequoyah Book Award program has three main awards for different age groups:
Sequoyah Children's Book Award
This award is for children in grades 3 to 5. It started in 1959. It is one of the oldest awards in the U.S. where kids get to choose the winner!
Sequoyah Intermediate Book Award
This award is for students in grades 6 to 8. It began in 1988. It was first called the Young Adult award.
Sequoyah High School Book Award
This award is for older students in grades 9 to 12. It was added to the program in 2010.
Donna Norvell Award
The Sequoyah Committee also chooses the winner for the Donna Norvell Award. This award started in 2005. It honors a book that has made a big difference in literature for young children, up to second grade.
Until 2020, librarians chose the winner for this award. Now, it is a children's choice award. Students in second grade and younger vote for their favorite book. The Children's Sequoyah Committee picks the books that are nominated for this award.
The award is named after Donna Norvell. She was a Children's Consultant for the Oklahoma Department of Libraries from 1992 to 2004. She passed away in 2004. This award honors her important work for libraries in Oklahoma.
Children's Winners
| Year | Title | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Old Yeller | Fred Gipson |
| 1960 | Black Gold | Marguerite Henry |
| 1961 | Have Space Suit—Will Travel | Robert A. Heinlein |
| 1962 | The Helen Keller Story | Catherine O. Peare |
| 1963 | Mystery of the Haunted Pool | Phyllis Whitney |
| 1964 | Where the Panther Screams | William Powell Robinson |
| 1965 | A Wrinkle in Time | Madeleine L'Engle |
| 1966 | Rascal | Sterling North |
| 1967 | Harriet the Spy | Louise Fitzhugh |
| 1968 | Gentle Ben | Walt Morey |
| 1969 | Blackbeard's Ghost | Ben Stahl |
| 1970 | Mustang | Marguerite Henry |
| 1971 | Ramona the Pest | Beverly Cleary |
| 1972 | Man in the Box | Mary Lois Dunn |
| 1973 | The Trumpet of the Swan | E. B. White |
| 1974 | Flight of the White Wolf | Mel Ellis |
| 1975 | Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing | Judy Blume |
| 1976 | How to Eat Fried Worms | Thomas Rockwell |
| 1977 | The Toothpaste Millionaire | Jean Merrill |
| 1978 | Shoeshine Girl | Clyde Robert Bulla |
| 1979 | Summer of the Monkeys | Wilson Rawls |
| 1980 | Kid Power | Susan B. Pfeffer |
| 1981 | Get-Away Car | Eleanor Clymer |
| 1982 | Bunnicula | James Howe |
| 1983 | A Dog Called Kitty | Bill Wallace |
| 1984 | The Cybil War | Betsy Byars |
| 1985 | Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub | Jamie Gilson |
| 1986 | Dear Mr. Henshaw | Beverly Cleary |
| Just Tell Me When We're Dead | Eth Clifford | |
| 1987 | Night of the Twisters | Ivy Ruckman |
| 1988 | Christina's Ghost | Betty Ren Wright |
| 1989 | The Sixth Grade Sleepover | Eve Bunting |
| 1990 | Fudge | Charlotte Graeber |
| 1991 | Beauty | Bill Wallace |
| 1992 | The Doll in the Garden | Mary Downing Hahn |
| 1993 | Weasel | Cynthia DeFelice |
| 1994 | Shiloh | Phyllis Reynolds Naylor |
| 1995 | Horror at the Haunted House | Peg Kehret |
| 1996 | The Ghosts of Mercy Manor | Betty Ren Wright |
| 1997 | Nasty, Stinky Sneakers | Eve Bunting |
| 1998 | Titanic Crossing | Barbara Williams |
| 1999 | 101 Ways to Bug Your Parents | Lee Wardlaw |
| 2000 | The Million Dollar Shot | Dan Gutman |
| 2001 | Holes | Louis Sachar |
| 2002 | Dork in Disguise | Carol Gorman |
| 2003 | Because of Winn-Dixie | Kate DiCamillo |
| 2004 | Skeleton Man | Joseph Bruchac |
| 2005 | The Stranger Next Door | Peg Kehret |
| 2006 | The Tale of Despereaux | Kate DiCamillo |
| 2007 | The World According to Humphrey | Betty Birney |
| 2008 | Angus and Sadie | Cynthia Voigt |
| 2009 | Clementine | Sara Pennypacker |
| 2010 | Lawn Boy | Gary Paulsen |
| 2011 | All the Lovely Bad Ones | Mary Downing Hahn |
| 2012 | Dragonbreath | Ursula Vernon |
| 2013 | The Strange Case of Origami Yoda | Tom Angleberger |
| 2014 | Sidekicks | Dan Santat |
| 2015 | The One and Only Ivan | Katherine Applegate |
| 2016 | Chews Your Destiny: The Gumazing Gum Girl! | Rhode Montijo |
| 2017 | The Doll Graveyard | Lois Ruby |
| 2018 | Roller Girl | Victoria Jamieson |
Intermediate Winners
| Year | Title | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Abby My Love | Hadley Irwin |
| 1989 | The Other Side of Dark | Joan Lowery Nixon |
| 1990 | Hatchet | Gary Paulsen |
| 1991 | A Sudden Silence | Eve Bunting |
| 1992 | Appointment with a Stranger | Jean Thesman |
| 1993 | The Silver Kiss | Annette Curtis Klause |
| 1994 | What Daddy Did | Neal Shusterman |
| 1995 | Flight 116 Is Down | Caroline B. Cooney |
| 1996 | The Giver | Lois Lowry |
| 1997 | Walk Two Moons | Sharon Creech |
| 1998 | Running Out of Time | Margaret Peterson Haddix |
| 1999 | Danger Zone | David Klass |
| 2000 | I Have Lived a Thousand Years | Livia Bitton-Jackson |
| 2001 | Holes | Louis Sachar |
| 2002 | Speak | Laurie Halse Anderson |
| 2003 | Define Normal | Julie Ann Peters |
| 2004 | Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants | Ann Brashares |
| 2005 | The House of the Scorpion | Nancy Farmer |
| 2006 | Eragon | Christopher Paolini |
| 2007 | Red Kayak | Priscilla Cummings |
| 2008 | The Lightning Thief | Rick Riordan |
| 2009 | Runaway | Wendelin Van Draanen |
| 2010 | Unwind | Neal Shusterman |
| 2011 | The Hunger Games | Suzanne Collins |
| 2012 | Positively | Courtney Sheinmel |
| 2013 | After Ever After | Jordan Sonnenblick |
| 2014 | Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25 | Richard Paul Evans |
| 2015 | The False Prince | Jennifer A. Nielsen |
| 2016 | Goodbye, Rebel Blue | Shelley Coriell |
| 2017 | The Crossover | Kwame Alexander |
| 2018 | The War that Saved My Life | Kimberly Brubaker Bradley |
High School Winners
| Year | Title | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Thirteen Reasons Why | Jay Asher |
| 2011 | The Hunger Games | Suzanne Collins |
| 2012 | Hate List | Jennifer Brown |
| 2013 | Clockwork Angel | Cassandra Clare |
| 2014 | Divergent | Veronica Roth |
| 2015 | The Fault in Our Stars | John Green |
| 2016 | The 5th Wave | Rick Yancey |
| 2017 | Wolf by Wolf | Ryan Graudin |
| 2018 | The Female of the Species | Mindy McGinnis |
| 2019 | The Hate U Give | Angie Thomas |
| 2020 | Dry | Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman |
| 2021 | The Patron Saints of Nothing | Randy Ribay |
Donna Norvell Award Winners
The Norvell Award honors books that make a big contribution to literature for children up to third grade. The books should be written and illustrated to present information clearly for young children. The writer and illustrator must live in the U.S. The book must have been published two years before the award year. For example, books published in 2012 were eligible for the 2014 award. Librarians on the Sequoyah Committee choose the winner.
| Year | Title | Writer | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Wild About Books | Judy Sierra | Marc Brown |
| 2007 | Leaf Man | Lois Ehlert | Ehlert |
| 2008 | Not a Box | Antoinette Portis | Portis |
| 2009 | Fred Stays with Me! | Nancy Coffelt | Tricia Tusa ‡ |
| 2010 | Maybe a Bear Ate It! | Robie Harris | Michael Emberley ‡ |
| 2011 | Chicken Dance | Tammi Sauer | Dan Santat ‡ |
| 2012 | Interrupting Chicken | David Ezra Stein | Stein |
| 2013 | Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes (sequel to Pete the Cat) |
Eric Litwin | James Dean ‡ |
| 2017 | Red, a Crayon's Story | Michael Hall | |
| 2018 | The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors | Drew Daywalt and Adam Rex |
‡ The official award webpage identifies only the title and writer.
