Welcome to the YRCA 2006 Critic's Choice! Project - Junior Division

Critic's Choice! has been created in response to the annual Young Readers' Choice Awards. This project supports the Junior Division and Intermediate Division Nominees.

The Junior Division of the Young Readers Choice Awards includes books recommended for grades 4 through 6. Books are nominated by students, teachers and librarians throughout the Pacific Northwest. Voting for the annual winner takes place in the spring of each year through school libraries.

Teachers are invited to find out more about the YRCA and this project by clicking on the links on the sidebar. Registration has started... Please join us!

December 1 Update
Just to clarify any confusion, teachers first need to register with us to participate in this project by clicking on the Registration link on the right. Secondly, teachers need to register with Blogger to receive access to this project (or we will happily register you with Blogger if you ask!)

This can be a bit confusing because right after you register with Blogger, you are moved to a page for creating your own blog. YOU DON'T NEED TO CREATE YOUR OWN BLOG! Instead, after creating your user name and password, just exit from the Blogger site and wait for an invitation from us to join our project. Your students will be posting on this project site.

Please contact us if you require any clarification.

SAHARA SPECIAL

SAHARA SPECIAL
by Esme Raji Codell
Struggling with school and her feelings since her father left, Sahara gets a fresh start with a new and unique teacher who supports her writing talents and the individuality of each of her classmates.

GRANNY TORRELLI MAKES SOUP

Granny Torrelli Makes Soup
by Sharon Creech
With the help of her wise old grandmother, twelve-year-old Rosie manages to work out some problems in her relationship with her best friend, Bailey, the boy next door.

RODZINA

Rodzina
by Karen Cushman
A twelve-year-old Polish-American girl is boarded onto an orphan train in Chicago with fears about traveling to the West and a life of unpaid slavery.

OLIVE'S OCEAN

Olive's Ocean
by Kevin Henkes
On a summer visit to her grandmother's cottage by the ocean, twelve-year-old Martha gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to be a writer.

THE MAYOR OF CENTRAL PARK

The Mayor of Central Park
by Avi
Oscar Westerwit, a squirrel who loves baseball and Broadway musicals, fights back when a gangster rat named Big Daddy Duds and his thugs move uptown, invade Central Park, and evict Oscar and his animal friends from their homes.

KENSUKE'S KINGDOM

Kensuke's Kingdom
by Michael Morpurgo
When Michael is swept off his family's yacht, he washes up on a desert island, where he struggles to survive--until he finds he is not alone.

THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX

The Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo
The adventures of Despereaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.

GREGOR THE OVERLANDER

Gregor the Overlander
by Suzanne Collins
When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy.