Students Cast Votes for Rebecca Caudill Book Award

On February 11, twelve students at Joseph Arthur Middle School voted for their favorite book nominated for the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award 2010. This Illinois state book award is named in honor of Rebecca Caudill who lived and wrote in Urbana, Illinois, for nearly 50 years.  The award is determined from among 20 books nominated because they represent quality literature for students in grades 4-8.  In order to qualify to vote, students must read at least 3 of the 20 nominated books.

The Joseph Arthur students and their reading teachers were invited to a voting party in the library.  After casting their ballots, students enjoyed a pizza lunch, and then they were divided into two teams – “odds” and “evens” -- for a “Battle of the Rebecca Caudill Books” competition.  A total of twenty questions were read to the teams in turn, and the teams scored points by stating the book and author.  The “evens” team came out ahead, but all players scored a book or poster prize. 

After the votes were tallied, Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham had the most votes – three, while Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George came in second with two votes.  The remaining votes were spread among the other nominated books. The votes were submitted online to the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award steering committee.  The winning author will be announced in March 2010.  The award will be presented to the author at the Illinois School Library Media Association’s annual conference this fall.

If you are interested in volunteering your time to help in the library, please make sure you have completed a volunteer form with the school district. We always have special projects such as book fairs, but we can also use help on a regular basis for shelving and organizing books already shelved. If you can volunteer, please contact me at (618)632-6336, ext. 112 or e-mail ltaffe@stclair.k12.il.us.