Winner of the Edgar Award: A search to find her parents becomes a quest that shakes Jamie Bridger’s identity to its core Raised by her grandparents, fourteen-year-old Jamie Bridger has never known who her parents are. When she presses for details, her grandmother protests that she doesn’t remember things that happened years ago, and her grandfather reacts by flying into a rage. But who could forget the birth of their only grandchild? And how could a mother give up her baby for good? Shouldn’t Jamie’s parents have tried to get in contact with her? Jamie is determined to find answers, and she’ll go to any lengths to get them, even if it means traveling all the way to New York to find a man who shares her name—a man she believes to be her father. But as she starts to put together the pieces of her past, Jamie learns that the truth is more shocking than anything she could have anticipated.

Celebrated author Nancy Polette offers a complete mystery literature guide for primary, intermediate, and middle school mysteries. Librarians and teachers alike will find this engaging title from popular author Nancy Polette a joy to use, and the information it offers is a sure way to engage students in literature. Mysteries in the Classroom introduces 23 reading strategies tied to the National Standards in Reading, Language Arts, and Social Studies that can be used with any mystery. Booktalks and activities are presented for 17 favorite mystery series and 6 favorite authors. The book includes hands-on activities to introduce each series and author, booktalks for the Edgar Allan Poe Juvenile Mystery Award winners from 1979 to 2008, and step-by-step directions for turning booktalks into readers theatre presentations. An especially exciting feature is a section contributed by Newberry-award winning author Richard Peck in which he guides budding young writers in coauthoring a mystery with him. Grades 1-6

Evaluates fiction and nonfiction books featuring girls and women in positive roles, ranking each entry by reading level.

For the first time in one place, Roger M. Sobin has compiled a list of nominees and award winners of virtually every mystery award ever presented. He has also included many of the “best of” lists by more than fifty of the most important contributors to the genre.; Mr. Sobin spent more than two decades gathering the data and lists in this volume, much of that time he used to recheck the accuracy of the material he had collected. Several of the “best of” lists appear here for the first time in book form. Several others have been unavailable for a number of years.; Of special note, are Anthony Boucher’s “Best Picks for the Year.” Boucher, one of the major mystery reviewers of all time, reviewed for The San Francisco Chronicle, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and The New York Times. From these resources Mr. Sobin created “Boucher’s Best” and “Important Lists to Consider,” lists that provide insight into important writing in the field from 1942 through Boucher’s death in 1968.? This is a great resource for all mystery readers and collectors.; ; Winner of the 2008 Macavity Awards for Best Mystery Nonfiction.

Diana Marks looks at children's and young adult book awards in depth. The history, award criteria, and a biography of the person behind each of the well-known awards is included. Also of interest are lists of the winners in each category, teaching and exploration activities, reproducible teaching aides, and a timeline of events leading up to the establishment of the award. Information about well-known awards is accompanied by information on the lesser known, Pura Belpré, Jane Addams, etc. Information is formatted in quick, easy-to-read tables and charts suitable for classroom duplication. Although some of this information is available online, this is a one stop handbook that contains lesser-known awards, and offers activities for enriching the study of each award, whether well-known or not. Grades K-8.

Society does not make it easy for young people, regardless of their sexual orientation, to find accurate, nonjudgmental information about homosexuality. It makes it even more difficult for young homosexuals to find positive role models in fiction either written or published expressly for them or—if published for adults—relevant to them and their lives. The Heart Has Its Reasons examines these issues and critically evaluates the body of literature published for young adults that offers homosexual themes and characters. Cart and Jenkins chart the evolution of the field of YA literature having GLBTQ (gay/lesbian/bisexual, transgendered, and/or queer/questioning) content. They identify titles that are remarkable either for their excellence or failures, noting the stereotypic, wrongheaded, and outdated books as well as the accurate, thoughtful, and tactful titles. Useful criteria for evaluating books with GLBTQ content are provided. Books and resources of all types are reviewed based on a model that uses the category descriptors of Homosexual Visibility, Gay Assimilation, and Queer Consciousness/Community. An annotated bibliography and a number of author-title lists of books discussed in the text arranged by subject round out this valuable reference for teachers, librarians, parents, and young adults.