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Sunshine State Young Readers Award Program 2020 Book List

Sunshine State Young Readers Award Program 2020 Book List

On April 23, the Florida Association of Media in Education revealed this year’s titles for the Sunshine State Young Readers Award Program (SSYRA). The SSYRA is a statewide initiative to encourage students to read independently to improve reading fluency. Books picked for the annual lists appeal to a wide audience, have literary value, represent different genres, and represent the rich diversity of our state.

For the library’s Collection Development team this is one of the busiest days of the year and with the library being closed this year was different. An hour before the lists were revealed the Collection Development team was finalizing the game plan for reviewing the lists through chat. Once the lists were revealed the team quickly went to work to purchase additional copies of all the titles to meet the demand of this popular reading initiative. 

All the books are available in the library’s collection. Physical copies can be requested for home delivery while many titles are also available through our online platforms.

 

Junior List


Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas by Aaron Blabey 

 


Can I Be Your Dog? by Troy Cummings

 


When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree by Jamie L. B. Deenihan

 


Dandy by Ame Dyckman

 


Pencil – A Story with a Point by Ann Ingalls

 


Superbuns! by Diane Kredensor

 


T-Bone the Drone by Shanda McCloskey

 


Ella McKeen, Kickball Queen by Beth Mills

 


The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad

 


The Panda Problem by Deborah Underwood

 


Smell My Foot by Cece Bell 

 


My Furry Foster Family – Truman the Dog by Debbi Michiko Florence

 


Frank & Bean by Jamie Michalak

 


The Quiet Boat Ride by Sergio Ruzzier

 


Happy Fell by Erica S. Perl

 

A fully annotated list of the Junior List can be found here.

Titles available digitally through Overdrive can be found here.

 

Grades 3–5 

 


Attack of the Not-So-Virtual Monsters by Kim Harrington

 


Beatrice Zinker, Upside Down Thinker by Shelley Johannes

 


Bernice Buttman, Model Citizen by Niki Lenz

 


Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn

 


Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott

 


How I Became A Spy: A Mystery of WWII London by Deborah Hopkinson

 


Inkling by Kenneth Oppel

 


Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat by Johnny Marciano & Emily Chenoweth

 


Olga and the Smelly Thing From Nowhere by Elise Gravel

 


Operation Frog Effect by Sarah Lynn Scheerger

 


Planet Earth is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos

 


Power Forward by Hena Khan

 


Strongheart by Candace Fleming

 


The Unicorn in the Barn by Jacqueline Ogburn

 


Voyage of the Dogs by Greg Van Eekhout

 

A fully annotated list of the Grades 3–5 list can be found here.

Titles available digitally through Overdrive can be found here.

 

Grades 6–8

 


The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

 


Charlie Hernandez and the League of Shadows by Ryan Calejo

 


City Spies by James Ponti

 


Deep Water: A Story of Survival by Watt Key

 


Float by Laura Martin

 


Game Changer by Tom Greenwald

 


Inkling by Kenneth Oppel

 


Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood

 


Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya

 


New Kid by Jerry Craft

 


The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart

 


Scouts by Shannon Greenland

 


Song for a Whale by Kelly Lynne

 


Spark by Sarah Beth Durst

 


We’re Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey

 

A fully annotated list of the Grades 6–8 list can be found here.

Titles available digitally through Overdrive can be found here.

 

Happy Reading!

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Southwest Branch Closing for Maintenance

Southwest Branch will be closed on Monday, March 25 and Tuesday, March 26 for replacement of the HVAC unit. The book drop will remain open and we plan to resume normal operating hours on Wednesday, March 27.