VSBA

Volunteer State Book Award

Co-chairs:
Julie Caudle, Williamson County Schools: [email protected]
Patricia Rua-Bashir, Nashville Public LIbrary: [email protected]

Primary Committee Chair: Denise Tabscot, Metro Nashville Public Schools: [email protected]
Intermediate Chair: Jamie Kelly, Knox County Schools: [email protected]
Middle School Chair: Amanda Tucker-Dye, Metro Nashville Public Schools: [email protected]
High School Chair: Emily Farmer, Nashville Public Library: [email protected]
Publicity Committee Chair: Emily Farmer, Nashville Public Library: [email protected]

The Volunteer State Book Award is sponsored annually by the Tennessee Library Association and the Tennessee Association of School Librarians. Each year, children across Tennessee are asked to read books from a list of nominated titles. The Volunteer State Book Award has four divisions--Primary (Grades K-2), Intermediate (Grades 3-5), Middle School (Grades 6-8), and high school (Grades 9-12). In the spring, those students who have read or listened to at least three of the titles from the list are eligible to vote for their favorite titles. These votes are tabulated and sent to the state organization. The book with the most votes statewide wins the award. The author of the book receives a plaque and is invited to Tennessee to receive the award

2020-2021 VSBA WINNERS

Primary Division

Grades K-2

Intermediate Division

Grades 3-5

Middle School Division

Grades 6-8

High School Division

Grades 9-12

WINNER

Cummings, Troy. Can I Be Your Dog? Random House, 2018.

WINNER

Telgemeier, Raina. Guts. Scholastic, 2019.

WINNER

Craft, Jerry. New Kid. HarperCollins, 2019.

WINNER (tie)

Stevenson, Bryan. Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults): A True Story of the Fight for Justice. Delacorte Press, 2018.

Krosoczka, Jarrett. Hey, Kiddo. Graphix, 2018.

Runners Up:

2nd Place: Dyckman, Ame. The Misunderstood Shark. Illustrated by Scott Magoon. Orchard Books, 2018.

3rd Place: Kensky, Jessica. Rescue & Jessica: a Life-Changing Friendship. Illustrated by Scott Magoon. Candlewick Press, 2018.

Runners Up:

2nd Place: Arden, Katherine. SmallSpaces. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2018.

3rd Place: Craft, Jerry. New Kid. Harper Collins, 2019.

Runners Up:

2nd Place: Schwab, Victoria. City of Ghosts. Scholastic Press, 2018.

3rd Place (tie): McAnulty, Stacy. The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl. Random House Books for Young Readers, 2018.

3rd Place (tie): Palacio, R.J. White Bird. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2019.

Runners Up:

2nd Place (tie): Acevedo, Elizabeth. The Poet X. Harperteen, 2018.

2nd Place (tie): Jackson, Tiffany D. Monday’s Not Coming. Katherine Tegen Books, 2018.

2nd Place (tie): McGinnis, Mindy. Heroine. Katherine Tegen Books, 2019.

2nd Place (tie): Rowell, Rainbow and Faith Erin Hicks. Pumpkinheads. First Second, 2019.

We would like to thank every librarian, student, and patron who participated in voting for the 2019-2020 Volunteer State Book Award. Because our schools and libraries were closed due the Covid-19 pandemic, participation rates were down from last year, but we still had a good number of libraries submit ballots. A special thanks goes to the chairs and members of the four selection committees for developing such wonderful lists for children and teens of Tennessee.

Nominees

The VSBA committee chairs decided that in order to keep our book lists contemporary it would be best to adjust our book nomination standards. In years past, the award-winning books for VSBA have been outdated. By the time the students encounter the nominated titles and choose their favorite, many of them have likely already encountered the books on the list.

Therefore, there is not a list of twenty (20) titles for this year, as one might expect. The list for the 2020-2021 school year has thirty (30) titles on it. The past two nomination cycles were combined into one list. Going forward, the goal of the committees will be to choose books from the calendar years in which the nominating cycle occurs. You can think of it like the Caldecott and Newbery awards. We hope this will help us introduce new, high-quality literature to students and make the VSBAs more prominent.

2020-2021 Volunteer State Book Award Nominee List