Mildred L. Batchelder Honor

Award Year

Mildred L. Batchelder Honor

2008

Milkweed Editions: Richter, Jutta. ( 2007). The cat, or, how I lost eternity. (Translated by Anna Brailovsky). Minneapolis, Minn. : Milkweed Editions.

Eight-year-old Christine is late for school every day because a talking alley cat demands her attention, giving her much to think about as he tries to teach her to be spiteful and pitiless.

2008

Phaidon Press: Goscinny, Rene. (2007). Nicohoas and the Gang. (Illustrated by Jacques Sempe and translated from the French by Anthea Bell). New York : Phaidon Press.

Nicholas is invited to a birthday party by the girl next door, plays a very messy game of chess, and learns that walking on your hands is much harder than turning somersault.

2007

Delacorte Press : Bondoux, Anne-Laure. (2006). The killer's tears. (Translated from the French by Y. Maudet). New York : Delacorte Press. INTR-FIC B7117La 

A young boy, Paolo, and the man who murdered his parents, Angel, gradually become like father and son as they live and work together on the remote Chilean farm where Paolo was born.

2007

Hyperion/Miramax : De Mari, Silvana. (2006, c2004). The last dragon. (Translated from the Italian by Shaun Whiteside). New York : Miramax Books, Hyperion Books for Children. INTR-FIC D3724La

Struggling to survive in a post apocalyptic world after his village is destroyed, Yorsh, the earth's last elf, must embark on a perilous quest to decipher a powerful prophecy and find the last dragon, who holds the key to saving the world from the Dark Age that has begun.

2006

Phaidon Press Limited : Goscinny, René and Sempé, Jean-Jacques. (2005). Nicholas. (Translated by Anthea Bell). New York : Phaidon Press. INTR-FIC G6762pe

Nicholas and his friends do their best to follow orders (most of the time) and stay neat and clean (if possible, despite searching for boxes in the school basement), but that doesn’t keep them from pestering the substitute teacher, trying to adopt a lost dog, or quarreling over soccer positions when no one has a ball.

2006

Bloomsbury Children’s Books : Zenatti, Valérie. (2005). When I was a soldier : a memoir. (Translated by Adriana Hunter). New York : Bloomsbury Children’s Books. 921 Z542z

Like all young Israelis, Valérie Zenatti enlisted in the national defense service on her 18th birthday, where for the next two years she endured rigorous training and harsh living conditions, ultimately participating in top-secret missions with the secret service.

2005

Farrar Straus Giroux : Bredsdorff, Bodil. (2004).    The Crow-girl : the children of Crow Cove . (Translated from the Danish by Faith Ingwersen). New York : Farrar Straus Giroux. INTR-FIC B8317cr

After the death of her grandmother, a young orphaned girl leaves her house by the cove and begins a journey which leads her to people and experiences that exemplify the wisdom her grandmother had shared with her.

2005

Richard Jackson Books/Simon & Schuster's Atheneum division : Chotjewitz, David. (2004). Daniel , half human : and the good Nazi . (Translated by Doris Orgel). New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers. INTR-FIC C5515da

In 1933, best friends Daniel and Armin admire Hitler, but as anti-Semitism buoys Hitler to power, Daniel learns he is half Jewish, threatening the friendship even as life in their beloved Hamburg, Germany, is becoming nightmarish. Also details Daniel and Armin’s reunion in 1945 in interspersed chapters.

2004

Chronicle Books : Schyffert, Bea Uusma. (2003). The man who went to the far side of the moon : the story of Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins. (Translated by Emi Guner). San Francisco, Calif. : Chronicle Books. 921 C7126s

A biography of the astronaut, Michael Collins, who circled the moon in the Apollo 12 space capsule while his colleagues Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the lunar module and walked on the moon.

2003

David R. Godine : Johansen, Hanna. (2002). Henrietta and the golden eggs. (Pictures by Käthi Bhend, and translated by John S. Barrett). Jaffrey, N.H. : D.R. Godine. PRIM-FIC J652vo

The persistence of Henrietta, one of 3,333 chickens on a chicken farm, leads to a better life for them all.

2002

Viking Press : Morgenstern, Susie Hoch. (2001). A book of coupons . (Illustrated by Serge Bloch ; translated by Gill Rosner). New York : Viking. INTR-FIC M8515bo

Elderly Monsieur Noel, the very unconventional new eighth-grade teacher, gives coupon books for such things as dancing in class and sleeping late, which are bound to get him in trouble with the military discipline of Principal Incarnation Perez.

2001

David R. Godine : Lehmann, Christian. (2000). Ultimate game : a novel. (Translated from the French by William Rodarmor). Boston : D.R. Godine. INTR-FIC L5233no

When three friends play a new video war game, they soon realize that it is taking over their lives.

2000

Farrar, Straus and Giroux : Buchholz, Quint. (1999). The collector of moments. (Translated from the German by Peter F. Neumeyer). New York : Farrar, Straus & Giroux. PRIM-FIC B9194sa

When Max, an artist, departs for a long journey, the boy who is his friend and neighbor visits his apartment and discovers an exhibition of pictures created just for him.

2000

R&S Books : Björk, Christina. (1999). Vendela in Venice . (Pictures by Inga-Karin Eriksson ; translated by Patricia Crampton). Stockholm ; New York : R&S Books. INTR-FIC B6266ve

On a visit to Venice with her father, Vendela experiences the richness and beauty of the city and its palaces, gondolas, and statues.

2000

Front Street : Holtwijk, Ineke. (1999). Asphalt angels . (Translated from the Dutch by Wanda Boeke). Asheville, N.C. : Front Street, Lemniscaat. INTR-FIC H7588en

Abandoned on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, thirteen-year-old Alex joins a group of children like him and finds himself adapting to his new life.

1999

Viking : Morgenstern, Susie Hoch. (1998). Secret letters from 0 to 10. (Translated by Gill Rosner). New York : Viking. INTR-FIC M8515Le

Ten-year-old Ernest lives a boring existence in Paris with his grandmother until a lively girl named Victory enters his class at school.

1998

Scholastic Press : Wassiljewa, Tatjana. (1997). Hostage to war : a true story . (Translation from German by Anna Trenter). New York : Scholastic Press.

The author relates her experiences from 1941-1953 as she struggles to survive as a Russian teenager caught up in all the horrors of World War II and its aftermath.

1998

Viking Publishing : Heidenreich, Elke. (1997). Nero Corleone : a cat’s story. (Translated by Doris Orgel ; illustrated by Quint Buchholz). New York : Viking. PRIM-FIC H4656ne

A bold and self-serving tom cat reigns supreme both in the farmyard in Italy where he was born and later in the comfortable home in Germany to which a vacationing couple takes him and his helpless sister.

1997

No honor award

1996

Henry Holt & Co. : Dijk, Lutz van. (1995). Damned strong love : the true story of Willi G. and Stephan K. : a novel . (Translated from the German by Elizabeth D. Crawford). New York : Holt. INTR-FIC D5757ve

Fifteen-year-old Stefan K. tries to care for his family after his father is sent to a German labor camp. Shortly after he realizes he is gay, Stefan fall in love with a Nazi soldier. They learn that love knows no race or gender or boundaries.

1996

Walker and Co. : Hoestlandt, Jo. (1995). Star of fear, star of hope. (Illustrations by Johanna Kang ; translated from the French by Mark Polizzotti). New York : Walker. PRIM-FIC H6956gr

Nine-year-old Helen is confused by the disappearance of her Jewish friend during the German occupation of Paris.

1995

Lothrop, Lee & Shepard : Dalokay, Vedat. (1994). Sister Shako and Kolo the goat : memories of my childhood in Turkey . (Translated by Güner Ener). New York : Lothrop, Lee & Shepard. 894.35 D148s

An elderly woman reveals her childhood experiences to a young neighbor.

1994

Farrar : Heymans, Annemie & Margriet. (1993). The princess in the kitchen garden. (Translated from Dutch by Johanna H. Prins and Johanna W. Prins). New York : Farrar, Straus & Giroux. PRIM-FIC H6182pr

As their father becomes more absorbed in his work, Matthew and his sister Hannah come to terms with their mother's death in very unusual ways.

1994

Viking : Rol, Ruud van der. (1995, c1993). Anne Frank, beyond the diary : a photographic remembrance. ( Ruud van der Rol and Rian Verhoeven in association with the Anne Frank House ; translated by Tony Langham and Plym Peters ; with an introduction by Anna Quindlen).  New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Scholastic. 940.53 R744a

Photographs, illustrations, and maps accompany historical essays, diary excerpts, and interviews, providing an insight to Anne Frank and the massive upheaval which tore apart her world.