Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award
Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award references 152 books assigned across applicable K-12 grade levels in US schools.
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The Black-Eyed Susan Book Award is Maryland's statewide student-choice reading program, run by the Maryland Association of School Librarians since 1992. Students across grade divisions (grades 3-5, 4-6, 6-8, and 6-9) read from annual nominee lists and vote each year for their favorite title. Its winners are read in Maryland classrooms and libraries statewide and span many of the most-loved middle-grade titles, from Holes, Because of Winn-Dixie, and The Giver to Wonder, The Crossover, Ghost Boys, and Front Desk.
Primary source: www.maslmd.org
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152 books referenced
101 Ways to Bug Your ParentsLee Wardlaw
11 BirthdaysWendy Mass
A Bad Case of StripesDavid Shannon
A Night DividedJennifer A. Nielsen
A Tale Dark and GrimmAdam Gidwitz- A Wolf Called WanderRosanne ParryA Wolf Called WanderRosanne Parry
All the Impossible ThingsLindsay Lackey
All's Faire in Middle SchoolVictoria Jamieson
AllergicMegan Wagner Lloyd
AlliesAlan Gratz
Are You Scared, Darth Vader?Adam Rex
Astronaut Academy: Zero GravityDave Roman
Attack of the Black RectanglesA. S. King
Because of Winn-DixieKate DiCamillo · 610L
Best FriendsShannon Hale
Best Frints in the Whole UniverseAntoinette Portis
Breathing UnderwaterAlex Flinn
Cat SecretsJef Czekaj
ChesterMélanie Watt
City SpiesJames Ponti
Click Clack Moo: Cows that TypeDoreen Cronin
Cody UnpluggedBetsy Duffey
Creepy Carrots!Aaron Reynolds
CrushSvetlana Chmakova
Show all 152 titles
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- Danger Zone · David Klass
- Define "Normal" · Julie Anne Peters
- Diary of a Wombat · Jackie French
- Divergent · Veronica Roth
- Dogtown · Katherine Applegate & Gennifer Choldenko
- Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey · Margaret Peterson Haddix
- Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie · Jordan Sonnenblick
- Eat Your Heart Out · Kelly deVos
- Eerie Tales from the School of Screams · Graham Annable
- El Deafo · Cece Bell
- Eleanor & Park · Rainbow Rowell
- Ella Enchanted · Gail Carson Levine
- Ellie's Story · W. Bruce Cameron
- Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library · Chris Grabenstein
- Everything, Everything · Nicola Yoon
- Falling for Rapunzel · Leah Wilcox
- Fourth Grade Rats · Jerry Spinelli
- Frindle · Andrew Clements
- Frizzy · Claribel Ortega
- Front Desk · Kelly Yang
- Fudge-a-Mania · Judy Blume
- Full Tilt · Neal Shusterman
- Ghost Boys · Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Ghosts · Raina Telgemeier
- Ghosts Don't Get Goose Bumps · Elvira Woodruff
- Girl, Stolen · April Henry
- Go Away, Big Green Monster · Ed Emberley
- Good Girl's Guide to Murder · Holly Jackson
- Gracie Under the Waves · Linda Sue Park
- Hanging on to Max · Margaret Bechard
- Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm · Jerdine Nolen
- Heir Apparent · Vivian Vande Velde
- Hey, Kiddo: A Graphic Novel · Jarrett J. Krosoczka
- Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy · Faith Erin Hicks
- Holes · Louis Sachar
- I Must Betray You · Ruta Sepetys
- I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You · Ally Carter
- I'm Trying to Love Spiders · Bethany Barton
- If You Come Softly · Jacqueline Woodson
- It Came from the Trees · Ally Russell
- Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher · Bruce Coville
- Just Another Ordinary Day · Rod Clement
- Let's Do Nothing · Tony Fucile
- Life as We Knew It · Susan Beth Pfeffer
- Lore · Alexandra Bracken
- Lost & Found: Based on a True Story · Mei Yu
- Matilda · Roald Dahl
- Memoirs of a Goldfish · Devin Scillian
- Mr. Fox's Game of "No!" · David LaRochelle
- My Sister's Keeper · Jodi Picoult
- Night Terrors · Murphy, Jim
- No Talking · Andrew Clements
- Norman Didn't Do It! · Ryan T. Higgins
- Odder · Katherine Applegate
- On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave · Candace Fleming
- Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude · O'Malley, Kevin
- One of Us Is Lying · Karen M. McManus
- Out of My Mind · Sharon M. Draper
- Piggie Pie! · Margie Palatini
- Point Blank · Anthony Horowitz
- Promise Boys · Nick Brooks
- Red Kayak · Priscilla Cummings
- Restart · Gordon Korman
- Roller Girl · Victoria Jamieson
- Rotten Teeth · Laura Simms
- Running Out of Time · Margaret Peterson Haddix
- Saving Sunshine · Saadia Faruqi
- Scaredy Squirrel · Melanie Watt
- Schooled · Gordon Korman
- Scranimals · Jack Prelutsky
- Shark Summer · Ira Marcks
- Sidekicks · Dan Santat
- Soap! Soap! Don’t Forget the Soap! · Tom Birdseye
- Someone Like You · Sarah Dessen
- Sparks! · Ian Boothby
- Stepping on the Cracks · Mary Downing Hahn
- Sunny Side Up · Jennifer L. Holm
- Swim Team · Johnnie Christmas
- Swindle · Gordon Korman
- The 13th Floor: A Ghost Story · Sid Fleischman
- The Araboolies of Liberty Street · Sam Swope
- The Barnabus Project · Terry Fan
- The City of Ember · Jeanne DuPrau
- The Compound · S. A. Bodeen
- The Crossover · Kwame Alexander
- The Day the Crayons Quit · Drew Daywalt
- The Fault in Our Stars · John Green
- The Fourteenth Goldfish · Jennifer L. Holm
- The Girl Who Could Fly · Victoria Forester
- The Giver · Lois Lowry
- The Great Fuzz Frenzy · Janet Stevens
- The Hunger Games · Suzanne Collins
- The Inheritance Games · Jennifer Lynn Barnes
- The Killer's Cousin · Nancy Werlin
- The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors · Drew Daywalt
- The Magic Fish · Trung Le Nguyen
- The Million Dollar Kick · Dan Gutman
- The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine · Diane Stanley
- The Name of the Game Was Murder · Joan Lowery Nixon
- The Naturals · Jennifer Lynn Barnes
- The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich · Deya Muniz
- The Silver Kiss · Annette Curtis Klause
- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants · Ann Brashares
- The Sixth Grade Nickname Game · Gordon Korman
- The Sun is Also a Star · Nicola Yoon
- The Wild Robot · Peter Brown
- The Witch Boy · Lee Knox Ostertag
- The World According to Humphrey · Betty G. Birney
- There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around · Vivian Vande Velde
- There's a Ghost in This House · Oliver Jeffers
- Time for Andrew · Mary Downing Hahn
- Trading Places with Tank Talbott · Dori Hillestad Butler
- Trouble with Trolls · Jan Brett
- Twilight · Stephenie Meyer
- Twins · Varian Johnson
- Two Degrees · Alan Gratz
- Ungifted · Gordon Korman
- Unplugged · Gordon Korman
- Unwind · Neal Shusterman
- What If It's Us · Becky Albertalli
- When · Laurie McBain
- White Bird · R.J. Palacio
- Wild Wings · Gill Lewis
- Wink · Rob Harrell
- Wishtree · Katherine Applegate
- Wonder · R.J. Palacio
- Yoshi and the Ocean: A Sea Turtle's Incredible Journey Home · Lindsay Moore
- Zombies Don't Eat Veggies! · Jorge Lacera
About this curriculum framework
This curriculum is one of dozens of named English Language Arts frameworks tracked across US public-school districts. Frameworks differ in scope (district-level vs state-level vs national), in mandate (required vs recommended vs elective), and in how prescriptive their reading lists are (single fixed text list vs broad reading-pool selection).
The book list below represents titles cited as required, recommended, or commonly assigned within this framework, sourced from the framework's primary documentation (or, where the framework is administered at district level, from public district curriculum pages). Each book's detail page links the specific source document for that citation.
How to use this Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award reading list
The book list above represents titles ReadingList has confirmed as referenced by Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award— either through the framework’s own published documentation, through audited classroom syllabi citing the framework, or through US state and district curriculum guides that map their reading expectations to it. Each book’s detail page links the specific primary source so parents, teachers, and students can verify the citation and locate the official document.
Reading lists evolve. Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award citations on ReadingList are reviewed on a rolling basis as primary sources publish updates. If you teach or learn under this framework and a title on this page is no longer used (or you know of one that should appear), the ReadingList methodology page explains how to submit a correction with a citation.
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Frequently asked questions
What books does Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award include?
152 books are referenced by Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award across applicable K-12 grade levels. Each book page cites the primary source assignment (the official curriculum standard, exemplar list, or syllabus where the title appears).
What grades does Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award cover?
Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award is a reading-program curriculum spanning applicable K-12 grade levels via the standards framework. Browse by grade using the grade-filter links on this page or visit /grade for the full grade index across all curricula.
Where does Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award data come from?
Primary source: www.maslmd.org/black-eyed-susan-book-award. Cross-referenced with Common Core exemplars at achievethecore.org. Every book page on ReadingList.school cites the standards origin for that assignment.
Is Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award required reading?
Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award provides recommended exemplars + assignments — adoption varies by district and teacher. Always check with your school's English department for the specific required vs recommended list at your grade level.
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