Nebraska Golden Sower Award
Nebraska Golden Sower Award references 118 books assigned across applicable K-12 grade levels in US schools.
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The Golden Sower Award is Nebraska's statewide student-choice reading program, run by the Nebraska Library Association since 1981. Students read from annual nominee lists in the Honeybee (chapter book, grades 3-5) and Meadowlark (novel, grades 6-9) divisions and vote each year for their favorite title. Its winners are read in Nebraska classrooms and libraries statewide and span many of the most-loved middle-grade titles, from Because of Winn-Dixie, The Giver, and The Lightning Thief to Wonder, Ghost Boys, and Restart.
Primary source: nebraskalibraries.org
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118 books referenced
A Dog Called KittyWallace, Bill
AloneMegan E. Freeman
Baby Monkey, Private EyeBrian Selznick
Because of Mr. TeruptRob Buyea
Because of Winn-DixieKate DiCamillo · 610L
BedheadMargie Palatini
Bubba the Cowboy PrinceHelen Ketteman
BunniculaDeborah Howe
Chez BobBob Shea
Closed for the SeasonMary Downing Hahn
Cloudy with a Chance of MeatballsJudi Barrett
Cracker The Best Dog in VietnamCynthia Kadohata
Crash, Splash, or Moo!Bob Shea
Creepy Carrots!Aaron Reynolds
Danger ZoneDavid Klass
Deep and Dark and DangerousMary Downing Hahn
Dewey: There’s a Cat in the Library!Vicki Myron
Don’t Touch My RoomPatricia Lakin
Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. DunphreyMargaret Peterson Haddix
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's LibraryChris Grabenstein
Escaping the Giant WavePeg Kehret
Even Monsters Need HaircutsMatthew McElligott
Ferret in the Bedroom, Lizards in the FridgeBill Wallace- Flight #116 Is Down!Caroline B. CooneyFlight #116 Is Down!Caroline B. Cooney
Show all 118 titles
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- Freak the Mighty · W. R. Philbrick
- Fuzzy Mud · Louis Sachar
- Gaston · Kelly DiPucchio
- Ghost Boys · Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Heart of a Champion · Carl Deuker
- High Heat · Carl Deuker
- House Arrest · K. A. Holt
- If I Built a Car · Chris Van Dusen
- If I Built a School · Chris Van Dusen
- Is Anybody There? · Eve Bunting
- Jaguar · Roland Smith
- John Henry · Julius Lester
- Legend · Marie Lu
- Loser · Jerry Spinelli
- Madeline Finn and the Library Dog · Lisa Papp
- Martha Speaks · Susan Meddaugh
- Maxi’s Secrets: (Or, What You Can Learn from a Dog) · Lynn Plourde
- Miss Nelson Has a Field Day · Harry Allard
- Miss Nelson Is Back · Harry Allard
- Mississippi Trial, 1955 · Chris Crowe
- My Lucky Day · Keiko Kasza
- Night Hoops · Carl Deuker
- Night of the Twisters · Ivy Ruckman
- Nightmare Mountain · Peg Kehret
- No Such Thing · Jackie French Koller
- Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade · Barthe DeClements
- Odder · Katherine Applegate
- Peabody · Rosemary Wells
- Perfect · Natasha Friend
- Piggins · Jane Yolen
- Poopsie Gets Lost · Hannah E. Harrison
- Prisoner B-3087 · Alan Gratz
- Red Queen · Victoria Aveyard
- Rescue Josh McGuire · Ben Mikaelsen
- Restart · Gordon Korman
- Riptide · Frances Ward Weller
- Round Trip · Ann Jonas
- Rugby and Rosie · Nan Parson Rossiter
- Run, Hide, Fight Back · April Henry
- Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream · Deloris Jordan
- Satch and Me · Dan Gutman
- Scythe · Neal Shusterman
- Shiloh Season · Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
- Six Feet Below Zero · Ena Jones
- Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You · Barthe DeClements
- Skeleton Man · Joseph Bruchac
- Soap! Soap! Don’t Forget the Soap! · Tom Birdseye
- Stepping on the Cracks · Mary Downing Hahn
- Stolen Children · Peg Kehret
- Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen · Candace Fleming
- Stung · Bethany Wiggins
- Substitute Teacher Plans · Johnson, Doug
- Superfudge · Judy Blume
- Tacky the Penguin · Lester, Helen.
- The Best School Year Ever · Barbara Robinson
- The Box Turtle · Vanessa Roeder
- The Compound · S. A. Bodeen
- The Day the Crayons Quit · Drew Daywalt
- The False Prince · Jennifer A. Nielsen
- The Ghost of Fossil Glen · Cynthia C. DeFelice
- The Ghost of Lizard Light · Elvira Woodruff
- The Giver · Lois Lowry
- The Grand Escape · Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
- The Grannyman · Judith Byron Schachner
- The Great Fuzz Frenzy · Janet Stevens
- The Haunting · Joan Lowery Nixon
- The Hunger Games · Suzanne Collins
- The Inheritance Games · Jennifer Lynn Barnes
- The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1) · Rick Riordan
- The Magic Misfits · Neil Patrick Harris
- The Magic School Bus: At the Waterworks · Joanna Cole
- The Old Willis Place · Mary Downing Hahn
- The Rough-Face Girl · Rafe Martin
- The Running Dream · Wendelin Van Draanen
- The Secret Science Project That Almost Ate the School · Judy Sierra
- The Talking Eggs · Robert D. San Souci
- The Toll-Bridge Troll · Patricia Rae Wolff
- The Transall Saga · Gary Paulsen
- The True Colors of Caitlynne Jackson · Carol Lynch Williams
- The War That Saved My Life · Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
- The War with Grandpa · Robert Kimmel Smith
- The World According to Humphrey · Betty G. Birney
- There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom · Louis Sachar
- Titanic Crossing · Barbara Williams
- Titanicat · Marty Crisp
- Togo · Robert J. Blake
- Touching Spirit Bear · Ben Mikaelsen
- Twilight · Stephenie Meyer
- Two Degrees · Alan Gratz
- Wait Till Helen Comes · Mary Downing Hahn
- We Forgot Brock! · Carter Goodrich
- Whispers from the Dead · Joan Lowery Nixon
- Wildfire · Rodman Philbrick
- Wonder · R.J. Palacio
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 Nebraska Golden Sower Award reading list
The book list above represents titles ReadingList has confirmed as referenced by Nebraska Golden Sower 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. Nebraska Golden Sower 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 Nebraska Golden Sower Award include?
118 books are referenced by Nebraska Golden Sower 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 Nebraska Golden Sower Award cover?
Nebraska Golden Sower 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 Nebraska Golden Sower Award data come from?
Primary source: nebraskalibraries.org/GoldenSower. Cross-referenced with Common Core exemplars at achievethecore.org. Every book page on ReadingList.school cites the standards origin for that assignment.
Is Nebraska Golden Sower Award required reading?
Nebraska Golden Sower 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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