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Fetching Dreams by Mary Bleckwehl

WINNER
Children's Fiction
2023 Best Book Awards

IT WAS JUST A SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT UNTIL IT BECAME A LIFESAVING MISSION.

Two girls living a continent apart become pen pals. Quiet and shy, Neyah lives in a rural African village and longs for more time in school, but spends most days fetching filthy water for her family to survive. Bold and boisterous, Abby lives comfortably in a modern city and spends much of her time planning her social calendar. Despite their differences, an unlikely friendship forms, and they discover they have one thing very much in common. Their lives are tragically threatened by something they can't control. Or maybe they can.

Facing the Beast Within: The Anxiety of Cameron Poole by Mark Cheverton

WINNER
Children's Fiction
2023 International Book Awards

Monsters are invading - demons, gargoyles, and gremlins . . . oh my!

Cameron Poole has a problem, a big problem: he's a bully magnet who struggles with anxiety. Being the smallest sixth-grader at his summer camp, everything around him triggers his everyday struggles with anxiety, or with his Beast, making it impossible for him to do the same things other kids can do. In a constant state of worry, Cameron feels like a perpetual failure, his self esteem crushed. That's bad enough, but when Cameron learns that mythical monsters are trying to invade his camp, things go from bad to worse.

Malphas, the Demon Lord from a parallel world called Agartha, wants to bring mythical creatures from his world to form a monster army, attack Camp Pontchartrain, and begin his invasion. But before he can bring the biggest and most ferocious monsters to Earth, he must find the seven Skull Keys that will keep the gateway between worlds open forever.

Against all logic, Cameron is chosen to lead an unusual collection of kids to stop Malphas from finding the Skull Keys. But the Demon Lord of Agartha has other plans. He sends mythical creatures to Earth, gremlins, imps, gargoyles . . . to find the keys and destroy anyone in their way.

To stop the Malphas and his monster army from getting all the Skull Keys, Cameron must face his deepest fears while trying to keep his friends safe. But when he learns Malphas's real plan, Cameron's blood runs cold with fear.

Can Cameron control his anxiety and confront his Beast while battling an army of minotaurs, banshees, ghouls, golems, and other nightmarish monsters?

Buckle up and get ready for a thrilling adventure!

Ghost Girl by Patti M. Walsh

WINNER
Children's Fiction
2023 American Fiction Awards

One Girl, Two Worlds, 17 Ghosts

What if an alienated 12-year-old girl could reinvent her family and then lead it into the future?

In this contemporary novel infused with magical realism, ghosts, and Celtic mythology, the biracial Bonnie is lonely, angry, and confused. Her mother died, her father remarried, and her new school was a disaster. She is sent to live with relatives, who will homeschool her in a haunted house.

There, ancestral ghosts befriend her and guide her on a mystical voyage to the Celtic Otherworld. In that quest, Bonnie must overcome grudges, bullies, and an evil shopkeeper.

Lured at midnight into the forbidden attic by a spirit dog and touched with a magic potion, she seeks answers to who she is, where she belongs, and why her mother died. Will she accept the challenges presented by her new role in the family, or return to her life as a loser?

The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob: A Secret in the Deep by Brooks Olbrys

WINNER
Juvenile Fiction
2023 American Fiction Awards

Discover a secret in the deep with Blue Ocean Bob as he helps some new friends in the Sea of Kerchoo

While snorkeling along the ocean reef, Bob senses something in the deep below. With encouragement from Cathy the crab, he trusts his intuition and assembles a team to explore a shipwreck on the ocean floor. But despite help from Al the dolphin and Molly Marine, Bob is unable to complete the descent. With Doc the turtle, Earl the clam, and Eve the octopus all weighing in, Mary Marine is called back to the Island of Roses to complete the dive team’s training.

Thanks to a creative plan devised by Molly Marine and the cooperation of some jellyfish and octopus assistants, Bob and his dive team perform an unusual deep-water rescue of their new friends trapped at the bottom of the Sea of Kerchoo.

The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob: A Secret in the Deep is the fourth installment in this colorful and inspiring early chapter book series that introduces young readers to timeless principles of achievement.