Hello, everyone! COVID-19 has certainly turned things a bit upside-down for everyone, and that included ORCA. We will announce the 2021 winners in June, but meanwhile, we wanted to share the 2021 nominees with you! We hope you enjoy these titles as much as we do.
Upper Elementary (grades 3-5):
Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead and Nicholas Gannon
Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell
Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Knights vs. Dinosaurs by Matt Phelan
Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages
Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story by Marc Tyler Nobleman and Melissa Iwai
Middle School Division (grades 6-8):
Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol
Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The Last by Katherine Applegate
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen
Sunny by Jason Reynolds
Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier
High School Division (grades 9-12):
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendrix
A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Oregon Reader's Choice Award 