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Lupine Award

Chair Kate McGowan 
Contact the Lupine Award Chair at: lupineaward@gmail.com

Nomination form for the 2010 Lupine Award

 

The Lupine Award

lupine image

The Lupine Award is presented annually by the Youth Services Section Interest Group of the Maine Library Association, to recognize an outstanding contribution to children's literature of Maine. This award is granted to encourage the reading, writing and appreciation of children's books, and to foster pride in the state of Maine.

The Lupine Award is designed to honor a living author or illustrator who is a resident of Maine, or who has created a work whose focus is Maine, as shown through the work's characterization, plot or setting. An author or artist will be considered a resident if he or she was born in this state, or is currently residing in Maine for all or part of the year.

Books may be considered for the Lupine Award only if they are received/seen by committee members before November 30th.

Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney, the beloved Maine author and artist was the inspiration for the Lupine Award. It is the story of great-aunt Alice Rumphius who as a little girl loved the sea, longed to visit faraway places and wished to do something to make the world more beautiful. Bruce McMillan put together a nice page about the 2002 winners on Kathy Mallat's web site.

Lupine Committee 2009-2010 Committee Members
  • Chair-Kelley McDaniel, King Middle School, Portland
  • Vice-Chair- Kate McGowan Wing, Topsham Public Library, CMLD
  • Tammy Hoke, Jay Niles Library, Former MLA/YSS treasurer
  • Sarah Schultz-Nielsen, Lithgow Public Library, NMLD
  • Cynthia Jennings, Old Town Public Library
  • Christine Erickson, Bangor Public Library
  • Debby Atwell, former MLA/YSS secretary, SMLD
  • Karen Westerberg, Wells Elementary School

 

2008 Winners announced

Lupine Picture book  Award Winner
A River of Words: the Story or William Carlos Williams,  Bryant (A)  Sweet
(Maine ill)

Lupine Picture book Honor Book
How Mama Brought the Spring,  Manushkin (A) Berry ( Maine ill)

Lupine Juv/YA Award Winner
Season of Ice,   Les Becquets  (Maine setting)

Lupine Juv/YA Honor Book
Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress,  Padian (Maine A) 

Congratulations to all the Lupine Winners!

Past Recipients

Year Recipients
2007
Picture Book Winner
Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly / Alan Madison; Maine Illustrator Kevin Hawkes
Picture Book Honor Book
Sky Sweeper / Phillis Gershator; Maine Illustrator Holly Meade
Juvenile/Young Adult Winner
Dragon's Egg / Maine author Sarah Thomson
Juvenile/Young Adult Honor Book
Rickshaw Girl / Mitali Perkins; Maine Illustrator Jamie Hogan
2006
Picture Book Winner
For you are a Kenyan child / Kelley Cunane, illustrated by Ana Juan
Picture Book Honor Book
Max's Words / Kate Banks, illustrated by Boris Kulikov
Juvenile/Young Adult Winner
Kristin's Wilderness: a Braided Trail / Garrett Conover
Juvenile/Young Adult Honor Book
Berenice Abbott, Photographer; an Independent Vision / George Sullivan
2005
Picture Book Winner
A Kick in the Head compiled / Paul Janeczko
Picture Book Honor Book
Carmine: A little more red / Melissa Sweet
Juv/YA Book Winner
Stained / Jennifer Jacobson
Juv/YA Book Honor Book
Broken Song / Kathryn Lasky
2004
Winner
The Race to Save the Lord God Bird / Phillip Hoose
Honor Book
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy / Gary Schmidt.
2003
Winner
The Water Gift and the Pig of the Pig / Jacqueline Briggs Martin and Linda Wingerter
Honor Books
A Camping Spree With Mr. Magee / Chris Van Dusen.
Swan Harbor / Laura Rankin.
Timberrr!: A History of Logging in New England / Mary Morton Cowan.
2002
Winner
Becoming Joe DiMaggio / Maria Testa.
Honor Books
The sea chest / Toni Bizzeo and Mary Grand Pre
A young girl listens as her great-great-aunt, a lighthouse keeper's daughter, tells of her childhood living on a Maine island, and of the infant that washed ashore after a storm.

Just Ducky / Kathy Mallat

Bloody Jack / L.A. Meyer
2001
Winner
Following fake man / Barbara Ware Holmes.
During his summer in Maine, twelve-year-old Homer, together with his new friend Roger, is determined to find the truth about himself, his long-dead father, and a mysterious costumed man.
Honor Books
Turtle splash! : countdown at the pond / Cathryn Falwell
As they are startled by the activities of other nearby creatures, the number of turtles on a log in a pond decreases from ten to one. 

Racing the past / Sis Deans
After the death of his abusive father, eleven-year-old Ricky tries to help his younger brother deal with his residual fears and discovers that running helps him deal with his own anger and the taunts of a bullying classmate. 

The Lobster War / Ethan Howland
Someone has been cutting Dain's lobster traps and the person suspected is not the culprit. When Dain discovers the truth, he learns a life lesson in betrayal, love, and maturity.
2000
Winner
The truth about great white sharks / Mary M. Cerullo.
Are great whites dangerous predators or beautiful hunters? Where are you likely to see one? Why do victims of shark attacks often live to tell the tale? Can great whites jump? Are they really cold-blooded? Find out the latest information on this fascinating, misunderstood animal. 
Honor Books
The last book in the universe / Rodman Philbrick.
After an earthquake has destroyed much of the planet, an epileptic teenager nicknamed Spaz begins the heroic fight to bring human intelligence back to the Earth of a distant future. 
1999
Winner
Seal Island School / Susan Bartlett ; illustrated by Tricia Tusa
On Seal Island off the coast of Maine, a place aswarm with pets of all kinds, nine-year-old Pru plans to keep her teacher from leaving by finding her a dog. 
Honor Books
Wild child / Lynn Plourde ; illustrated by Greg Couch.
Mother Earth attempts to put her wild child, Autumn to bed. 

The hermit thrush sings / Susan Butler.
After a natural disaster has all but destroyed the earth, the orphaned & "defective" Leora, while searching for her sister, defies the oppressive laws of the land and joins a band of rebels trying to overthrow the government. 
1998
Winner
Snowflake Bentley / Jacqueline Briggs Martin ; illustrated by Mary Azarian.
A biography of a self-taught scientist who photographed thousands of individual snowflakes in order to study their unique formations. 
Honor Books
Painters of the caves / by Patricia Lauber.
Describes the 1994 discovery made in Chauvet, France, of a cave with Stone Age rock paintings, and discusses the significance of cave art to people living in prehistoric as well as modern times. 
1997
Winner
Marven of the Great North Woods / by Kathryn Lasky ; illustrated by Kevin Hawkes.
When his Jewish parents send him to a Minnesota logging camp to escape the influenza epidemic of the 1918, ten-year-old Marven finds a special friend.
Honor Books
Cocoa Ice / by Diana Appelbaum ; illustrated by Holly Meade.
A girl in Santo Domingo tells how cocoa is harvested during the late 1800s while at the same time her counter part in Maine tells about the harvesting of ice.

The Octopus : Phantom of the Sea / by Mary M. Cerullo ; photographs by Jeffrey L. Rotman. 
Describes the physical characteristics, feeding and mating habits, and defense mechanisms of octopuses, and gives information about other cephalopods, including the squid, the cuttlefish, and the chambered nautilus.
1996
Winner
Grandmother Bryant's Pocket / Jacqueline Briggs Martin.
Suffering from nightmares after her dog is killed in a fire, a young girl in the 18th century Maine goes to live with her grandparents.
1995
Winner
A year on Monhegan Island / Julia Dean.
In chronicling a year on Monhegan Island, this photo essay reveals the commitment and sacrifice necessary to protect the island and its way of life. 
Honor Books
Nights of the Pufflings / Bruce McMillan.
The annual tradition of Icelandic children rescuing thousands of stranded young puffins is documented in this unique photo essay.

To Hold This Ground : A Desperate Battle At Gettysburg / Susan Provost Beller.
A dramatic account of the battle for Little Round Top at Gettysburg in 1863 as well as a biography of Colonels Chamberlain of Maine and Oats of Alabama, whose troops fought this bloody battle. Illustrated with twenty black-and-white photographs and three maps.
1994
Winner
Prize in the Snow / Bill Easterling ; Mary Beth Owens.
A young boy sets out one winter day to become a great hunter but when he catches a helpless rabbit, his plans change.
1993
Winner
Wild Fox / Cherie Mason ; Jo Ellen MacAllister Stammen.
A journalist/wildlife advocate who lives on Maine's Deer Isle recounts her friendship with a three-legged fox.
Honor Books
It's Our World Too : Stories of Young People Who Are Making A Difference / Philip Hoose.
Fourteen teens, who are taking a stand against racism, sexism, or crime, reaching out to help those in need, fighting to save the environment and to create a world of peace, are profiled.

A Short Walk Around the Phyramids and Through the World of Art / Philip Isaacson.
Introduces tangible and abstract components of art, and the many forms art can take including sculpture, pottery, painting, photographs and even furniture and cities.
1992
 
Sing to the Sun / Ashley Bryan.
A collection of poems and paintings celebrating the ups and downs of life.
1991
 
Rosebud and Red Flannel / Ethel Pochocki ; Mary Beth Owens.
A snobbish nightgown finds true love with a shy long johns after they are blown off their clothesline in a snowstorm.
1990
 
Hattie and the Wild Waves / Barbara Cooney.
A young girl from Brooklyn, New York enjoys her summer at the beach where she can paint and listen to the wild waves.
1989
 
Brickyard Summer / Paul Janeczko.
In a series of poems, the speaker and his best friend meander through the summer after eighth grade, encountering for the first time in the local people of their economically depressed neighborhood enormous courage & vitality.