Cindy and Lynn’s Best of 2012
Posted by: Cindy Dobrez and Lynn Rutan
Cindy: Judging from the towering to-read stack still to be conquered, I feel like I should be making a list of Best Books I Didn’t Get Read in 2012, but I did read plenty of fabulous and fun books. Here are the ones that won my respect or won my heart or that kept me turning the pages through the reading slump I’ve been stuck in. We agreed on 5 books each in each of three categories: picture books, fiction, and nonfiction. As soon as I sat down to finalize my list today, I realized I’d never be able to pick just five fiction titles. I whined to Lynn and she came up with the brilliant idea of splitting fiction into younger and older (I secretly think she was working on her own list and came to the same conclusion). So. Four categories and the astute mathematicians among you will quickly realize that my YA category contains 6 titles. It’s true. I love them all for different reasons and cannot bear to part with one. I tried to let Code Name Verity go, knowing that Lynn would surely have it on her list, but I couldn’t. So there are six. I can live with that.
Picture Books
The Bear in the Book by Kate Banks
Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham
And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano
A Home for Bird by Philip Stead
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson
Younger Fiction
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle
Mr. & Mrs. Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire by Polly Horvath
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
Young Adult Fiction
The Diviners by Libba Bray
The Day I Died by Candace Fleming
Every Day by David Levithan
October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Leslea Newman
The Final Four by Paul Volponi
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Nonfiction
Water Sings Blue by Kate Coombs
Moonbird by Phillip Hoose
The Giant and How He Humbugged America by Jim Murphy
The Mighty Mars Rovers by Elizabeth Rusch
The Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
Lynn: We promised and here it is – our favorites but it was SO hard to do this! I know, I know, the award committees have no sympathy for my complaints right now as they sprint to the finish line this weekend in Seattle. Remember, this list is a list of our favorites, not our picks for the shiny medals although we hope there might be some overlap 
We list these alphabetically by author. And, yes, I just HAD to list six a couple of times. I just can’t help myself.
Picture Books
Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham
Small Bunny’s Blue Blanket by Tatyana Feeney
And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano
Lost and Found by Bill Harley
A Home for Bird by Philip C. Stead
Younger Fiction
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Lulu and the Duck in the Park by Hilary McKay
Twelve Kinds of Ice by Ellen Bryan Obed
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
Young Adult Fiction
The FitzOsbornes at War by Michelle Cooper
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix
Dodger by Terry Pratchett
The Final Four by Paul Volponi
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Nonfiction
Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas by Molly Bang
A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson
Moonbird by Phillip Hoose
Invincible Microbe by Jim Murphy
The Mighty Mars Rovers by Elizabeth Rusch
Bomb by Stever Sheinkin
