Community Corner

Battle Begins for 2013 Allegheny County Children's Choice Awards

Students are asked to read as many titles on the list as possible and to cast their vote on RCsClubhouse.org from March 1 to April 30.

The Allegheny County Library Association and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit will present the third annual Allegheny County Children’s Choice Awards, an initiative to empower students in grades 3-6 to read for fun beyond school requirements.

Public and school librarians and teachers from around the county created a list of possible titles based on checkout statistics and “word-of-mouth buzz” by kids, and of these titles, eight were chosen to be put to a kids-only vote.

Local participating libraries are the Oakmont Carnegie Library and the Plum Borough Community Library.

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Students are asked to read as many titles as possible and to cast their vote on the site RCsClubhouse.org from March 1 to April 30. RC of RCsClubhouse.org is the character spokesperson for ACLA’s Youth Services initiatives and programs.

The winning book will be announced at the Celebration of Reading event on May 9 at the Carnegie Library of Homestead. This event will bring students from all over the county together to participate in various creative activities centered around the top books, reading and stories, and literacy in general. 

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The keynote speaker will be author Adam Gidwitz, whose book "In a Glass Grimmly" is a top contender in this year’s program. Gidwitz’s previous title, "A Tale Dark and Grimm," was also a finalist in last year’s contest and is currently being adapted into a feature film.

The 2013 titles, in no particular order, are:

  • Chomp by Carl Hiaasen
  • The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz
  • Who Could That Be at This Hour (All The Wrong Questions, Book 1) by Lemony Snicket
  • Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger
  • Wonder by R.J. Palacio
  • I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001 (I Survived, Book 6) by Lauren Tarshis
  • The Third Wheel (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 7) by Jeff Kinney

Children should visit their school or public library to check these titles out. Most titles are also available for eBook download at acla.lib.overdrive.com with any Allegheny County library card.

In addition to reading these titles, children are asked to participate in a video competition called Character Drop. Through April 15, children are able to submit a video or animation project that shows possible outcomes of dropping a character from one book into another.

Children can submit their projects through the Computer Science Student Network, www.cs2n.org, a collaborative research project between Carnegie Mellon University and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency designed to increase the number of students pursuing advanced computer science and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics degrees. Students will receive feedback and online badges for participation. Projects will also be recognized and awarded at the Celebration of Reading on May 9.

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