Winner

• 2009 Homework Machine, by Dan Gutman see other nominees Shelfari (Read arrow for reviews)

Brendan Buckley's Universe, by S T Frazier
Brendan Buckley, a biracial ten-year-old, applies his scientific problem-solving ability and newfound interest in rocks and minerals to connect with his white grandfather, the president of Puyallup Rock Club, and to learn why he and Brendan's mother are estranged.
Contemporary/Realistic fiction

Deep and dark and dangerous, by Mary Downing Hahn
When thirteen-year-old Ali spends the summer with her aunt and cousin at the family's vacation home, she stumbles upon a secret that her mother and aunt have been hiding for over thirty years.
Ghost stories / Mystery

Emmy and the incredible shrinking rat, by Lynne Jonell
When Emmy discovers that she and her formerly loving parents are being drugged by their evil nanny with rodent potions that can change people in frightening ways, she and some new friends must try everything possible to return things to normal.
Fantasy

Heat, by Mike Lupica
Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof.
Sports stories

How to steal a dog, by Barbara O'Connor
Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, desperate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother's calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer..
Contemporary fiction/ Humorous stories

Lawn Boy, by Gary Paulsen
Things get out of hand for a twelve-year-old boy when a neighbor convinces him to expand his summer lawn mowing business
Humorous/ Contemporary fiction

Moxy Maxwell does not love Stuart Little, by P E. Gifford
With summer coming to an end, about-to-be-fourth-grader Moxy Maxwell does a hundred different things to avoid reading her assigned summer reading book.
Contemporary/Realistic fiction

Mutiny on the Bounty, by Patrick O'Brien
Presents a retelling of the final voyage of the H.M.S. Bounty and the mutiny that took place.
Adventure/historical fiction

Return of the killer cat by Anne Fine
Tuffy the pet cat narrates his escapades as he attempts to escape his family's cat-sitter and suffers through a humiliating episode of mistaken identity
Cat stories/Humorous

Skulduggery Pleasant, by ND Landy
When twelve-year-old Stephanie inherits her weird uncle's estate, she must join forces with Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton mage, to save the world from the Faceless Ones
Fantasy

Ten ways to make my sister disappear, by N F. Mazer
Ten-year-old Sprig no longer gets along with her twelve-year-old sister, Dakota, but the two pull together during their father's extended business trip to Afghanistan, sharing concerns about his safety, an elderly neighbor's health, fights with their best friends, and boys
School stories/Contemporary fiction

Yellow Star, by J R. Roy
From 1939, when Syvia is four and a half years old, to 1945 when she has just turned ten, a Jewish girl and her family struggle to survive in Poland's Lodz ghetto during the Nazi occupation.
Non fiction