Winners

• 2007 World according to Humphrey, by Betty G. Birney
• 2006 City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau
• 2005 Loser, by Jerry Spinelli
• 2004 Monsters of Morley Manor, by Bruce Coville
• 2003 Because of Winn Dixie Kate DiCamillo
• 2002 Dork in Disguise Carol Gorman
• 2001 Joey Pigza swallowed the key Jack Gantos
• 2000 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone J.K. Rowling
• 1999 Frindle Andrew Clements

Abby takes a stand, by Patricia McKissack
Grandma Gee shares with her grandchildren her experiences in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1960, when she passed out flyers while her cousins and other adults held sit-ins at restaurants and lunch counters to protest segregation.
Historical Fiction

Airball: by life in briefs, by Lisa Harkader
Uncoordinated Kansas seventh-grader Kirby Nickel braves his coach's ire and becomes captain of the basketball team in order to help him prove that NBA star Brett McGrew is the father he has never known.
Sports stories

Chicken Boy, by Francis Dowell
Since the death of his mother, Tobin's family life and school life have been in disarray, but after he starts raising chickens with his seventh-grade classmate, Henry, everything starts to fall into place.
Realistic Fiction / Humorous stories

see also by the author
Dovey Coe

Fairy Tale Detectives (THe Sisters Grimm) #1, by Michael Buckley
When their parents disappear Sabrina and Daphne Grimm are sent to live with an eccentric grandmother that they have always believed to be dead.
Mystery / Fantasy

Ghost's Grave, by Peg Kehret
Apprehensive about spending the summer in Washington State with his Aunt Ethel when his parents get an overseas job, twelve-year-old Josh soon finds adventure when he meets the ghost of a coal miner.
Ghost stories / Mystery
see also by the author
Abduction
Spy cat
Volcano disaster

Giant Rat of Sumatra, or Pirates galore, by Sid Fleischman
A cabin boy on a pirate ship finds himself in San Diego in 1846 as war breaks out between the United States and Mexico.
Historical Fiction

see also by the author
Bandit's Moon
Jim Ugly
Whipping Boy

Legend of Spud Murphy, by Eoin Colfer
When their mother starts dropping them off at the library several afternoons a week, nine-year-old William and his brother dread boredom and the overbearing librarian, but they are surprised at how things turn out.
Realistic Fiction / Humorous stories
see also by author
Artemis Fowl books
Legend of CaptainCrow's Teeth
Legend of the worst boy in the world

Misadventures of Maude Marche, or Trouble rides a fast horse, by Audry Couloumbis
After the death of the stern aunt who raised them since they were orphaned, eleven-year-old Sallie and her fifteen-year-old sister escape their self-serving guardians and begin an adventure resembling those in the dime novels Sallie loves to read.
Adventure / Historical fiction

Owen Foote, Mighty Scientist, by Stephanie Greene
Third grade best friends Owen and Joseph struggle to come up with a great science fair project that they will both enjoy doing, then something goes wrong and they have to change their plans two days before the fair
Realisticl Fiction

see also by author
Owen Foote, soccer star
Owen Foote, super spy

Stumptown Kid , by Carol Gorman
In a small Iowa town in 1952, eleven-year-old Charlie Nebraska, whose father died in the Korean War, learns the meaning of both racism and heroism when he befriends Luther Peale, a young man who once played for the old Negro Baseball League.
Sports stories / Historical Fiction

Whittington, by Alan Armstrong
: Whittington, a feline descendant of Dick Whittington's famous cat of English folklore, appears at a rundown barnyard plagued by rats and restores harmony while telling his ancestor's story.
Adventure / Cat stories