ESC- Award Winning Books : Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards

Winner of Nonfiction
From the author of National Book Award finalist Charles and Emma comes an incredible story of brotherly love. The deep and enduring friendship between Vincent and Theo Van Gogh shaped both brothers' lives. Confidant, champion, sympathizer, friend--Theo supported Vincent as he struggled to find his path in life. They shared everything, swapping stories of lovers and friends, successes and disappointments, dreams and ambitions. Meticulously researched, drawing on the 658 letters Vincent wrote to Theo during his lifetime, Deborah Heiligman weaves a tale of two lives intertwined and the extraordinary love of the Van Gogh brothers.

Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.

Winner of Fiction
Faith's father has been found dead under mysterious circumstances, and as she is searching through his belongings for clues she discovers a strange tree. The tree only grows healthy and bears fruit if you whisper a lie to it. The fruit of the tree, when eaten, will deliver a hidden truth to the person who consumes it. The bigger the lie, the more people who believe it, the bigger the truth that is uncovered. The girl realizes that she is good at lying and that the tree might hold the key to her father's murder, so she begins to spread untruths far and wide across her small island community. But as the tree bears more and more fruit, she discovers something terrifying - that her lies were closer to the truth than she could ever have imagined.

Winner of Picture Book
What happens when you invite as many jazz musicians as you can to pose for a photo in 1950s Harlem? Playful verse and glorious artwork capture an iconic moment for American jazz. When Esquire magazine planned an issue to salute the American jazz scene in 1958, graphic designer Art Kane pitched a crazy idea: how about gathering a group of beloved jazz musicians and photographing them? He didn’t own a good camera, didn’t know if any musicians would show up, and insisted on setting up the shoot in front of a Harlem brownstone. Could he pull it off? In a captivating collection of poems, Roxane Orgill steps into the frame of Harlem 1958, bringing to life the musicians’ mischief and quirks, their memorable style, and the vivacious atmosphere of a Harlem block full of kids on a hot summer’s day. Francis Vallejo’s vibrant, detailed, and wonderfully expressive paintings do loving justice to the larger-than-life quality of jazz musicians of the era. Includes bios of several of the fifty-seven musicians, an author’s note, sources, a bibliography, and a foldout of Art Kane’s famous photograph.

Winner of Nonfiction
Before you begin -- Russia 1903 -- Beyond the palace gates: peasant turned worker -- Before the storm -- "I dreamed that I was loved" -- Beyond the palace gates: a peasant boyhood -- "What a disappointment!" -- Beyond the palace gates: lullabies for peasant babies -- "A small family circle" -- Beyond the palace gates: another family circle -- Dark clouds gathering -- The year of nightmares -- Lenin, the duma, and a mystic named Rasputin -- Beyond the palace gates: house no. 13 -- "Pig and filth" and family fun -- Beyond the palace gates: an occupation for workers' daughters -- Gathering clouds -- Three centuries of Romanovs -- Beyond the palace gates: a different kind of education for a different kind of boy -- The storm breaks -- "My God! My God! What madness!" -- In defense of mother Russia -- Beyond the palace gates: Vasily's diary -- The reign of Rasputin -- It all comes tumbling down -- Beyond the palace gates: molecule in a storm -- "Ye tyrants quake, your day is over" -- Beyond the palace gates: ye tyrants quake, your day is over -- Final days -- "Survivors of a shipwreck" -- Beyond the palace gates: the tsar's surprise party -- Into Siberia -- Beyond the palace gates: swarming the palace -- The house of special purpose -- Deadly intent -- "The world will never know what has become of them" -- Beyond the palace gates: living in communist Russia.

Even a life on the untamed plains of Africa can't prepare Wilhelmina for the wilds of an English boarding school in this "gripping, magical, and heartwarming tale of resilience, friendship, and hope" (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Wilhelmina Silver's world is golden. Living half-wild on an African farm with her horse, her monkey, and her best friend, every day is beautiful. But when her home is sold and Will is sent away to boarding school in England, the world becomes impossibly difficult. Lions and hyenas are nothing compared to packs of vicious schoolgirls. Where can a girl run to in London? And will she have the courage to survive? From the author of Rooftoppers, which Booklist called "a glorious adventure," comes an utterly beautiful story that's "a treasure of a book" (VOYA).

Winner of Fiction
"Austin Szerba narrates the end of humanity as he and his best friend Robby accidentally unleash an army of giant, unstoppable bugs and uncover the secrets of a decades-old experiment gone terribly wrong"-- Provided by publisher.

Winner of Nonfiction
Presents an account of the 1944 civil rights protest involving hundreds of African-American Navy servicemen who were unjustly charged with mutiny for refusing to work in unsafe conditions after the deadly Port Chicago explosion.

Winner of Picture Book
Are you bored with being so proper? Do you want to have more fun? Mr. Tiger knows exactly how you feel. So he decides to go wild. But does he go too far? From Caldecott Honor artist Peter Brown comes a story that shows there's a time and place for everything...even going wild.

Winner of Fiction
"Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try"-- Provided by publisher.

Winner of Picture Book
With a supply of yarn that never runs out, Annabelle knits for everyone and everything in town until an evil archduke decides he wants the yarn for himself.

Winner of Fiction
Two street kids get tangled in a plot over their heads - and risk an unexpected connection - in this heart-pounding thriller by Tim Wynne-Jones. Boy, did Blink get off on the wrong floor. All he wanted was to steal some breakfast for his empty belly, but instead he stumbled upon a fake kidnapping and a cell phone dropped by an "abducted" CEO, giving Blink a link to his perfect blonde daughter. Now Blink is on the run, but it’s OK as long as he’s smart enough to stay in the game and keep Captain Panic locked in his hold. Enter a girl named Caution. As in "Caution: Toxic." As in "Caution: Watch Your Step." She’s also on the run, from a skeezy drug-dealer boyfriend and from a nightmare in her past that won’t let her go. When she spies Blink at the train station, Caution can see he’s an easy mark. But there’s something about this naïve, skinny street punk, whom she only wanted to rob, that tugs at her heart, a heart she thought deserved not to feel. Charged with suspense and intrigue, this taut novel trails two deeply compelling characters as they forge a blackmail scheme that is foolhardy at best, disastrous at worst - along with a fated, tender partnership that will offer them each a rare chance for redemption.

Winner of Nonfiction
Most people know that Benedict Arnold was America's first, most notorious traitor. Few know that he was also one of its greatest war heroes. This accessible biography introduces young readers to the real Arnold: reckless, heroic, and driven. Packed with first-person accounts, astonishing battle scenes, and surprising twists, this is a gripping and true adventure tale. The Notorious Benedict Arnold is the winner of the 2011 Boston Globe - Horn Book Award for Nonfiction.

Honor Book of Picture Book