Annal:2002 Batchelder Award
From AwardAnnals
Results of the Batchelder Award in the year 2002. For a ranked list of books, try an honor roll:
- 2002 Batchelder winner
- Score: 10.52
In 1902 in a small German town a traveler turns up spouting catchy songs about adventures in America. To the townspeople, the land sounds like paradise, and ten-year-old Johann Bonfert is excited when his own family begins planning a life overseas. His father and brother leave early to find jobs in the steel mills of Ohio, and the rest of the family follows later in a long, miserable sea journey.
Johann soon discovers, however, that it's not easy to start life from scratch. America's not paradise, and assimilation can be difficult, especially for grown-ups. Author Karin Gundisch's American debut is a heartwarming and finely observed book that speaks to the enduring struggles all immigrants face, whether in 1902 or 2002.
- 2002 Batchelder honor
- Score: 6.52
It is the first day of school and the kids of Marie Curie School are getting a new teacher. Everyone arrives hoping for an athletic and handsome specimen, but instead, they find a fat, wrinkly, and incredibly old one. At first, the class is very disappointed. But then each student receives a strange gift - a book of very special coupons - and it becomes obvious that Monsieur Noël is not the kind of teacher you meet everyday. The school year is bound to be anything but ordinary.
