The Nutmeg Book Award is the “Children’s Choice” award for Connecticut, encouraging children across the state to read quality literature. Every year, on May 1, the new nominees for the award are announced. These nominees get grouped into four categories: Elementary (Grades 2-3), Intermediate (Grades 4-6), Middle School (Grades 7-8), and High School (Grades 9-12). Children then have a year to read the nominated titles and vote for their favorite.

Some things may look a bit different this time around, but we are still excited to announce the newest Nutmeg nominees! Many of the titles on these lists have ebook and/or audiobook versions available through RBdigital or Overdrive/Libby. In addition to the physical & digital copies of the Nutmeg nominees that CPL has purchased, the Connecticut State Library has also purchased all of the Nutmeg titles that were available in ebook and/ or audiobook (see them here). These copies are included in our library catalog, and can be checked out with your Cheshire Library Card.

Without further ado, here are the new 2021 Nutmeg Nominees!  How many have you read?

Elementary (Grades 2-3)

• After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again by Dan Santat
• Because Score by Mo Willems (author) Performance by Amber Ren (illustrator)
• Borrowing Bunnies: A Surprising True Tale of Fostering Rabbits by Cynthia Lord, photographs by John Bald, illustrations by Hazel Mitchell
• The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell
• Carter Reads the Newspaper by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Don Tate
• Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams by Lesa Cline-Ransome
• Ida, Always by Caron Levis, illustrated by Charles Santoso
• Infamous Ratsos by Kara LaReau, illustrated by Matt Myers
• Jasmine Toguchi: Mochi Queen by Debbi Michiko Florence
• Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuko Ando by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Kana Urbanowicz
• Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, illustrated by Scott Magoon
• Seashells: More than a Home by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen
• We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
• Wedgie and Gizmo by Suzanne Selfors, illustrated by Barbara Fisinger
• The World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter

Intermediate (Grades 4-6)

• Framed! by James Ponti
• Front Desk by Kelly Yang
• The Great Treehouse War by Lisa Graff
• I Love You, Michael Collins by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
• Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess by Shari Green
• The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks
• New Kid by Jerry Craft
• The  Peculiar Incident of Shady Street by  Lindsay Currie
• Restart by Gordon Korman
• We’re Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey

Middle School (Grades 7-8)

• The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
• The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya
• Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake
• New Kid by Jerry Craft
• The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
• Nyxia by Scott Reintgen
• The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
• Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
• The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
• The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor

High School (Grades 9-12)

• After the Shot Drops By Randy Ribay
• American Road Trip By Patrick Flores-Scott
• Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree By Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
• Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey By Ngozi Ukazu
• Dread Nation By Justina Ireland
• A Heart In A Body In The World By Deb Caletti
• Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe By Preston Norton
• The Nowhere Girls By Amy Reed
• The Poet X By Elizabeth Acevedo
• Symptoms of Being Human By Jeff Garvin

For help accessing the library’s digital collection, try checking out the guides on our website. You can also email us, or call and leave a message for library staff at (203) 272-2245. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible.