Congratulations to this 2026 Great Stone Face Award Winner titled, Faker. This July 2024 debut title received the greatest number of votes out of the 20 nominees with the graphic novel New Girl coming in as the runner up! Congratulations to the prolific author, Gordon Korman. He is the author of over 100 books! Faker is his most recent publication with another title due to publish in July 7, 2026. titled Sleepless.
Here is a brief blurb about Faker: "Trey knows the drill: His dad gets him into a school full of kids with rich parents. Trey makes friends, and his dad makes connections. Soon, there's the con, where Trey's dad suckers the other parents into investing in one of his schemes. Once the money's in the bank, Trey, his sister, and their dad are on the run... until they set up somewhere else and start again. Trey believes his father when he says no one's getting hurt. After all, these parents have money to spare. But Trey's starting to get tired of running... and lying... and never having a friend for longer than a few months. But how do you get your family to stop lying when your lives depend on it?" -- Provided by publisher
Be sure to visit Destiny Discover to find a Collection containing the previous NH Great Stone Face winners from the past. This award began in 1979!
Below you will find a brochure containing images and brief descriptions of the 2026-2027 NH Great Stone Face Nominees. Just click on the Great Stone Face image below to view these. Please remember these titles are choice reads. These are not manditated reading selections for students at our school. You may also click HERE to view a Destiny Discover Collection of the current Great Stone Face Nominees at McKelvie Intermediate School.
The Great Stone Face Award is sponsored by the Children's Librarians of New Hampshire (CHILIS) and is given each year to an author whose book receives the most votes from fifth through sixth graders throughout the state. Each year a committee chooses 15 recently published titles, which children then use as a guide for voting. The vote takes place every April during National Library Week, and the winner is announced in May. The purpose of the award is to promote reading enjoyment/recreational reading, to increase awareness of contemporary writing, and to allow children to honor their favorite author. These titles are independent/choice reads. You and your child can select and discuss which, if any titles, you would like them to read.
Only titles published within 3 years of the current school year are eligible
Titles shall be appropriate for grades 5 to 6
An author may be a resident of any country
More than one title by the same author can be nominated
A title in a series must stand alone
Newbery Award and other award winners can be nominated for the list
Non-fiction titles (informational, biographical, & poetry) can be nominated
A title originally published outside of the United States can be nominated based on its US publication date
FUN FACT!
Please click HERE to find the lyrics to a song dedicated to the Great Stone Face aka the Old Man Of The Mountain.This HERE is the free song. Just click the play button (no video)! Grammy nominated Songwriter Rick Lang and friend Evan Richert recently collaborated to offer a musical tribute to celebrate the legacy of New Hampshire’s “Old Man Of The Mountain". This is what the New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award is named after. The story line of the song was inspired by the novel by author Nathaniel Hawthorne.