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The California Young Reader Medal Award is awarded each year by the California Library Association to the book that gets the most student votes. It is a "Kid's Choice" award. Nominees in various grade-level categories (primary picture books, intermediate chapter books Gr 4-5, middle school, young adult) are voted on by students. Maloney students enjoy voting for their favorite books each year!
If you are looking for peer-chosen popular books to read, you can look at the California Young Reader Medal website here for past nominees and winners. All of the books are good (even if not a winner that year!) as the nominees are very different - see what appeals to you. Explore new authors or genres and expand your reading horizons!
At Maloney, we read the five nominated primary picture books to grades TK-3rd during storytime. All primary students get to vote for their favorite book.
4th and 5th graders have the option to read the three nominated intermediate chapter books on their own if they would like to vote. Voting is mid-March - students who want to vote must have finished all three books by then in order to vote. We have a few copies of each at Maloney Library, but if students want to get them from the public library or read them via eBook, here are the three intermediate nominees for 2025-2026 (descriptions from Amazon):
The Labors of Hercules Beal,by Gary D. Schmidt
The Labors of Hercules Beal,by Gary D. Schmidt
Herc Beal knows who he's named after—a mythical hero—but he's no superhero. He's the smallest kid in his class. So when his homeroom teacher at his new middle school gives him the assignment of duplicating the mythical Hercules's amazing feats in real life, he's skeptical. After all, there are no Nemean Lions on Cape Cod—and not a single Hydra in sight.
Missing his parents terribly and wishing his older brother wasn't working all the time, Herc figures out how to take his first steps along the road that the great Hercules himself once walked. Soon, new friends, human and animal, are helping him. And though his mythical role model performed his twelve labors by himself, Herc begins to see that he may not have to go it alone.
Coyote Lost and Found, by Dan Gemeinhart
Coyote Lost and Found, by Dan Gemeinhart
It's been almost a year since Coyote and her dad left the road behind and settled down in a small Oregon town. . . time spent grieving the loss of her mom and sisters and trying to fit in at school. But just as life is becoming a new version of normal, Coyote discovers a box containing her mom’s ashes. And she thinks she might finally be ready to say goodbye.
So Coyote and her dad gear up for an epic cross-country road trip to scatter the ashes at her mom’s chosen resting place. The only problem? Coyote has no idea where that resting place is―and the secret’s hidden in a book that Coyote mistakenly sold last year, somewhere in the country. Now, it’s up to Coyote to track down the treasured book . . . without her dad ever finding out that it’s lost.
It’s time to fire up their trusty bus, Yager, pick up some old friends, discover some new ones, and hit the road on another unforgettable adventure.
Dogtown, by Katherine Applegate
Dogtown, by Katherine Applegate
Dogtown is a shelter for stray dogs, misbehaving dogs, and discarded robot dogs, whose owners have outgrown them.
Chance, a real dog, has been in Dogtown since her owners unwittingly left her with irresponsible dog-sitters who skipped town.
Metal Head is a robot dog who dreams of being back in a real home.
And Mouse is a mouse who has the run of Dogtown, pilfering kibble, and performing clever feats to protect the dogs he loves.
When Chance and Metal Head embark on an adventure to find their forever homes, there is danger, cheese sandwiches, a charging station, and some unexpected kindnesses along the way.
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