Because of Winn Dixie

Author: Kate DiCamillo
Illustrator: Chris Sheban (Cover)
Date: 2000
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Awards: 2001 Newbery Honor Book

Winn Dixie gives Opal the courage to ask her preacher father about her mother who abandoned them. When they move to Florida, it's the dog who helps Opal let go of some of the sadness and to learn to open up to others. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal is finally able to be a kid!

Holes

Author: Louis Sachar
Illustrator: Bagram Ibatoulline (Cover)
Date: 1998
Publisher: Dell Yearling
Awards: 1999 Newbery

Camp Green Lake(a correctional camp) is where Stanley is sent to build character. The boys have to dig holes to supposedly build character, but Stanley soon realizes the warden has them digging for something else. Stanley makes a good friend at the "camp" and learns to like himself after learning about his family history and the others at the camp.

A Year Down Yonder

Author: Richard Peck
Illustrator: Steve Cieslawski (Cover)
Date: 2000
Publisher: Penguin Group
Awards: 2001 Newbery Medal Winner

Grandma Dowdel's is not the place Mary Alice wants to go alone, but she is forced to go and spend a year with her grandmother down yonder in Illinois. Mary Alice is from Chicago and her grandmother's town is very different from what she knows and likes. To the surprise of Mary Alice, she gets to know her grandmother and enjoys spending time with her, becoming known as her sidekick. Mary Alice surprises herself when she has to spend "a year down yonder".