Students vote for best Gateway Reader book
VOTING. Sophomore Gage Hanke looks onto the screen debating which Gateway Readers nominee he’ll vote for. During the voting ceremony students that read all book nominees are able to receive awards. “I think it’s a great opportunity for students to get a say in an award for books made for students,” Librarian Paula Erickson said.
March 17, 2023
Students gathered in the library to vote for their favorite 2022-2023 Gateway Readers book. The Gateway Readers Award goes to the students’ most voted book out of a selection of 15. The books selected get chosen by both students and librarians through Missouri Association of School Librarians (MASL). Each nominated book is a part of the young adult genre. Students must read two of the nominated books to be eligible to vote.
Students who qualified attended the pizza party on March 7, 2023. The library staff and voters ate cake and pizza while they discussed what book they voted for. Freshman Sean Plaisime resonates with the character Amir from the book “How it all Blew Up.”
“I like Amir because he really knows how to adapt to a different situation really fast,” Plaisime said. “As a person, I really think that I can relate to that.”
Next year’s Gateway Readers nominees are in the high school’s library. Students that want to vote in next year’s ceremony are able to read the books now and be eligible to participate. Only students in grades 9-12 can vote. Sophomore Kaleighya Hunter-Love enjoyed socializing at the voting ceremony.
“I really liked it,” Hunter-Love said. “I got to talk to other people and see how they felt about some of the books that I also read.”
The Fort Osage Gateway Readers winner was “Grown” by Tiffany D. Jackson. The Missouri winner will be announced in April. Junior Landon Lamb loved the theme of the book Grown.
“My favorite book was definitely Grown,” Lamb said. “It had a really powerful message behind it.” Along with “Grown,” the other 2022-2023 nominees consist of “Clap When You Land” written by Elizabeth Acevedo, “Fable” written by Adrienne Young, “How it all Blew Up” written by Arvin Ahmadi, “Inheritance Games” written by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, “Golden Arm” written by Carl Deuker, “This Light Between Us” written by Andrew Fukuda, “Girl On The Run” written by Abigail Johnson, “This is My America” written by Kim Johnson, “What I Carry” written by Jennifer Longo, “Tweet Cute” by Emma Lord, If “These Wings Could Fly” written by Kyrie McCauley, “Be Not Far From Me” written Mindy McGinnis, “Jane Anonymous” written by Laurie Faria Stolarz and “Punching The Air” written by Ibi Zoboi and Yasef Salaam.
