# Hawai'i Nēnē Award reading list

**71** books referenced by Hawai'i Nēnē Award, a reading-program curriculum framework spanning applicable K-12 grade levels.

The Hawai'i Nēnē Award is Hawai'i's statewide student-choice reading program — children in grades 4-6 across the islands read from an annual shortlist of fiction and vote for their favorite. Named for the nēnē, Hawai'i's state bird, the program has run since 1964 and is coordinated by the Hawai'i Association of School Librarians. The winner roll runs from Superfudge, Bunnicula, and Dear Mr. Henshaw through The Whipping Boy, Shiloh, Maniac Magee, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Holes, Bud Not Buddy, The Lightning Thief, Inkheart, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, Wonder, Smile, El Deafo, The Wild Robot, Front Desk, New Kid, Restart, City Spies, and Odder — four decades of the books Hawai'i kids actually vote for, with island winners like Under the Blood-Red Sun and Lei and the Fire Goddess.

**Framework type:** reading-program
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/curriculum/hawaii-nene-award
**Primary source:** https://www.neneaward.org/winners.html (www.neneaward.org/winners.html)
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## Hawai'i Nēnē Award reading list

- [A Boy at War](https://readinglist.school/book/a-boy-at-war-a-novel-of-pearl-harbor) by Harry Mazer _(Grades 3–6)_
- [Allergic](https://readinglist.school/book/allergic) by Megan Wagner Lloyd _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret](https://readinglist.school/book/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret) by Judy Blume _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days](https://readinglist.school/book/be-a-perfect-person-in-just-three-days) by Stephen Manes _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Because of Winn-Dixie](https://readinglist.school/book/because-of-winn-dixie) by Kate DiCamillo _(610L · Grades 3–5)_
- [Boy at War](https://readinglist.school/book/boy-at-war) by Harry Mazer _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Bud, Not Buddy](https://readinglist.school/book/bud-not-buddy) by Christopher Paul Curtis _(950L · Grades 4–7)_
- [Bunnicula](https://readinglist.school/book/bunnicula) by Deborah Howe _(Grades 3–6)_
- [Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery and Howliday Inn EBOOK](https://readinglist.school/book/bunnicula-a-rabbit-tale-of-mystery) by Deborah Howe _(Grades 4–7)_
- [Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator](https://readinglist.school/book/charlie-and-the-great-glass-elevator) by Roald Dahl _(Grades 4–6)_
- [City Spies](https://readinglist.school/book/city-spies) by James Ponti _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Dear Mr. Henshaw](https://readinglist.school/book/dear-mr-henshaw) by Beverly Cleary _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Double Fudge](https://readinglist.school/book/double-fudge) by Judy Blume _(Grades 4–6)_
- [El Deafo](https://readinglist.school/book/el-deafo) by Cece Bell _(420L · Grades 4–6)_
- [Eragon](https://readinglist.school/book/eragon) by Christopher Paolini _(Grades 6–9)_
- [Found](https://readinglist.school/book/found) by Margaret Peterson Haddix _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Freaky Friday](https://readinglist.school/book/freaky-friday) by Mary Rodgers _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Frizzy](https://readinglist.school/book/frizzy) by Claribel Ortega _(Grades 4–5)_
- [Front Desk](https://readinglist.school/book/front-desk) by Kelly Yang _(640L · Grades 3–7)_
- [Fudge](https://readinglist.school/book/fudge) by Charlotte Towner Graeber _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Fudge-a-Mania](https://readinglist.school/book/fudge-a-mania) by Judy Blume _(Grades 3–6)_
- [Ghosts in Fourth Grade](https://readinglist.school/book/ghosts-in-fourth-grade) by Constance Hiser _(Grades 3–6)_
- [Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone](https://readinglist.school/book/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone) by J.K. Rowling _(880L · Grades 4–7)_
- [Henry Reed's Babysitting Service](https://readinglist.school/book/henry-reeds-babysitting-service) by Keith Robertson _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Holes](https://readinglist.school/book/holes) by Louis Sachar _(660L · Grades 4–7)_
- [How to Eat Fried Worms](https://readinglist.school/book/how-to-eat-fried-worms) by Thomas Rockwell _(Grades 3–6)_
- [Inkheart](https://readinglist.school/book/inkheart) by Cornelia Funke _(Grades 3–6)_
- [Invisible](https://readinglist.school/book/invisible) by Christina Diaz Gonzalez _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Island of the Blue Dolphins](https://readinglist.school/book/island-of-the-blue-dolphins) by Scott O'Dell _(1000L · Grades 4–7)_
- [Jelly Belly](https://readinglist.school/book/jelly-belly) by Robert Kimmel Smith _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Jonathan Livingston Seagull](https://readinglist.school/book/jonathan-livingston-seagull) by Richard Bach _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Karen Kepplewhite is the World's Best Kisser](https://readinglist.school/book/karen-kepplewhite-is-the-worlds-best-kisser) by Eve Bunting _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Lei and the Fire Goddess](https://readinglist.school/book/lei-and-the-fire-goddess) by Malia Maunakea _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Lion Dancers](https://readinglist.school/book/lion-dancers) by Cai Tse _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Maniac Magee](https://readinglist.school/book/maniac-magee) by Jerry Spinelli _(820L · Grades 4–7)_
- [Mary Poppins](https://readinglist.school/book/mary-poppins) by Pamela L. Travers _(Grades 4–6)_
- [My Robot Buddy](https://readinglist.school/book/my-robot-buddy) by Alfred Slote _(Grades 4–6)_
- [My Teacher Is an Alien](https://readinglist.school/book/my-teacher-is-an-alien) by Bruce Coville _(Grades 3–6)_
- [NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society](https://readinglist.school/book/nerds-national-espionage-rescue-and-defense-society) by Michael Buckley _(Grades 3–6)_
- [New Kid](https://readinglist.school/book/new-kid) by Jerry Craft _(Grades 4–8)_
- [Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade](https://readinglist.school/book/nothings-fair-in-fifth-grade) by Barthe DeClements _(Grades 3–6)_
- [Odder](https://readinglist.school/book/odder) by Katherine Applegate _(Grades 3–5)_
- [Old Yeller](https://readinglist.school/book/old-yeller) by Fred Gipson _(Grades 5–8)_
- [Ramona and Her Father](https://readinglist.school/book/ramona-and-her-father) by Beverly Cleary _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Ramona the Pest](https://readinglist.school/book/ramona-the-pest) by Beverly Cleary _(750L · Grades 2–4)_
- [Restart](https://readinglist.school/book/restart) by Gordon Korman _(730L · Grades 5–8)_
- [Ribsy](https://readinglist.school/book/ribsy) by Beverly Cleary _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Roller Girl](https://readinglist.school/book/roller-girl) by Victoria Jamieson _(440L · Grades 4–7)_
- [Runaway Ralph](https://readinglist.school/book/runaway-ralph) by Beverly Cleary _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Shiloh](https://readinglist.school/book/shiloh) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor _(890L · Grades 3–6)_
- [Small Spaces](https://readinglist.school/book/small-spaces) by Katherine Arden _(Grades 3–5)_
- [Smile](https://readinglist.school/book/smile) by Raina Telgemeier _(410L · Grades 4–8)_
- [Sounder](https://readinglist.school/book/sounder) by William H. Armstrong _(Grades 3–7)_
- [Superfudge](https://readinglist.school/book/superfudge) by Judy Blume _(Grades 3–6)_
- [The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1)](https://readinglist.school/book/the-bad-beginning) by Lemony Snicket _(1010L · Grades 4–7)_
- [The Best School Year Ever](https://readinglist.school/book/the-best-school-year-ever) by Barbara Robinson _(Grades 3–6)_
- [The Cardboard Kingdom](https://readinglist.school/book/the-cardboard-kingdom) by Chad Sell _(Grades 4–6)_
- [The Cat Ate My Gymsuit](https://readinglist.school/book/the-cat-ate-my-gymsuit) by Paula Danziger _(Grades 4–6)_
- [The Invention of Hugo Cabret](https://readinglist.school/book/the-invention-of-hugo-cabret) by Brian Selznick _(Grades 3–7)_
- [The Lemonade War](https://readinglist.school/book/the-lemonade-war) by Davies, Jacqueline _(Grades 4–6)_
- [The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)](https://readinglist.school/book/the-lightning-thief) by Rick Riordan _(740L · Grades 4–7)_
- [The Mouse and the Motorcycle](https://readinglist.school/book/the-mouse-and-the-motorcycle) by Beverly Cleary _(860L · Grades 2–4)_
- [The Strange Case of Origami Yoda](https://readinglist.school/book/the-strange-case-of-origami-yoda) by Tom Angleberger _(Grades 4–6)_
- [The Terrible Two](https://readinglist.school/book/the-terrible-two) by Mac Barnett _(Grades 3–5)_
- [The Whipping Boy](https://readinglist.school/book/the-whipping-boy) by Sid Fleischman _(Grades 3–7)_
- [The Wild Robot](https://readinglist.school/book/the-wild-robot) by Peter Brown _(740L · Grades 4–6)_
- [There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom](https://readinglist.school/book/theres-a-boy-in-the-girls-bathroom) by Louis Sachar _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Twins](https://readinglist.school/book/twins) by Varian Johnson _(Grades 4–6)_
- [Under the Blood-Red Sun](https://readinglist.school/book/under-the-blood-red-sun) by Graham Salisbury _(Grades 5–8)_
- [Wonder](https://readinglist.school/book/wonder) by R.J. Palacio _(790L · Grades 3–7)_
- [You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye](https://readinglist.school/book/you-shouldnt-have-to-say-goodbye) by Patricia Hermes _(Grades 4–6)_

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