Bluestem

Bluestem Book List

Each year, 20 books are nominated for this award and then voted on by students in third through fifth grade in Illinois. It’s designed for students who want more challenging books than Monarch, but who aren’t quite ready for Rebecca Caudill. It’s named for Big Bluestem, which is the state prairie grass.

Award Wall of Fame Program- For every five 2025 nominees that you read and turn in by May 15, 2025, you will earn a special scratch-off ticket for a chance at prizes and get entered in the grand-prize drawing! Please put a checkmark in the “Read” box next to the books you choose to read on the list. You can stop in to get your ticket(s) as you read them or wait until the end of the program. You can earn up to four tickets by reading all twenty books. Be sure to check back in March of 2025 to vote for your favorite if you have read the required number of the nominees and will not be voting somewhere else. You will also get your name on our Award Wall of Fame, on our Facebook page, and in the newspaper!

Click on the titles below to request a copy!