Nutmeg Winners - Middle School (Grades 7-8)

All the past and present winners of the Nutmeg Book Award, voted on by Connecticut's children. These are for the Intermediate age group, which includes grades 7 to 8. Winners from 2006-2025.

Showing 1 - 6 of 6  There are a total of 21 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for "Counting by 7s"
Star rating for Counting by 7s
Average Rating:
4 stars
Notes:
2016 Winner
Description:
Twelve-year-old genius and outsider Willow Chance must figure out how to connect with other people and find a surrogate family for herself after her parents are killed in a car accident.
Book cover for "Divergent"
Star rating for Divergent
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Notes:
2014 Winner
Description:
Beatrice Prior's society is divided into five factions--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Beatrice must choose between staying with her Abnegation family and transferring factions. Her choice will shock her community and herself. But the newly christened Tris also has a secret, one she's determined to keep hidden, because in this world, what makes you different...
Book cover for "The Hunger Games"
Star rating for The Hunger Games
Average Rating:
4.8 stars
Notes:
2012 Winner
Description:
"The Hunger Games as you've never seen it before--in a remarkable illustrated edition. Even at the age of sixteen, Katniss Everdeen knows it takes hard work, keen observation, and inner fortitude to survive in the world. Her home, District 12, is under the merciless rule of the Capitol, continually forced to pay after losing a long-ago civil war in the nation of Panem. One of the ways the Capitol keeps control is its annual Hunger Games, a televised...
Book cover for "Insignificant events in the life of a cactus"
Star rating for Insignificant events in the life of a cactus
Average Rating:
5 stars
Notes:
2022
Description:
New friends and a mystery help Aven, thirteen, adjust to middle school and life at a dying western theme park in a new state, where her being born armless presents many challenges.
Book cover for "New kid"
Star rating for New kid
Author:
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Notes:
2021 Winner
Description:
Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely, honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real, from award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Craft. Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known...
Book cover for "Starfish"
Star rating for Starfish
Author:
Average Rating:
5 stars
Notes:
2025 Winner
Description:
Bullied and shamed her whole life for being fat, twelve-year-old Ellie finally gains the confidence to stand up for herself, with the help of some wonderful new allies.--