John Steptoe Award for New Talent – 2008 Winner

Title: Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It
Author: Sundee T. Frazier
Publisher: Delacorte Press

Brendan Buckley, a biracial 10-year-old, applies his scientific problem-solving ability and newfound interest in rocks and minerals to connect with his white grandfather, the president of Puyallup Rock Club, and to learn why he and Brendan's mother are estranged.

John Steptoe Award for New Talent

This award was established to affirm new talent and to offer visibility to excellence in writing and/or illustration which otherwise might be formally unacknowledged within a given year within the structure of the two awards given annually by the Coretta Scott King Task Force.