2015 Judge: Elizabeth Rusch

Elizabeth Rusch once confessed on a panel that her interests have a curious case of ADHD. Her wide-ranging passions include astronomy, volcanology, art, music, history, nature, waves, jokes, crayons, and mud — anything that catches her fancy. Elizabeth’s award-winning books for young readers include Eruption!, The Mighty Mars Rovers, Electrical Wizard, For the Love of Music, A Day with No Crayons, The Next Wave, and the new graphic novel Muddy Max: The Mystery of Marsh Creek. Her books have been honored by the Junior Library Guild, Children’s Book of the Month Club, ALA, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the National Science Teachers Association and have landed on best book of the year lists compiled by School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, NBC News, and the New York Public Library. Peace-loving by nature, Liz has never before waged war in a battle of the books. Still, she is glad for the opportunity to have a legitimate excuse (for once) to neglect all her responsibilities to read a pile of some of the best new releases. (Please don’t tell her family and friends that she’s only actually required to read two.) Learn more about Liz at www.elizabethrusch.com.

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