2012 Winner: Middle Grades Science Book

The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: A Scientific Mystery, by Sandra Markle. Millbrook Press, 2011. 

Markle’s book is a double mystery: What’s killing the tiny golden frogs of Panama, and what can be done to save them from extinction? The story traces how real-life scientists discovered the frogs’ plight, how they tested competing theories about their demise, and how conservation biologists are searching for ways to preserve threatened amphibians around the world. The prize’s judges praised the book’s accessible prose and its sense of adventure and intrigue.

“The positive response to this book is also allowing me to speak out for scientific investigation,” said Markle, “encouraging children to be inspired to seek answers to problems and to dare to imagine finding solutions.” The AAAS/Subaru award inspired her to launch Markle’s Book Explorers, a program where she donates her books to “Explorer” schools, offering enrichment activities and a virtual Skype visit to answer students’ questions.

About the Author

Sandra Markle is the author of more than 200 nonfiction books for children and has won numerous awards for this work, including the  Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, NSTA Outstanding Science Tradebook, Green Earth Book Awards, Cybils Finalist, John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers, Junior Library Guild Selection, Orbis Pictus Recommended Book, Charlotte Zolotow Award, and more.