Jerdine Nolen

Author Information
Jerdine Nolen's Latest Book

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  • Bibliography:
    21 Books (1 Series)
  • First Book:
    May 1994
  • Latest Book:
    February 2023
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Full Series List in Order

Bradford Street Buddies

1 - Backyard Camp-Out (Sep-2015)
2 - Block Party Surprise (Sep-2015)
3 - Springtime Blossoms (Mar-2017)

Book List in Order: 21 titles

  • Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm

    Harvey Potter was a very strange fellow indeed. He was a farmer, but he didn't farm like my daddy did. He farmed a genuine, U.S. Government Inspected Balloon Farm.

    So begins this enchanting original tall tale. Set in the rural south and popu...

  • Big Jabe

    When a young slave named Addy goes fishing one spring day, she doesn't catch any fish. Instead, she finds a little boy in a basket floating in the river. Jabe is no ordinary boy: in a few short months, he grows to be a big, strong man with the str...

  • In My Momma's Kitchen

    From Talking Pots Day, when the aunts all gather to make the biggest pot of soup in town, to gathering round Gran Lee's stove on a cold winter afternoon, to serenades and stories late at night, when the rest of the world is asleep, "seems like eve...

  • Max and Jax in Second Grade

    Meet Max and Jax as they anxiously await the bell on the last day of second grade. The twins kick off the summer with a slumber party for Jax and a special fishing trip for Max. But even though their adventures don't go exactly as they'd planned, Max...

  • Plantzilla

    Mortimer Henryson loves Plantzilla, the plant he's been taking care of all year in his third-grade classroom. He loves him so much, he takes him home for summer vacation. What could go wrong with a . . . plant? But life in the Henryson household soon...

  • Raising Dragons

    When a dragon hatches on her pa’s farm, a young girl finds a best friend. At first Ma and Pa are wary of Hank, but it’s not long before they see him as their daughter does--and welcome the baby dragon into their family. As it turns out, Hank is n...

  • Lauren McGill's Pickle Museum

    Lauren McGill is just mad about pickles. She decorates her room in every shade of pickle green and has her very own pickle costume. When her teacher announces a field trip to a pickle factory, Lauren is the only one in her class who cares about going...

  • Thunder Rose

    On a dark night of howling rain and booming thunder, Jackson and Millicent MacGruder welcome a new baby girl into their lives. Imagine their surprise when she sits up, thanks them for bringing her into the world, and informs them that she's quite par...

  • Hewitt Anderson's Great Big Life

    Young Hewitt Anderson is sweet, smart, polite -- and very, very small. This warmly humorous tale with audio is “proof that, when it comes to heart, physical size isn’t the whole story” (Kirkus Reviews).Young Hewitt Anderson is his parents' prid...



  • Plantzilla Goes to Camp

    Mortimer Henryson is thrilled when he is finally accepted by Camp Wannaleaveee, his father's childhood sleepaway camp. Until he reads the camp rule: NO PETS OF ANY KIND ARE ALLOWED! It breaks Mortimer's heart to leave his beloved Plantzilla behind....

  • Pitching in for Eubie

    Lily knows that nothing is more important than family. She's so proud when her sister, Eubie, wins a college scholarship. And when her family pulls together to earn the rest of the money Eubie needs, Lily wants to help out too. But she's too young...

  • Christmas in the Time of Billy Lee

    One holiday season Ellie makes three wishes: that her parents will see that her friend Billy Lee is not imaginary; that snow will fall on Septon's Creek for the first time in fifty years; and that joy will return--especially to her parents, who alway...

  • Eliza's Freedom Road

    It is 1852 in Alexandria, Virginia. Eliza’s mother has been sent away and it is Abbey, the cook, who looks after Eliza, when Eliza isn’t taking care of the Mistress. Eliza has the quilt her mother left her and the memory of the stories she told t...

  • Irene's Wish

    A young girl wants her father to be home more, but her wish takes an unexpected turn in this story of enduring love between parent and child from an award-winning author and illustrator. Irene loves her family, especially when her father is home. ...

  • Backyard Camp-Out

    Bradford Street Buddies - 1
    Green Light Readers: Level 3

    The backyard campout is tonight. Jada and Jamal Perkins have never slept in a tent before. Neither have their best friends, Carlita Garcia and Josh Cornell. Camping is going to be so much fun. Or is it? It’s really dark in the backyard. And what’...

  • Block Party Surprise

    Bradford Street Buddies - 2
    Green Light Readers: Level 3

    The neighborhood block party is today. Jada and Jamal Perkins are super excited. Their best friends, Carlita Garcia and Josh Cornell, are on their way over. Mr. Perkins promised them a BIG surprise.  Thump! Thump! Thump!   Bump! Bump! Bump!  ...

  • Calico Girl

    From the award-winning author of Eliza’s Freedom Road comes the powerful tale of a slave girl’s triumphant journey to freedom with her family during the Civil War. Twelve-year-old Callie Wilcomb and her family are slaves, and the Civil War giv...

  • Springtime Blossoms

    Bradford Street Buddies - 3
    Green Light Readers: Level 3

    CHIRP! CHIRP! CHIRP! It’s springtime on Bradford Street. Jada and Jamal are searching for signs of spring. So are their best friends, Carlita Garcia and Josh Cornell. But the most surprising sign of spring awaits them at school the next day . . . a...

  • Freedom Bird

    “Powerful storytelling and immersive art.” -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Vibrant writing and magical realism lift this story to one of triumph.” -- Publishers Weekly “Nolen's lively prose style recalls the richness of the oral tradi...



  • Hope's Path

    From the author of Eliza’s Freedom Road and Calico Girl (a Kirkus Best Book of the Year) comes a dramatic historical middle grade novel that is “a unique lens through which to examine the 1849 Gold Rush” (School Library Journal) following an en...

  • Hope's Path to Glory

    From the author of Eliza’s Freedom Road and Calico Girl (a Kirkus Best Book of the Year) comes a dramatic historical middle grade novel that is “a unique lens through which to examine the 1849 Gold Rush” (School Library Journal) fol...

Award-Winning Books by Jerdine Nolen

Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm
1995 Black-Eyed Susan Award -- Picture Book
1996 Kentucky Bluegrass Award -- Grades K-3
1997 Nevada Young Readers' Award -- Picture Book
1997 Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award -- Picture Book
1997 Young Hoosier Book Award -- Grades K-3
1998 Grand Canyon Reader Award -- Picture Book
Raising Dragons
1998 Irma S. & James H. Black Award -- Children's Literature


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Jerdine Nolen has published 21 books.

Jerdine Nolen does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Hope's Path, was published in February 2023.

The first book by Jerdine Nolen, Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm, was published in May 1994.

Yes. Jerdine Nolen has 1 series.
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