2013 Nominees

 

Across the Universe

by Beth Revis
When Amy awakes from being cryogenically frozen aboard a spaceship, she befriends Elder, who is next in line to be ruler, to solve the murders taking place on board.
 

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick*

by Joe Schreiber
Perry is reluctant to take his family's exchange student to the prom, but when she turns into an assassin with a hit list and a need for revenge, the night takes a violent turn for the strange.

 

 

The Berlin Boxing Club

by Robert Sharenow
In 1936, Ben Stern, considered Jewish despite a non-religious upbringing, learns to box from the legendary Max Schmeling while struggling with the realities of the Holocaust.
 

Between Shades of Gray

by Ruta Sepetys
Lina and her family are deported to a brutal Siberian labor camp in 1941 by invading Soviet troops –just for being educated Lithuanians.
 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone*

by Laini Taylor
Karou's friends beg her to share stories of living with chimera and traveling the world on missions for her guardian, but no one, not even her best friend knows that her stories are true.
 

Divergent (2013 winner)

by Veronica Roth
Beatrice lives in a future where she must choose between five factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she learns she doesn't belong in any one faction in a society that is far from perfect.
 

The False Princess

by Eilis O'Neal
For years, Nalia believed she was the princess, but when she learns that’s not the case, she’s forced to leave that life behind. As Sinda, she must figure out what to do with her life now.
 

The Grimm Legacy

by Polly Shulman
Elizabeth gets a job as a page at a special library. After gaining coveted access to the Grimm Collection, she and the other pages are drawn into a series of frightening adventures.
 

I am J*

by Cris Beam
J, a guy mistakenly born as a girl, runs away from his best friend who rejected him and the parents he thinks do not get him when he decides it is time to be who he really is.
 

Legend

by Marie Lu
In a futuristic LA, June has joined the elite military of the Republic. Her first priority is to capture Day, the enigmatic rebel accused of her brother’s senseless murder.
 

Level Up

by Gene Luen Yang
Dennis loves gaming, but guilt over his dead father's ambitions for him force Dennis to deny video games and go to medical school. Can Dennis achieve his own ambitions?
 

The Name of the Star

by Maureen Johnson
Rory arrives at her London boarding school just as a “new” Jack the Ripper starts terrorizing the city. After a near-death experience, she sees things others do not. Is she crazy or did she really see the killer?
 

Okay for Now

by Gary D. Schmidt
While Doug, a baseball fan, struggles to be more than the thug people think him to be, he finds an unlikely ally in Lil, a library fan, as they explore Audubon's art .
 

The Running Dream

by Wendelin Van Draanen
When an accident leaves track star Jessica an amputee, she fights for a way to run again as well as find her identity outside of running.
 

Stay

by Deb Caletti
Because Clara’s boyfriend has begun to display obsessive, possessive behavior toward her, she and her father move to a remote area of Washington, but how far away is far enough?
 

Strings Attached

by Judy Blundell
When she drops out of school in Providence for a Broadway career in 1950, Kit accepts help from an old family friend said to have mob ties, who then asks her to some favors for him.
 

Take Me to the River

by Will Hobbs
Dylan is excited to join his cousin Rio in a white water rafting trip along the Mexican border, unaware of the danger that awaits them.
 

Wither*

by Lauren DeStefano
After science turns every human into a genetic time bomb with men dying at 25 and women at 20, girls are kidnapped and married off in order to repopulate the world.
 

Wonderstruck

by Brian Selznick
Having lost his mother and his hearing, 12-year-old Ben leaves home to seek the father he never knew and meets Rose, who is also longing for something missing from her life