2022 Nominees


Bent Heavens

by Daniel Kraus
Liv's father went missing two years ago, shortly after he claimed to have been abducted by aliens.  Liv and her friend Doug routinely check her father's alien traps to discover one day that they actually caught one.
   

Cemetery Boys

by Aiden Thomas
Yadriel, a trans boy determined to prove his gender to his traditional Latinz family, summons a ghost who refuses to leave.
                            

Charming As a Verb

by Ben Philippe
Henri can charm anyone.  A star debater and popular student, he's doing his best to fulfill his first-generation Haitian father's expectations to be accepted to Columbia University.  How much hustle is too much hustle?  When does hustle become a bad choice?
   

Clap When You Land

by Elizabeth Acevedo
On the day that Camino's father is supposed to return to the Dominican Republic, his plane crashes.  In the aftermath of the crash, Camino finds out about Yahaira - her sister she didn't know about who lives in New York.
 

 

Concrete Kids

by Amrya Leon
A poetry journey that explores love and loss, melody and bloodshed.  Leon takes the reader through her childhood in Harlem, foster care, mourning, self-love, and resilience.
         

The Downstairs Girl

by Stacey Lee
Lady's maid by day, author of the newspaper's advice column by night, Jo pens the wildly popular "Dear Miss Sweetie" column.  She's not prepared for the backlash when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender.           
   

The Fountains of SIlence

by Ruta Sepetys
Madrid, 1957.  Daniel, son of an oil tycoon doing a deal with General Franco, wants to connect with his mother's homeland through photography.  He meets Ana while she's working at the hotel and trying to overcome the lingering effects of the Spanish Civil War. 
   

Golden Arm

by Carl Deuker
Laz, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks finds himself pitching his way out of poverty - one strike at a time.
 

Grown

by Tiffany D. Jackson
Korey Fields is dead.  When Enchanted wakes up with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night, no one - the police and Korey's fans included - has more questions than she does.  All she knows is this wasn't supposed to happen - he was her ticket to stardom.  Who killed Korey?                                                                    
 

 

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass

by Mariko Tamaki
Harleen is a tough, outspoken, rebellious kid who lives in a ramshackle apartment above a karaoke cabaret owned by a drag queen named MAMA.  Harleen becomes mad when a wave of gentrification threatens her neighborhood.  Join Ivy?  Or The Joker?
   

He Must Like You

by Danielle Younge-Ullman
Libby's brother ran away to Greece, her paretns are renting out her bedroom on AirBnB, and a drunken hookup leaves her confused, so when a serial harasser/handsy customer pushes her to the edge - she can barely be blamed for dumping sangria on his head.
 

 

The Inheritance Games

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Billionaire Tobias Hawthrone has died and left Avery Grambs his fortune.  She has no idea who he even is.  To receive her inheritance she must move to Hawthrone House, a sprawling, secret passage filled house packed with puzzles, riddles, and codes.
 

 

Mooncakes

by Suzanne Walker
Nova Huang works at her grandmothers' magical bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurences in their New England town.                      
   

The Other Side of the Sky

by Amie Kaufman
Prince North's home is in the sky, a floating city held aloft by intricate engines and powered by technology.  Nimh is the living goddess of her people on the surface, responsible for providing answers, direction, and hope.  Prophecy linked, they must save their people. 
   

Punching the Air

by Ibi Zoboi
Amal is an artist and a poet but he is also disruptive and unmotivated by a bias system.  He's involved in a fight in a gentrifying neighborhood that results in a white boy in a coma and Amal in jail.  
   

Red Hood

by Elana K. Arnold
Bisou is in the woods when a wolf chases and attacks her.  She fights back and kills the wolf.  When the new moon rises, a boy Bisou knows lays where the dead wolf once was. 
 

 

Sick Kids in Love

by Hannah Moskowitz
Isabel has rheumatoid arthritis.  She has one rule to make her life easier: NO DATING.  Then she meets another sick kid, Sasha, with a chronic illness she's never heard of, nevermind pronounce.  And he understands exactly what's she going through. 
 

 

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

by Jason Reynolds; Ibram X. Kendi
This vital volume traces the history of racism and the many political, literary, and philosophical narratives that have been used to justify slavery, oppression, and genocide.
   

This is My America

by Kim Johnson
Tracey's father is on death row for a crime he didn't commit.  Each week she writes to Innocence X for help exonerating him.  Then, her brother goes on the run when accused of killing a white girl.
    

War and Speech

by Don Zolidis
New girl Sydney, a perennial loser, joins the Speech & Debate team with one goal: infiltrate the team and destroy it from the inside out.
   

We Are Not From Here

by Jenny Torres Sanchez
Pulga, Chico, and Pequena are desperate to leave Guatemala.  They decide to travel through Mexico to attempt to cross the US border.
 

You Should See Me in a Crown

by Leah Johnson
Too black, too poor, too awkward. Liz enters into her town's prom queen contest in an attempt to win a college scholarship.