2011 Nominees

 

The Juvie Three - MS

by Gordon Korman
Crime landed them in jail, but their luck changes when Mr. Healy selects them to serve their sentences in his halfway house. Then he is injured, everything changes.
 

The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour - MS

by Michael D. Beil
Three 7th grade detectives in New York help a neighbor solve puzzles hidden in the church next to their school while looking to find a legendary ruby ring.
 

Scat - MS

by Carl Hiaasen
While on a field trip in a Florida wildlife preserve, Nick and Marta decide to investigate when a mysterious fire starts and their unpopular teacher disappears.
 

The Truth About Truman School - MS

by Dori Hillestad Butler
Zebby and Amr just want to have an uncensored, online school magazine, but someone uses their website to bully a popular girl … should they censor their classmates?
 

Word Nerd - MS

by Susin Nielsen-Fernlund
Ambrose is a magnet for bullies, making his mother decide to homeschool him.  He then befriends the neighborhood ex-con and joins a scrabble club … all behind his mother's back!
 

All These Broken Pieces - All

by Ann E. Burg
In a free-verse story, adoptee Matt Pin struggles with the conflict between loving his new family and remembering his birth mother and the little brother he left behind in Vietnam.
 

Chains: Seeds of America - All

by Laurie Halse Anderson
Isabel, a young slave in New York, searches for a way to escape her cruel masters during the American Revolution.
 

The Chosen One - All

by Carol Lynch Williams
Kyra must decide whether to become her uncle’s wife and stay in the strict, polygamous compound where she grew up or risk it all and escape to a world she was taught to fear.
 

Graceling - All  (2011 winner)

by Kristin Cashore
Born with the Grace of strength and speed, Katsa is an assassin. Her uncle, King Randa, exploits her for his own purposes, but she wants to use her skills for nobler pursuits.
 

Leviathan - All

by Scott Westerfeld
Clankers and Darwinists prep for war while orphaned Austro-Hungarian Prince Alek flees danger and Deryn, disguised as a boy, trains as an airman on a British flying whaleship.
 

Project Sweet Life - All

by Brent Hartinger
Three high school junior boys devise money-making schemes to avoid taking jobs so they can enjoy the “sweet life” one last summer before accepting the responsibilities of the real world.
 

The September Sisters - All

by Jillian Cantor
What happens to a family when a sister vanishes from her bedroom one summer night? Abby and her parents are trying to deal with Becky’s disappearance. Will she ever be found?
 

Ash - HS

by Melinda Lo
In a Cinderella variation, Ash grew up with a forbidden belief in fairies. Now she must choose between a handsome fairy cursed to love her and her love for the King's Huntress.
 

The Bite of the Mango - HS

by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland
Mariatu Kamara tells how she, a twelve-year-old, survived rape, torture and maiming during the civil war in Sierra Leone.
 

Flash Burnout - HS

by L.K. Madigan
After taking a photograph of a woman living on the streets and discovering she is his friend’s meth-addicted mother, Blake is torn between being there for his friend or maintaining his relationship with his girlfriend.
 
 

Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GI - HS

by Ryan Smithson
He was 16 when the Twin Towers fell, 17 when he joined the army, and 19 when he was deployed to Iraq. Join him on a journey from student to soldier, innocence to experience
 

Hold Still - HS

by Nina LaCour
Caitlin and Ingrid did everything together, but when Ingrid inexplicably takes her own life, Caitlin is left to wonder why.  With Ingrid’s journal, she sees a different side of her friend.
 
 

King of the Screwups - HS

by K.L. Going
Liam Geller can't help being Mr. Popularity, even when he tries not to be. No matter what he does, he manages to screw up in the eyes of his father.
 

No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row - HS

by Susan Kuklin
In their own words, four men who committed murder as teenagers share their stories and reflect on the grim future of life with no parole.
 

Wintergirls - HS

by Laurie Halse Anderson
Most people think Lia is too thin, but she wants to be thinner. Despite the fact that she knows better, she lets her eating disorder consume her until she reaches the breaking point.