Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominees

Meanwhile, back at the Clueless Ranch... I just learned that the BBYA list is now the BFYA list. Here are the most recent nominees (info. and book summaries from: Best Fiction for Young Adults ). The titles that I'm anxious to read are in red.

Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominations
Updated April 2, 2010

Almond, David. Raven Summer.
Being led by a raven to discover an abandoned baby and a jarful of money is just the beginning of Liam’s remarkable summer.

Avasthi, Swati. Split. Jace, 16, fights back against his abusive father and is thrown out of the house. He finds his older brother which begins a journey toward healing for both brothers.

Bacigalupi, Paolo. Ship Breaker. Nailer is a light crew scavenger tearing up old hulks of ships, living day to day, until a rich girl and her gleaming ship run ashore in a storm on the beach and his life gets more dangerous.

Christopher, Lucy. Stolen. Gemma, 16, writes to the young man who kidnapped her and held her captive in the Australian outback, revealing the complexity of her feelings for both Ty and the land.

Dashner, James. The Maze Runner. Thomas’ memories don’t serve him well when he wakes on an elevator, only to find himself in the Glade, trapped by monsters and a maze that changes daily.

Edwardson, Debby Dahl. Blessing’s Bead. This book is a beautifully written account of life in Alaska through the eyes of an Inupiaq family. One child is given a special bead which threads the generations together.

Erskine, Kathryn. Mockingbird. Ten-year-old Caitlin has to figure out how to make the world work now that her brother Devon has died.

Fisher, Catherine. Incarceron. Trapped in the massive prison world of Incarceron, Finn searches for his true identity; outside, Claudia searches for the truth about Incarceron and its warden, her father.

Koertge, Ron. Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs. Fourteen-year-old Kevin Boland’s biggest problem isn’t the baseball playoffs: it’s what to do when he’s dating one girl but emailing poems to another.

Marchetta, Melina. Finnikin of the Rock. Finnikin and his fellow exiles from Lumatere wish to return to their cursed homeland. Finnikin must go on an epic journey with a mute novice named Evanjalin to return home.

McCaughrean, Geraldine. The Death-Defying Pepper Roux. When Pepper Roux was born his aunt had a vision from Saint Constance that the boy would die on his fourteenth birthday, but Pepper Roux has other ideas.

Myers, Walter Dean. Lockdown. With a few months remaining on his sentence in a juvenile detention facility, Reese struggles to overcome racism, prejudice and his volatile personality to cope with life on the outside.

Nelson, Jandy. The Sky is Everywhere. When Lennie's beloved big sister suddenly dies, she gets help pushing past her grief from two very different boys.

Oliver, Lauren. Before I Fall. Sam’s seemingly perfect life has ended in a terrible crash. But, it turns out she has to relive the last day of her life seven times to get it right.

Paulsen, Gary. Woods Runner. In 1776, 13-year-old Samuel returns home from hunting in the woods to find the settlement burned and most of the settlers murdered.

Peters, Julie Anne. By the Time You Read This I’ll be Dead. Determined to get her death right this time, Daelyn Rice logs onto a website for “completers” and starts the countdown of the last 23 days of her life.

Saenz, Benjamin. Last Night I Sang to the Monster. Weeks in therapy go by and 18-year-old Zach is still unable to remember the monstrous events that left him alone and haunted by nightmares.

Scott, Elizabeth. The Unwritten Rule.
Sarah missed her chance with Ryan long ago, before he started dating her best friend Brianna – or did she? Guilt about an unexpected kiss threatens her friendship with both.

Simner, Janni Lee. Thief Eyes. On a trip to Iceland to discover what happened to her mother Haley runs away and disappears. She and new friend Ari are caught in the spell of an ancient curse.

Stork, Francisco X. The Last Summer of the Death Warriors. Seventeen-year-old Pancho grapples with the mysterious death of his sister while accompanying his new friend, D.Q, on his own quest to face down death.

Summers, Courtney. Some Girls Are. Regina used to be a member of the Fearless Five but is now being frozen out by her friends and must find acceptance among the peers she used to terrorize.

Ward, Rachel. Numbers. Jem, a British girl of 15, is on the run with her erstwhile boyfriend Spider, because of complications from her "talent" of seeing the date that people will die when she looks in their eyes.

Best Books for Young Adults Nominations

In the delightful struggle that is trying to keep up with new teen books, I always keep tabs on the nominations in the Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) list, compiled by the ALA.Here are some of this year's choices that I'm anxious to read (descriptions come directly from the list :

• Anderson, Laure Halse. Wintergirls. Lia is haunted by her best friend's death from anorexia, as she struggles with the same eating disorder.
• Bray, Libba. Going Bovine. Cameron knew there was something wrong when he started seeing pillars of fire and angels, but he never imagined he had mad cow disease.
• Brooks, Laurie. Selkie Girl. Sixteen-year-old Elin Jean, ostracized because of her webbed fingers, discovers the reason for her mother's unhappiness after finding evidence of her own mysterious origins.
• Davies, Jacqueline. Lost. Essie, 16, sews all day for pennies at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to help feed her fatherless family and now to forget her little sister's death. Then the fire happens.
• George, Jessica Day. Princess of the Midnight Ball. When the decade long war ends, professional solider Galen finds work as a gardener in the king’s garden, only to help solve the puzzle involving twelve dancing princesses.
• Livingston, Leslie. Wondrous Strange. Faeries, pixies, Janus guards, and struggling actresses populate this fantasy that weaves Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream with a contemporary New York City setting.
• Meminger, Neesha. Shine, Coconut Moon. Samar (Sam) is a Sikh ostensibly Americanized, until her uncle shows up, igniting her interest in her culture and past in a post-9/11 world.
• Pike, Aprilynne. Wings. Laurel discovers she is a faerie when a beautiful flower blossoms out of her back, and she and her friend David seek to find out her place in the world.
• Rapp, Adam. Punkzilla. Jamie has run away from his family, military school, and his troubled past. He sets out via bus to visit his dying brother, writing letters along the way.
• Ryan, Carrie. The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Mary’s village is protected by a fence keeping out the Unconsecrated-who are undead craving human flesh-until a massive breach launches the teenage girl into a fight for survival.
• Simner, Janie Lee. Bones of Faerie. Liza is caught in a world where magic is deadly and her powers lead her on a quest to find her missing mother.
• Stiefvater, Maggie. Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception. Shy and ordinary Deirdre finds herself caught up in an ancient struggle in the faerie world when she meets Luke, a sexy musician with a very dark past.
• Stoffels, Karlijn. Heartsinger. Mee, the singer of sorrows, and Mitou, the merrymaker, are destined to meet and change the life of a princess. Can they change one another?
• Thompson, Kate. Creature of the Night. Juvenile delinquent Bobby resists his mother’s plan to move to the countryside, but his anger becomes fear as he learns about local history and the creatures who rule the fields.
• Whitcomb, Laura. The Fetch. Calder, a 350-year old "Fetch" that accompanies souls to heaven, breaks all his vows for a woman, wreaking havoc in the world of lost souls.

Final BBYA List: More I want to read!

The final list of the Best Books for Young Adults nominations has been released. Here are more that I'd like to read. Annotations are from the BBYA list.

Find the complete list here: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestbooksya/titlesnominated.cfm

Ain, Beth Levine. The Revolution of Sabine. Candlewick. 2008.

Sabine Duraund lives in the 1776 French era of elaborate balls, beautiful dresses and the trappings of aristocratic society but childhood friend Michel exposes her to revolutionary ideas.

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. The Boy Who Dared. Scholastic. 2008.

Told through flashbacks, this is a fictionalized biography of German teenager Helmuth Hubener, who was imprisoned and executed in 1942 for openly resisting the Nazis.

George, Madeleine. Looks. Viking. 2008.

Meghan, the invisible fat girl, and Aimee, overlooked and anorexic, form an uneasy alliance to get revenge on a mutual enemy.

Halam, Ann. Snakehead. Random House/Wendy Lamb. 2008.

Perseus and Andromeda, caught up in the dealings of a jealous group of Supernaturals—the gods of Greek myths—embark on a quest to confront the monstrous Medusa.

Harmon, Michael. The Last Exit to Normal. Alfred A. Knopf. 2008.

To get him on the right track, Ben Campbell's dad and stepdad accompany him to Montana, where he encounters small town life, homophobia, an abused boy, and a special girl.

Harris, Joanne. Runemarks. Alfred A. Knopf. 2008.

Outcast Maddy has only the mysterious One-Eye as a friend. Magic, along with the Good Folk, cease to be important but what about the runemark on her palm?

Hearn, Julie. Ivy: A Novel. Simon and Schuster. 2008.

Ivy, a child of the streets, does not understand what is about to befall her when her ethereal beauty attracts an artist’s attention.

Horvath, Polly. My One Hundred Adventures. Random House/Schwartz & Wade. 2008.

Twelve-year-old Jane is restless and wishes for adventure. Beginning with the arrival of a man her mother calls “your father”, Jane’s summer is filled with surprises and complications.

Jocelyn, Marthe. Would You. Random House/Wendy Lamb. 2008.

The two sisters have always been unusually close, but after an accident that leaves Claire in a coma, Natalie is left with just her grief and too many unanswered questions.

Kadohata, Cynthia. Outside Beauty. Simon & Schuster. 2008.

Four close sisters must go live with their four respective fathers while their beauty-obsessed mother recovers from an accident that scarred her face.

Kluger, Steve. My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park. Penguin. 2008.

Augie, Alé and Anthony make unlikely friends, but with help from each other, the three high school freshmen survive heartbreak, find first loves and discover their callings.

Lanagan, Margo. Tender Morsels. Random House/Alfred A. Knopf. 2008.

Liga has suffered unspeakable assaults and creates a magic, safe haven for herself and her two daughters, but the real world intrudes and they cope with beauty mixed with brutality.

Lecesne, James. Absolute Brightness. HarperCollins. 2008.

$17.99Flamboyant, outrageous, fourteen-year-old cousin Leonard covers his own sorrows and brings hope and new beginnings to Phoebe's troubled family until the day of his mysterious disappearance.

Levithan, David. How They Met, And Other Stories. Alfred A. Knopf. 2008.

Levithan's eighteen short stories - written during high school and college - capture the humor, bliss, disappointment and magic of falling in love.

Marillier, Juliet. Cybele's Secret. Random House/Alfred A. Knopf. 2008.

Paula travels with her merchant father to Istanbul and discovers a world filled with eunuchs, pirates, dervishes, and an entrance into the Other Kingdom.

Marr, Melissa. Ink Exchange. HarperCollins/HarperTeen. 2008.

Choosing a dramatic tattoo as a consequence of being raped, Leslie doesn’t realize she’s inked with the blood of the faery Dark Lord and will be under his power.

McNish, Cliff. Angel. Lerner/Carolrhoda Books. 2008.

A friendship develops between Freya, who was hospitalized because of her obsession with angels, and social outcast Stephanie who also has visions of angels.

Murdock, Catherine. Princess Ben: Being a Wholly Truthful Account of Her Various Discoveries and Misadventures, Recounted to the Best of Her Recollection, in Four Parts. Houghton Mifflin. 2008.

When unexpectedly orphaned, 15-year-old Benevolence must live with her cold grandmother, Queen Sophia, who demands she shed her unrefined ways and assume the role of the throne’s next heir.

Noyes, Deborah. The Ghosts of Kerfol. Candlewick. 2008.

Five short stories center around the estate of Kerfol and ghosts of previous inhabitants, including a tyrannical lord who was savaged by a pack of dogs.

Owning It: Stories about Teens with Disabilities. Edited by Don Gallo. Candlewick. 2008.
Teenagers may deal with issues that are a combination of psychological and physical disabilities. This set of stories reassures disabled teens they are not alone.

Scott, Elizabeth. Living Dead Girl. Simon and Schuster/Simon Pulse. 2008.

Abducted at the age of ten, Alice has lived as a sex partner for Ray for 5 years until he informs her that she’s "too old" for his love.

BBYA nominees I have read

Below, I wrote abut the BBYA noms that I want to read, now here are some that I have read. Again,the summaries are from YALSA.

Bray, Libba. The Sweet Far Thing. Delacorte. 2007. 978-0-385-73030-3 $17.99 Gemma Doyle returns to Spence Academy and the Realms to experience magic, suspense and vengeance in this conclusion of the Gemma Doyle Trilogy.

Bunce, Elizabeth. A Curse Dark as Gold. Scholastic. 2008. 978-0-439-89576-7 $17.99 When young Charlotte Miller takes over the family's woolen mill after her father's death, she is faced with unexpected debts, catastrophes, and a hidden curse that threatens her family's future.

Fleischman, Sid. The Entertainer and the Dybbuk. HarperCollins. 2007. 978-0-06-134445-9 $16.99 The Great Freddie, a second-rate ventriloquist, is inhabited by the spirit of a 12-year-old Jewish boy killed in the Holocaust.

Galante, Cecilia. The Patron Saint of Butterflies. Bloomsbury. 2008. 978-1-59990-249-4 $16.99 Agnes and Honey have grown up together under the “protection” of a religious commune but when physical abuse escalates, they make a bolt for freedom.

Pearson, Mary E. The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Henry Holt. 2008. 978-0-8050-7668-4 $16.95 Jenna Fox wakes from a year-long coma. As her memory begins to return, she has more questions than answers about who she was, and who she is now.

Books I'd like to read from YALSA's September BBYA list

The American Library Association's (ALA)Young Adult Services (YALSA) group puts out monthly nominations for the Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA)annual list. These are contenders for 2009 that I hope to read:

These summaries come from their list.

Benway, Robin. Audrey, Wait! Penguin/Razorbill. 2008. 978-1-59514-191-0 $16.99 Audrey's ex-boyfriend records a hit song about their breakup, and suddenly all eyes (and cameras) are on Audrey. Fans, Facebook, and tabloids - it's all too much for Audrey.

Bodeen, S.A. Compound. Feiwel and Friends. 2008. 978-0-312-37015-2 $16.95 Eli's billionaire megalomaniac father fakes the death of his family and seals them in an underground compound, believing that nuclear war is imminent.

Brothers, Meagan. Debby Harry Sings in French. Henry Holt. 2008. 978-0-8050-8080-3 $16.95 After Johnny’s dad dies in a car accident and an unintentional drug overdose lands him in the hospital, he moves in with an uncle, gets a girlfriend, and starts to explore his interest in cross-dressing.

Dole, Mayra Lazara. Down to the Bone. HarperCollins. 2008. 978-0-06-084311-3 $16.99 Laura’s life changes the day her Cuban-American community discovers she is a lesbian, but with courage and strength, she is able to find pride in her identity.

Fletcher, Christine. Ten Cents a Dance. Bloomsbury. 2008. 978-1-59990-164-0 $16.95 Ruby wants to support her family, but when her taxi dancing causes problems she could not have anticipated, it will take all of her strength to come out on top.

Gardner, Sally. The Red Necklace: A Story of the French Revolution. Penguin/Dial. 2008. 978-0-8037-3100-4 $16.99 During the French Revolution, Yann a 14-year-old magician's assistant, witnesses the death of his employer and the evil that ensues.

George, Jessica Day. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. Bloomsbury. 2008. 978-1-59990-109-1 $16.95 A woodcutter's daughter agrees to live with a great white bear after he promises her impoverished family fabulous wealth. When he disappears, she begins an arduous quest for him.

Godbersen, Anna. Luxe. HarperCollins. 2007. 978-0-06-134567-8 $17.99 Set in Manhattan in 1899, the Holland sisters and their friends reveal the secrets of upper crust society in this lush historical romance.

Green, John. Paper Towns. Penguin/Dutton. 2008. 978-0-25-47818-8 $17.99 Quentin idolizes next door neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman. When she includes him in a wild night of revenge and then disappears, Q must follow the clues to find her.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Uprising. Simon & Schuster. 2007. 978-1-4169-1171-5 $16.99 Three young women defy tradition, risk jail and struggle for equality in a world dominated by men during the 1909 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory strike. Then a horrifying fire ignites.

Halpern, Julie. Get Well Soon. Feiwel and Friends. 2007. 978-0-312-36795-4 $16.95 When Anna's parents commit her to a mental hospital, she begins to see herself more fully and discovers the first real community of friends she's ever known.

Hartnett, Sonya. Ghost’s Child. Candlewick. 2008. 978-0-7636-3964-8 $16.99 A young boy appears inside Maddy's house and she feels compelled to tell him the fantastic tale of her life.

Hooper, Mary. Newes from the Dead: Being a True Story of Anne Green, Hanged for Infanticide at Oxford Assizes in 1650, Restored to the World and Died Again 1665. Roaring Brook Press. 2008. 978-1-596433557 $16.95 Having been publicly hanged (and declared dead) for murdering her illegitimate fetus, Anne Greene awoke on the table where she was to be dissected and was restored to life.

Lockhart, E. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. Hyperion. 2008. 978-0-7868-3818-9 $16.99 Frankie Landau-Banks has a chip on her shoulder and is determined to bring down the all-male Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds of Alabaster Preparatory Academy.

Mazer, Norma Fox. The Missing Girl. HarperCollins. 2008. 978-0-06-623777-0 $16.99 The five Herbert sisters find their innocent lives exploding in emotional turmoil when one of the sisters is abducted and held captive by a truly creepy child predator.

McMann, Lisa. Wake. Simon & Schuster. 2008. 978-1-4169-5357-9 $15.99 Janie can see other people's dreams, but one night she falls into a nightmare and for the first time, Janie is not just an observer, she’s part of the horror.

Meldrum, Christina. Madapple. Random House Children's Books / Alfred A. Knopf. 2008. 978-0-375-95176-3 $16.99 After growing up in almost total isolation believing she is was immaculately conceived, 15-year-old Aslaug's world begins to crumble when her mother dies.

Mitchard, Jacquelyn. All We Know of Heaven. HarperCollins/HarperTeen. 2008. 978-0-06-134578-4 $16.99 Two look-alike friends are in an accident. One dies, but they are incorrectly identified for weeks. In recovery, Maureen deals with repercussions of the accident and the mistaken identities.

Myracle, Lauren. Bliss. Harry N. Abrams. 2008. 978-0-8109-7071-7 $16.95 Bliss has been left with her grandmother as her hippie parents escape to Canada. She is enrolled in prestigious Crestview Academy, where she is haunted by a malicious dead girl.

Na, An. The Fold. Penguin. 2008. 978-0-399-24276-2 $16.99 When Joyce is offered a type of plastic surgery many young Korean-Americans would love to have, she must decide what beauty truly means to her.

Napoli, Donna Jo. Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale. Simon Pulse. 2007. 978-0-689-86176-5 $16.99 Melkorka, a 10th century Irish princess, must adapt to a harsh new life after she is stolen from her home by Russian slavers.

Taylor, Brooke. Undone. Walker. 2008. 978-0-8027-9763-6 $16.99 Best friends Serena and Kori are inseparable, but a tragic accident reveals many troubling questions about their friendship.

Werlin, Nancy. Impossible. Penguin/Dial. 2008. 978-0-8037-3002-1 $17.99 Lucy, 17, discovers the women of her family have been cursed with madness unless they complete three impossible tasks. All have failed. Will Zach's help and her resolve save her?

Zarr, Sara. Sweethearts. Little, Brown. 2008. 978-0-316-01455-7 $16.99 High school senior Jenna has successfully remade her life, but has to confront long-suppressed memories of a traumatic childhood when her only friend from childhood, Cameron, suddenly reappears.