Award Winners 2010-2016

Transcription

Thayer Academy Middle School Independent Reading Award Winners 20102016 The pages that follow include every winner, honor book, and/or finalist for three major annual awards related to young adult fiction during the specified timespan. The books are predominantly fiction, but there are numerous nonfiction selections, as well as several graphic novels and books of poetry. This document is structured for casual browsing; there’s something for everyone, and simply looking around will help you stumble across a high quality book. National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
is an award that seeks
to recognize the best of American literature, raise the cultural appreciation of great writing, promote the enduring value of reading, and advance the careers of established and emerging writers. The Michael L. Printz Award
is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. The award is sponsored by Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association. YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction
honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 1218) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year. Beyond what’s contained in this document, there are many other lists produced by the
Young Adult Library Services Association
(YALSA) that should be of interest. These include
Best Fiction for Young Adults
,
Great Graphic Novels for Teens
,
Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
, and
Teens' Top Ten
, amongst others. YALSA is an excellent resource worth exploring. 2016 National Book Award Winner
: ● Yet to be announced! Printz Award Winner
: ● Bone Gap
by Laura Ruby (Fiction) YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner
: ● Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War
by Steve Sheinkin
(Nonfiction) National Book Award Finalists
: ● Yet to be announced! Printz Award
Honor Books
: ● The Ghosts of Heaven
by Marcus Sedgwick
(Fiction) ● Out of Darkness
by Ashley Hope Pérez
(Fiction) YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalists
: ● Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad
by M.T. Anderson (Nonfiction) ● Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir
by Margarita Engle
(Nonfiction) ● First Flight Around the World: The Adventures of the American Fliers Who Won the Race
by Tim Grove (Nonfiction) ● This Strange Wilderness: The Life and Art of John James Audubon
by Nancy Plain
(Nonfiction) 2015 National Book Award Winner
: ● Challenger Deep
by Neal Shusterman
(Fiction) Printz Award Winner
: ● I’ll Give You the Sun
by Jandy Nelson
(Fiction) YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner
: ● Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek
by Maya Van Wagenen
: ● The Thing About Jellyfish
by Ali Benjamin
(Fiction) ● Bone Gap
by Laura Ruby (Fiction) ● Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War
by Steve Sheinkin
(Nonfiction) ● Nimona
by Noelle Stevenson
(Graphic Novel) Printz Award
Honor Books
: ● And We Stay
by Jenny Hubbard
(Fiction) ● The Carnival at Bray
by Jessie Ann Foley
(Fiction) ● Grasshopper Jungle
by Andrew Smith
(Fiction) ● This One Summer
by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki
: ● Laughing at My Nightmare
by Shane Burcaw
(Nonfiction) ● The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia
by Candace Fleming
(Nonfiction) ● Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business—and Won!
by Emily Arnold McCully
(Nonfiction) ● The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights
by Steve Sheinkin
(Nonfiction) Back to Top 2016

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2010 2014 National Book Award Winner
: ● Brown Girl Dreaming
by Jacqueline Woodson
(Poetry) Printz Award Winner
: ● Midwinterblood
by Marcus Sedgwick
: ● The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World's Most Notorious Nazi
by Neal Bascomb (Nonfiction) National Book Award Finalists
: ● Threatened
by Eliot Schrefer
(Fiction) ● The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights
by Steve Sheinkin
(Nonfiction) ● Noggin
by John Corey Whaley
(Fiction) ● Revolution (Sixties Trilogy)
by Deborah Wiles
(Fiction) Printz Award
Honor Books
: ● Eleanor & Park
by Rainbow Rowell (Fiction) ● Kingdom of Little Wounds
by Susann Cokal
(Fiction) ● Maggot Moon
by Sally Gardner, illustrated by Julian Crouch
(Fiction) ● Navigating Early
by Clare Vanderpool
: ● Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design

by Chip Kidd (Nonfiction) ● Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II
by Martin W. Sandler
(Nonfiction) ● Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers
by Tanya Lee Stone
(Nonfiction) ● The President Has Been Shot! The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
by James L. Swanson
: ● The Thing About Luck
by Cynthia Kadohata
: ● In Darkness
by Nick Lake
: ● Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon
by Steve Sheinkin
: ● The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp
by Kathi Appelt
(Fiction) ● Far Far Away
by Tom McNeal
(Fiction) ● Picture Me Gone
by Meg Rosoff
(Fiction) ● Boxers & Saints
by Gene Luen Yang
(Graphic Novel) Printz Award
Honor Books
: ● Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
(Fiction) ● Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
(Fiction) ● Dodger
by Terry Pratchett
(Fiction) ● The White Bicycle

(Wild Orchid Series)
by Beverley Brenna
: ● Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different
by Karen Blumenthal (Nonfiction) Back to Top 2016

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2010 ●
●
●
Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95
by Phillip Hoose (Nonfiction) Titanic: Voices from the Disaster
by Deborah Hopkinson (Nonfiction) We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March
by Cynthia Levinson (Nonfiction) 2012 National Book Award Winner
: ● Goblin Secrets
by William Alexander (Fiction) Printz Award Winner
: ● Where Things Come Back
: ● The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery
by Steve Sheinkin (Nonfiction) National Book Award Finalists
: ● Out of Reach
by Carrie Arcos (Fiction) ● Never Fall Down
by Patricia McCormick (Fiction) ● Endangered
by Eliot Schrefer (Fiction) ● Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon
by Steve Sheinkin
(Nonfiction) Printz Award
Honor Books
: ● Why We Broke Up
by Daniel Handler
(Fiction) ● The Returning
by Christine Hinwood
(Fiction) ● Jasper Jones
by Craig Silvey
(Fiction) ● The Scorpio Races
by Maggie Stiefvater
: ● Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom and Science
by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
(Nonfiction) ● Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition
by Karen Blumenthal
(Nonfiction) ● Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) b
y Sue Macy
(Nonfiction) ● Music Was IT: Young Leonard Bernstein
by Susan Goldman Rubin
: ● Inside Out & Back Again
by Thanhha Lai
: ● Ship Breaker
by Paolo Bacigalupi
: ● Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing
by Ann Angel
: ● Chime
by Franny Billingsley
(Fiction) ● My Name Is Not Easy
by Debby Dahl Edwardson
(Fiction) ● Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy
by Albert Marrin
(Nonfiction) ● Okay for Now
by Gary D. Schmidt
Honor Books
: Back to Top 2016

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2010 ● Stolen
by Lucy Christopher
(Fiction) ● Please Ignore Vera Dietz
by A.S. King
(Fiction) ● Revolver
by Marcus Sedgwick
(Fiction) ● Nothing
by Janne Teller
: ● They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group
by Susan Campbell ● Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement
by Rick Bowers
(Nonfiction) ● The Dark Game: True Spy Stories
by Paul Janeczko
(Nonfiction) ● Every Bone Tells a Story: Hominin Discoveries, Deductions, and Debates
by Jill Rubalcaba and Peter Robertshaw (Nonfiction) 2010 National Book Award Winner
: ● Mockingbird
by
Kathryn Erskine
: ● Going Bovine
by Libba Bray
: ● Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith
by Deborah Heiligman
: ● Ship Breaker
by Paolo Bacigalupi
(Fiction) ● Dark Water
by
Laura McNeal
(Fiction) ● Lockdown
by
Walter Dean Myers
(Fiction) ● One Crazy Summer
by
Rita WilliamsGarcia
Honor Books
: ● Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith
(Nonfiction) ● The Monstrumologist (Monstrumologist Series)
by Rick Yancey
(Fiction) ● Punkzilla
by Adam Rapp
(Fiction) ● Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973
by John Barnes
: ● Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream
by Tanya Lee Stone
(Nonfiction) ● Claudette Colvin: Twice toward Justice
by Phillip Hoose
(Nonfiction) ● The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P.T. Barnum
by Candace Fleming (Nonfiction) ● Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland
by Sally M. Walker
(Nonfiction) Back to Top 2016

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2010 Bone Gap
by Laura Ruby (Fiction) ● Printz Award
Winner
, 2016 ● National Book Award Finalist, 2015 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “
Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. But Finn knows what really happened to Roza. He knows she was kidnapped by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. As we follow the stories of Finn, Roza, and the people of Bone Gap, acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a tale of the ways in which the face the world sees is never the sum of who we are.
” The Ghosts of Heaven
by Marcus Sedgwick
(Fiction) ● Printz Award Honor Book, 2016 ● Marcus Sedgwick is also the author of
Midwinterblood
, a Printz Award Winner in 2014, and
Revolver
,
a Printz Award Honor Book in 2011 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “
Timeless, beautiful, and haunting, spirals connect the four episodes of
The Ghosts of Heaven
, the mesmerizing new novel from Printz Award winner Marcus Sedgwick. They are there in prehistory, when a girl picks up a charred stick and makes the first written signs; there tens of centuries later, hiding in the treacherous waters of Golden Beck that take Anna, who people call a witch; there in the halls of a Long Island hospital at the beginning of the 20th century, where a mad poet watches the oceans and knows the horrors it hides; and there in the far future, as an astronaut faces his destiny on the first spaceship sent from earth to colonize another world. Each of the characters in these mysterious linked stories embarks on a journey of discovery and survival; carried forward through the spiral of time, none will return to the same place.
” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Out of Darkness
by Ashley Hope Pérez
(Fiction) ● Printz Award Honor Book, 2016 ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “
"This is East Texas, and there's lines. Lines you cross, lines you don't cross. That clear?" New London, Texas. 1937. Naomi Vargas and Wash Fuller know about the lines in East Texas as well as anyone. They know the signs that mark them. They know the people who enforce them. But sometimes the attraction between two people is so powerful it breaks through even the most entrenched color lines. And the consequences can be explosive. Ashley Hope Pérez takes the facts of the 1937 New London school explosion the worst school disaster in American history as a backdrop for a riveting novel about segregation, love, family, and the forces that destroy people.
” Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War
by Steve Sheinkin (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction
Winner
, 2016 ● National Book Award Finalist, 2015 ● Steve Sheinkin is
also the author of
The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights
, YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist in 2015,
Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon,

YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner in 2013, and
The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery
, YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner in 2012 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “
On June 13, 1971, the front page of the New York Times announced the existence of a 7,000page collection of documents containing a secret history of the Vietnam War. Known as The Pentagon Papers, these files had been commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Chronicling every action the government had taken in the Vietnam War, they revealed a pattern of deception spanning over twenty years and four presidencies, and forever changed the relationship between American citizens and the politicians claiming to represent their interests. The investigation that resultedas well as the attempted government coverups and vilification of the whistleblowerhas timely relevance to Edward Snowden's more recent conspiracy leaks. A provocative and political book that interrogates the meanings of patriotism, freedom, and integrity,
Most Dangerous
further establishes Steve Sheinkin as a leader in children's nonfiction.

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2010 Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad
by M.T. Anderson
(Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2016 ● M.T. Anderson is also the author of
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; v. 1: The Pox Party
, the National Book Award Winner in 2006, and
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II, The Kingdom on the Waves
, a Printz Award Honor Book in 2009, and
Feed
, a
National Book Award Finalist in 2002 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “
In September 1941, Adolf Hitler’s Wehrmacht surrounded Leningrad in what was to become one of the longest and most destructive sieges in Western history—almost three years of bombardment and starvation that culminated in the harsh winter of 1943–1944. More than a million citizens perished. Survivors recall corpses littering the frozen streets, their relatives having neither the means nor the strength to bury them. Residents burned books, furniture, and floorboards to keep warm; they ate family pets and—eventually—one another to stay alive. Trapped between the Nazi invading force and the Soviet government itself was composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who would write a symphony that roused, rallied, eulogized, and commemorated his fellow citizens—the
Leningrad
Symphony, which came to occupy a surprising place of prominence in the eventual Allied victory. This is the true story of a city under siege: the triumph of bravery and defiance in the face of terrifying odds. It is also a look at the power—and layered meaning—of music in beleaguered lives.
Symphony for the City of the Dead
is a masterwork thrillingly told and impeccably researched by National Book Award–winning author M. T. Anderson.
” Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir
by Margarita Engle
(Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2016 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “
Margarita is a girl from two worlds. Her heart lies in Cuba, her mother’s tropical island country, a place so lush with vibrant life that it seems like a fairy tale kingdom. But most of the time she lives in Los Angeles, lonely in the noisy city and dreaming of the summers when she can take a plane through the enchanted air to her beloved island. Words and images are her constant companions, friendly and comforting when the children at school are not. Then a revolution breaks out in Cuba. Margarita fears for her faraway family. When the hostility between Cuba and the United States erupts at the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Margarita’s worlds collide in the worst way possible. How can the two countries she loves hate each other so much? And will she ever get to visit her beautiful island again?

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2010 First Flight Around the World: The Adventures of the American Fliers Who Won the Race
by Tim Grove
: “
In 1924 the U.S. Army sent eight young men on a bold attempt to be the first to circumnavigate the globe by flight. Men from five other countries—Great Britain, France, Portugal, Italy, and Argentina—had the same goal. The race was on!
First Flight Around the World d
ocuments the exciting journey of four American planes—the
Chicago
,
Boston
, New Orleans
, and
Seattle
—and their crews on a race around the world. The trip held many challenges: extreme weather, tricky navigation, unfamiliar cultures, fragile planes, and few airfields. The world fliers risked their lives for the sake of national pride.Based in part on the journal of one of the crew members, First Lieutenant Leslie Arnold, along with commentary, newspaper reports, and archival images,
First Flight Around the World is a captivating tale about American ingenuity, gumption, and perseverance.
” This Strange Wilderness: The Life and Art of John James Audubon
by Nancy Plain
: “
Birds were "the objects of my greatest delight," wrote John James Audubon (1785 1851), founder of modern ornithology and one of the world s greatest bird painters. His masterpiece,
The Birds of America
depicts almost five hundred North American bird species, each image lifelike and life size rendered in vibrant color. Audubon was also an explorer, a woodsman, a hunter, an entertaining and prolific writer, and an energetic selfpromoter. Through talent and dogged determination, he rose from backwoods obscurity to international fame. In
This Strange Wilderness
, awardwinning author Nancy Plain brings together the amazing story of this American icon s career and the beautiful images that are his legacy. Before Audubon, no one had seen, drawn, or written so much about the animals of this largely uncharted young country. Aware that the wilderness and its wildlife were changing even as he watched, Audubon remained committed almost to the end of his life to search out the things which have been hidden since the creation of this wondrous world.
This Strange Wilderness
details his art and writing, transporting the reader back to the frontiers of early nineteenthcentury America.

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2010 Challenger Deep
by Neal Shusterman
(Fiction) ● National Book Award
Winner
, 2015 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “
Caden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.
Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior.
Caden Bosch is designated the ship's artist in residence to document the journey with images.
Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.
Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny. Caden Bosch is torn.
” The Thing About Jellyfish
by Ali Benjamin
(Fiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2015 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “
After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish stingthings don't just happen for no reason. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theoryeven if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door.

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2010 Nimona
by Noelle Stevenson
(Graphic Novel) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2015 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “
Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous fullcolor graphic novel has been hailed by critics and fans alike as the arrival of a “superstar” talent (NPR.org). Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are. But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.
” I’ll Give You the Sun
by Jandy Nelson
(Fiction) ● Printz Award
Winner
, 2015 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “
At first, Jude and her twin brother are NoahandJude; inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears redred lipstick, cliffdives, and does all the talking for both of them. Years later, they are barely speaking. Something has happened to change the twins in different yet equally devastating ways . . . but then Jude meets an intriguing, irresistible boy and a mysterious new mentor. The early years are Noah’s to tell; the later years are Jude’s. But they each have only half the story, and if they can only find their way back to one another, they’ll have a chance to remake their world.
” And We Stay
by Jenny Hubbard
(Fiction) ● Printz Award Honor Book, 2015 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “
Senior Paul Wagoner walks into his school with a stolen gun, threatens his girlfriend, Emily Beam, and then takes his own life. Soon after, angry and guiltridden Emily is sent to a boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts, where two quirky fellow students and the spirit of Emily Dickinson offer helping hands. But it is up to Emily Beam to heal her own damaged self, to find the good behind the bad, hope inside the despair, and springtime under the snow.

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2010 The Carnival at Bray
by Jessie Ann Foley
●
: “
It's 1993, and Generation X pulses to the beat of Kurt Cobain and the grunge movement. Sixteenyearold Maggie Lynch is uprooted from bigcity Chicago to a windswept town on the Irish Sea. Surviving on care packages of Spin magazine and Twizzlers from her rocker uncle Kevin, she wonders if she'll ever find her place in this new world. When first love and sudden death simultaneously strike, a naive but determined Maggie embarks on a forbidden pilgrimage that will take her to a seedy part of Dublin and on to a life altering night in Rome to fulfill a dying wish. Through it all, Maggie discovers an untapped inner strength to do the most difficult but rewarding thing of all, live.
” Grasshopper Jungle
by Andrew Smith
●
: “
In the small town of Ealing, Iowa, Austin and his best friend, Robby, have accidentally unleashed an unstoppable army. An army of horny, hungry, sixfoottall praying mantises that only want to do two things. This is the truth. This is history. It’s the end of the world. And nobody knows anything about it. You know what I mean. Funny, intense, complex, and brave,
Grasshopper Jungle
brilliantly weaves together everything from testicledissolving genetically modified corn to the struggles of recessionera, smalltown America in this groundbreaking comingofage stunner.

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2010 This One Summer
by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki
●
: “
Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It's their getaway, their refuge. Rosie's friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose's mom and dad won't stop fighting, and when Rose and Windy seek a distraction from the drama, they find themselves with a whole new set of problems. One of the local teens just a couple of years older than Rose and Windy is caught up in something bad... Something life threatening. It's a summer of secrets, and sorrow, and growing up, and it's a good thing Rose and Windy have each other.
This One Summer
is a tremendously exciting new teen graphic novel from two creators with true literary clout. Cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, the team behind
Skim
, have collaborated on this gorgeous, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful story about a girl on the cusp of childhood a story of renewal and revelation.
” Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek
by Maya Van Wagenen
(Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction
Winner
, 2015 ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “
Can curlers, girdles, Vaseline, and a strand of pearls help a shy girl become popular? Maya Van Wagenen is about to find out.
Stuck near the bottom of the social ladder at “pretty much the lowest level of people at school who aren’t paid to be here,” Maya has never been popular. But before starting eighth grade, she decides to begin a unique social experiment: spend the school year following a 1950s popularity guide, written by former teen model Betty Cornell. The reallife results are hilarious, painful, and filled with unexpected surprises. Told with humor and grace, Maya’s journey offers readers of all ages a thoroughly contemporary example of kindness and selfconfidence, along with a better understanding of what it means to be popular.
” Laughing at My Nightmare
by Shane Burcaw
: “
With acerbic wit and a hilarious voice, Shane Burcaw's
Laughing at My Nightmare describes the challenges he faces as a twentyoneyearold with spinal muscular atrophy. From awkward handshakes to having a girlfriend and everything in between, Shane handles his situation with humor and a "youonlyliveonce" perspective on life. While he does talk about everyday issues that are relatable to teens, he also offers an eyeopening perspective on what it is like to have a life threatening disease.

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2010 The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia
by Candace Fleming (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2015 ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “
Here is the tumultuous, heartrending, true story of the Romanovs—at once an intimate portrait of Russia's last royal family and a gripping account of its undoing. Using captivating photos and compelling first person accounts, awardwinning author Candace Fleming (
Amelia Lost
;
The Lincolns
) deftly maneuvers between the imperial family’s extravagant lives and the plight of Russia's poor masses, making this an utterly mesmerizing read.
” Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business—and Won!
by Emily Arnold McCully (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2015 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “
Born in 1857 and raised in oil country, Ida M. Tarbell was one of the first investigative journalists and probably the most influential in her time. Her series of articles on the Standard Oil Trust, a complicated business empire run by John D. Rockefeller, revealed to readers the underhanded, even illegal practices that had led to Rockefeller's success. Rejecting the term "muckraker" to describe her profession, she went on to achieve remarkable prominence for a woman of her generation as a writer and shaper of public opinion. This biography offers an engrossing portrait of a trailblazer in a man's world who left her mark on the American consciousness.

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2010 The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights
by Steve Sheinkin (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2015 ● Steve Sheinkin is
also the author of
Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War
, YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner in 2016, Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon
,
YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner in 2013, and
, YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner in 2012 ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “
On July 17, 1944, a massive explosion rocked the segregated Navy base at Port Chicago, California, killing more than 300 sailors who were at the docks, critically injuring offduty men in their bunks, and shattering windows up to a mile away. On August 9th, 244 men refused to go back to work until unsafe and unfair conditions at the docks were addressed. When the dust settled, fifty were charged with mutiny, facing decades in jail and even execution. This is a fascinating story of the prejudice that faced black men and women in America's armed forces during World War II, and a nuanced look at those who gave their lives in service of a country where they lacked the most basic rights.
” Brown Girl Dreaming
by Jacqueline Woodson
(Poetry) ● National Book Award
Winner
, 2014 ● Jacqueline Woodson is also the author of
Locomotion
, a
National Book Award Finalist in 2003, and
Hush
, a National Book Award Finalist in 2002 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.

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2010 Threatened
by Eliot Schrefer
(Fiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2014 ● Eliot Schrefer is also the author of
Endangered
●
: “
When he was a boy, Luc's mother would warn him about the "mock men" living in the trees by their home chimpanzees whose cries would fill the night. Luc is older now, his mother gone. He lives in a house of mistreated orphans, barely getting by. Then a man calling himself Prof comes to town with a mysterious mission. When Luc tries to rob him, the man isn't mad. Instead, he offers Luc a job. Together, Luc and Prof head into the rough, dangerous jungle in order to study the elusive chimpanzees. There, Luc finally finds a new family and must act when that family comes under attack.
” Noggin
●
: “
Listen—Travis Coates was alive once and then he wasn’t. Now he’s alive again. Simple as that.
The in between part is still a little fuzzy, but Travis can tell you that, at some point or another, his head got chopped off and shoved into a freezer in Denver, Colorado. Five years later, it was reattached to some other guy’s body, and well, here he is. Despite all logic, he’s still sixteen, but everything and everyone around him has changed. That includes his bedroom, his parents, his best friend, and his girlfriend. Or maybe she’s not his girlfriend anymore? That’s a bit fuzzy too. Looks like if the new Travis and the old Travis are ever going to find a way to exist together, there are going to be a few more scars. Oh well, you only live twice.

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2010 Revolution (Sixties Trilogy)
by Deborah Wiles
(Fiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2014 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “
It's 1964, and Sunny's town is being invaded. Or at least that's what the adults of Greenwood, Mississippi, are saying. All Sunny knows is that people from up north are coming to help people register to vote. They're calling it Freedom Summer. Meanwhile, Sunny can't help but feel like her house is being invaded, too. She has a new stepmother, a new brother, and a new sister crowding her life, giving her little room to breathe. And things get even trickier when Sunny and her brother are caught sneaking into the local swimming pool where they bump into a mystery boy whose life is going to become tangled up in theirs. As she did in her groundbreaking documentary novel COUNTDOWN
, awardwinning author Deborah Wiles uses stories and images to tell the riveting story of a certain time and place and of kids who, in a world where everyone is choosing sides, must figure out how to stand up for themselves and fight for what's right.
” Midwinterblood
by Marcus Sedgwick
Winner
, 2014 ● Marcus Sedgwick is also the author of
Revolver
, a Printz Award Honor Book in 2011, and The Ghosts of Heaven
,
a Printz Award Honor Book in 2016 ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “
Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined―this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice. An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside? And what might be powerful enough to break the cycle of midwinterblood? From awardwinning author Marcus Sedgwick comes a book about passion and preservation and ultimately an exploration of the bounds of love.

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2010 Eleanor & Park
by Rainbow Rowell (Fiction) ● Printz Award Honor Book, 2014 ● Recommended by one Thayer 8th grader in 2016 ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
●
Synopsis, via Common Sense Media
: “A morning bus ride changes everything for Park Sheridan. He's minding his own business until a new girl a crazily dressed redhead with a scowl gets on and has nowhere to sit. Fearing the worst for her, he angrily swears at Eleanor to sit next to him, and despite the six inches of space she leaves between them, it's the start of something really special. Park is a sensitive halfKorean guy whose parents are still in love with each other, while Eleanor is an intelligent but often ridiculed girl from a poor, broken family. But every day, Eleanor and Park's seating arrangement leads to silently reading comics together, then talking about music, and eventually sharing a deep and abiding friendship that becomes an unforgettable first love.” What Thayer students are saying: “You should read this book if you enjoy realistic fiction.” Kingdom of Little Wounds
by Susann Cokal
●
: “On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches: brocade and satin and jewels, feasts of sugar fruit and sweet spiced wine. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne’s heirs, and a courtier’s wolfish hunger for the king’s favors sets a devious plot in motion. Here in the palace at Skyggehavn, things are seldom as they seem — and when a single errant prick of a needle sets off a series of events that will alter the course of history, the fates of seamstress Ava Bingen and mute nursemaid Midi Sorte become irrevocably intertwined with that of mad Queen Isabel. As they navigate a tangled web of palace intrigue, powerlust, and deception, Ava and Midi must carve out their own survival any way they can.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Maggot Moon
by Sally Gardner, illustrated by Julian Crouch
: “What if the football hadn’t gone over the wall. On the other side of the wall there is a dark secret. And the devil. And the Moon Man. And the Motherland doesn’t want anyone to know. But Standish Treadwell — who has differentcolored eyes, who
can’t read, can’t write, Standish Treadwell isn’t bright
— sees things differently than the rest of the "traintrack thinkers." So when Standish and his only friend and neighbor, Hector, make their way to the other side of the wall, they see what the Motherland has been hiding. And it’s big...One hundred very short chapters, told in an utterly original firstperson voice, propel readers through a narrative that is by turns gripping and darkly humorous, bleak and chilling, tender and transporting.” Navigating Early
by Clare Vanderpool
●
: “When Jack Baker’s father sends him from his home in Kansas to attend a boys’ boarding school in Maine, Jack doesn’t know what to expect. Certainly not Early Auden, the strangest of boys. Early keeps to himself, reads the number pi as a story, and refuses to accept truths others take for granted. Jack, feeling lonely and out of place, connects with Early, and the two become friends. During a break from school, the boys set out for the Appalachian Trail on a quest for a great black bear. As Jack and Early travel deeper into the mountains, they meet peculiar and dangerous characters, and they make some shocking discoveries. But their adventure is only just beginning. Will Jack’s and Early’s friendship last the journey? Can the boys make it home alive?” Back to Top 2016

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2010 The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World's Most Notorious Nazi by Neal Bascomb (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction
Winner
: “A thrilling spy mission, a moving Holocaust story, and a firstclass work of narrative nonfiction. In 1945, at the end of World War II, Adolf Eichmann, the head of operations for the Nazis' Final Solution, walked into the mountains of Germany and vanished from view. Sixteen years later, an elite team of spies captured him at a bus stop in Argentina and smuggled him to Israel, resulting in one of the century's most important trials one that cemented the Holocaust in the public imagination. THE NAZI HUNTERS is the thrilling and fascinating story of what happened between these two events. Survivor Simon Wiesenthal opened Eichmann's case; a blind Argentinean and his teenage daughter provided crucial information. Finally, the Israeli spies many of whom lost family in the Holocaust embarked on their daring mission, recounted here in full. Based on the adult bestseller HUNTING EICHMANN, which is now in development as a major film, and illustrated with powerful photos throughout, THE NAZI HUNTERS is a can'tmiss work of narrative nonfiction for middlegrade and YA readers.” Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design

by Chip Kidd (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2014 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “
Kids love to express themselves, and are designers by nature―whether making posters for school, deciding what to hang in their rooms, or creating personalized notebook covers.
Go
, by the awardwinning graphic designer Chip Kidd, is a stunning introduction to the ways in which a designer communicates his or her ideas to the world. It’s written and designed just for those curious kids, not to mention their savvy parents, who want to learn the secret of how to make things dynamic and interesting.Chip Kidd is “the closest thing to a rock star” in the design world (
USA Today
), and in
Go
he explains not just the elements of design, including form, line, color, scale, typography, and more, but most important, how to use those elements in creative ways. Like putting the word “go” on a stop sign,
Go
is all about shaking things up―and kids will love its playful spirit and belief that the world looks better when you look at it differently. He writes about scale: When a picture looks good small, don’t stop there―see how it looks when it’s
really
small. Or
really big
. He explains the difference between vertical lines and horizontal lines. The effect of cropping a picture to make it beautiful―or, cropping it even more to make it mysterious and compelling. How different colors signify different moods. The art of typography, including serifs and sans serifs, kerning and leading.

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2010 Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II
by Martin W. Sandler (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2014 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “While Americans fought for freedom and democracy abroad, fear and suspicion towards Japanese Americans swept the country after Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Culling information from extensive, previously unpublished interviews and oral histories with Japanese American survivors of internment camps, Martin W. Sandler gives an indepth account of their lives before, during their imprisonment, and after their release. Bringing readers inside life in the internment camps and explaining how a country that is built on the ideals of freedom for all could have such a dark mark on its history, this indepth look at a troubling period of American history sheds light on the prejudices in today's world and provides the historical context we need to prevent similar abuses of power.” Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers
by Tanya Lee Stone
(Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2014 ● Tanya Lee Stone is also the author of
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream
, YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist in 2010 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “World War II is raging, and thousands of American soldiers are fighting overseas against the injustices brought on by Hitler. Back on the home front, discrimination against African Americans plays out as much on Main Street as in the military. Tanya Lee Stone examines the littleknown history of the Triple Nickles, America’s first black paratroopers, who fought in an attack on the American West by the Japanese. The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, in the words of First Sergeant Walter Morris, "proved that the color of a man had nothing to do with his ability."” The President Has Been Shot! The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
by James L. Swanson (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2014 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “In his new youngadult book on the Kennedy assassination, James Swanson will transport readers back to one of the most shocking, sad, and terrifying events in American history. As he did in his bestselling Scholastic YA book, CHASING LINCOLN'S KILLER, Swanson will deploy his signature "you are there" style a riveting, tickingclock pace, with an unprecedented eye for dramatic details and impeccable historical accuracy to tell the story of the JFK assassination as it has never been told before.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 The Thing About Luck
by Cynthia Kadohata
Winner
●
: “Summer knows that
kouun
means "good luck" in Japanese, and this year her family has none of it. Just when she thinks nothing else can possibly go wrong, an emergency whisks her parents away to Japanright before harvest season. Summer and her little brother are left in the care of their grandparents Obaachan and Jiichan who come out of retirement in order to harvest wheat and help pay the bills. The thing about Obaachan and Jiichan is that they are oldfashioned and demanding, and between helping Obaachan cook for the workers, covering for her when her back pain worsens, and worrying about her lonely little brother, Summer just barely has time to notice the attentions of their boss's cute son. But notice she does, and what begins as a welcome distraction from the hard work soon turns into a mess of its own. Having thoroughly disappointed her grandmother, Summer figures the bad luck
must
be finishedbut then it gets worse. And when that happens, Summer has to figure out how to change it herself, even if it means further displeasing Obaachan. Because it might be the only way to save her family.” The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp
by Kathi Appelt
(Fiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2013 ● Kathi Appelt is also the author of
The Underneath
●
: “Raccoon brothers Bingo and J’miah are the newest recruits of the Official Sugar Man Swamp Scouts. The opportunity to serve the Sugar Man—the massive creature who delights in delicious sugar cane and magnanimously rules over the swamp—is an honor, and also a big responsibility, since the rest of the swamp critters rely heavily on the intel of these hardworking Scouts. Twelveyearold Chap Brayburn is not a member of any such organization. But he loves the swamp something fierce, and he’ll do anything to help protect it. And help is surely needed, because worldclass alligator wrestler Jaeger Stitch wants to turn Sugar Man swamp into an Alligator World Wrestling Arena and Theme Park, and the troubles don’t end there. There is also a gang of wild feral hogs on the march, headed straight toward them all. The Scouts are ready. All they have to do is wake up the Sugar Man. Problem is, no one’s been able to wake that fellow up in a decade or four…” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Far Far Away
by Tom McNeal
●
: “Jeremy Johnson Johnson hears voices. Or, specifically, one voice: the ghost of Jacob Grimm, one half of The Brothers Grimm. Jacob watches over Jeremy, protecting him from an unknown dark evil whispered about in the space between this world and the next. But Jacob can't protect Jeremy from everything. When coltish, copperhaired Ginger Boultinghouse takes a bite of a cake so delicious it’s rumored to be bewitched, she falls in love with the first person she sees: Jeremy. In any other place, this would be a turn for the better for Jeremy, but not in Never Better, where the Finder of Occasions—whose identity and evil intentions nobody knows—is watching and waiting, waiting and watching. . . And as anyone familiar with the Brothers Grimm know, not all fairy tales have happy endings.” Picture Me Gone
by Meg Rosoff
(Fiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2013 ● Meg Rosoff is also the author of
How I Live Now
, the
Printz Award Winner in 2005 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “Mila has an exceptional talent for reading a room—sensing hidden facts and unspoken emotions from clues that others overlook. So when her father’s best friend, Matthew, goes missing from his upstate New York home, Mila and her beloved father travel from London to find him. She collects information about Matthew from his belongings, from his wife and baby, from the dog he left behind and from the ghosts of his past—slowly piecing together the story everyone else has missed. But just when she’s closest to solving the mystery, a shocking betrayal calls into question her trust in the one person she thought she could read best.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Boxers & Saints
by Gene Luen Yang
(Graphic Novel) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2013 ● Gene Luen Yang is also the author of
American Born Chinese
, the Printz Award Winner in 2007 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “In two volumes,
Boxers & Saints
tells two parallel stories. The first is of Little Bao, a Chinese peasant boy whose village is abused and plundered by Westerners claiming the role of missionaries. Little Bao, inspired by visions of the Chinese gods, joins a violent uprising against the Western interlopers. Against all odds, their grassroots rebellion is successful. But in the second volume, Yang lays out the opposite side of the conflict. A girl whose village has no place for her is taken in by Christian missionaries and finds, for the first time, a home with them. As the Boxer Rebellion gains momentum, Vibiana must decide whether to abandon her Christian friends or to commit herself fully to Christianity.
Boxers & Saints
is one of the most ambitious graphic novels First Second has ever published. It offers a penetrating insight into not only one of the most controversial episodes of modern Chinese history, but into the very core of our human nature. Gene Luen Yang is rightly called a master of the comics form, and this book will cement that reputation.” In Darkness
by Nick Lake
Winner
●
: “This is the story of "Shorty"a 15yearold boy trapped in a collapsed hospital during the earthquake in Haiti. Surrounded by the bodies of the dead, increasingly weak from lack of food and water, Shorty begins to hallucinate. As he waits in darkness for a rescue that may never come, a mystical bridge seems to emerge between him and Haitian leader Toussaint L'Ouverture, uniting the two in their darkest sufferingand their hope. A modern teen and a black slave, separated by hundreds of years. Yet in some strange way, the boy in the ruins of Port au Prince and the man who led the struggle for Haiti's independence might well be one and the same . . .” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
●
: “Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a knowitall who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.” Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
●
: “Oct. 11th, 1943A British spy plane crashes in Nazioccupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun. When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?” Dodger
by Terry Pratchett
●
: “Seventeenyearold Dodger is content as a sewer scavenger. But he enters a new world when he rescues a young girl from a beating, and her fate impacts some of the most powerful people in England. From Dodger's encounter with the mad barber Sweeney Todd, to his meetings with the great writer Charles Dickens and the calculating politician Benjamin Disraeli, history and fantasy intertwine in a breathtaking account of adventure and mystery.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 The White Bicycle

(
Wild Orchid Series
) b
y Beverley Brenna
: “
The White Bicycle
is the third title in the
Wild Orchid
trilogy following the adventures of Taylor Jane, a young woman with Asperger's Syndrome. In
The White Bicycle
, Taylor travels to the south of France with her mother and her friends. She is going to be working for the summer babysitting for the Phoenix family. While on this journey Taylor will embark on another quest for independence both personal and universal as she casts her mind back to her earliest memories.” Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon
by Steve Sheinkin (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction
Winner
, 2013 ● National Book Award Finalist, 2012 ● Steve Sheinkin is
also the author of
, YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner in 2016,
, YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist in 2015, and
, YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner in 2012 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “In December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a Uranium atom split in two. That simple discovery launched a scientific race that spanned 3 continents. In Great Britain and the United States, Soviet spies worked their way into the scientific community; in Norway, a commando force slipped behind enemy lines to attack German heavywater manufacturing; and deep in the desert, one brilliant group of scientists was hidden away at a remote site at Los Alamos. This is the story of the plotting, the risktaking, the deceit, and genius that created the world's most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic bomb.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different
by Karen Blumenthal (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2013 ● Karen Blumenthal is also the author of
Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition
, YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction

Finalist in 2012 ● An 8th Grade Recommendation in 2016 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon
: “From the start, his path was never predictable. Steve Jobs was given up for adoption at birth, dropped out of college after one semester, and at the age of twenty, created Apple in his parents' garage with his friend Steve Wozniack. Then came the core and hallmark of his geniushis exacting moderation for perfection, his counterculture life approach, and his level of taste and style that pushed all boundaries. A devoted husband, father, and Buddhist, he battled cancer for over a decade, became the ultimate CEO, and made the world want every product he touched. Critically acclaimed author Karen Blumenthal takes us to the core of this complicated and legendary man while simultaneously exploring the evolution of computers. Framed by Jobs' inspirational Stanford commencement speech and illustrated throughout with black and white photos, this is the story of the man who changed our world.” ● What Thayer students are saying: “You should read this book if you like to learn about interesting people.” Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95
by Phillip Hoose (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2013 ● Phillip Hoose is also the author of
Claudette Colvin: Twice toward Justice
, the National Book Award Winner in 2009, and
We Were There Too! Young People in U.S. History
, a
National Book Award Finalist in 2001 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon
: “B95 is a robinsized shorebird, a red knot of the subspecies
rufa.
Each February he joins a flock that lifts off from Tierra del Fuego, headed for breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic, nine thousand miles away. Late in the summer, he begins the return journey. B95 can fly for days without eating or sleeping, but eventually he must descend to refuel and rest. However, recent changes at ancient refueling stations along his migratory circuit―changes caused mostly by human activity―have reduced the food available and made it harder for the birds to reach. And so, since 1995, when B95 was first captured and banded, the worldwide
rufa
population has collapsed by nearly 80 percent. Most perish somewhere along the great hemispheric circuit, but the Moonbird wings on. He has been seen as recently as November 2011, which makes him nearly twenty years old. Shaking their heads, scientists ask themselves: How can this one bird make it year after year when so many others fall?” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Titanic: Voices from the Disaster
by Deborah Hopkinson (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2013 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon
: “In this awardwinning book, critically acclaimed author Deborah Hopkinson weaves together the voices and stories of real TITANIC survivors and witnesses to the disaster from the stewardess Violet Jessop to Captain Arthur Rostron of the CARPATHIA, who came to the rescue of the sinking ship. Packed with heartstopping action, devastating drama, fascinating historical details, loads of archival photographs on almost every page, quotes from primary sources, and painstaking back matter, this gripping story, which follows the TITANIC and its passengers from the ship's celebrated launch at Belfast to her cataclysmic icy end, is sure to thrill and move readers.” We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March b
y Cynthia Levinson (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2013 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon
: “We've Got a Job tells the littleknown story of the 4,000 black elementary, middle, and high school students who voluntarily went to jail in Birmingham, Alabama, between May 2 and May 11, 1963. Fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi's and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s precept to fill the jails, they succeeded where adults had failed in desegregating one of the most racially violent cities in America. Focusing on four of the original participants who have participated in extensive interviews, We've Got a Job recounts the astonishing events before, during, and after the Children's March.” Goblin Secrets
by William Alexander (Fiction) ● National Book Award
Winner
●
Synopsis, via Amazon
: “In the town of Zombay, there is a witch named Graba who has clockwork chicken legs and moves her house around—much like the fairy tale figure of Baba Yaga. Graba takes in stray children, and Rownie is the youngest boy in her household. Rownie’s only real relative is his older brother Rowan, who is an actor. But acting is outlawed in Zombay, and Rowan has disappeared. Desperate to find him, Rownie joins up with a troupe of goblins who skirt the law to put on plays. But their plays are not only for entertainment, and the masks they use are for more than makebelieve. The goblins also want to find Rowan—because Rowan might be the only person who can save the town from being flooded by a mighty river.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Out of Reach
by Carrie Arcos (Fiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2012 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon
: “Rachel has always idolized her older brother Micah. He struggles with addiction, but she tells herself that he’s in control. And she almost believes it. Until the night that Micah doesn’t come home. Rachel’s terrified—and she can’t help but feel responsible. She should have listened when Micah tried to confide in her. And she only feels more guilt when she receives an anonymous note telling her that Micah is nearby and in danger. With nothing more to go on than hope and a slim lead, Rachel and Micah’s best friend, Tyler, begin the search. Along the way, Rachel will be forced to confront her own dark secrets, her growing attraction to Tyler…and the possibility that Micah may never come home.” Never Fall Down
by Patricia McCormick (Fiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2012 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
Synopsis, via Amazon
: “Based on the true story of Cambodian advocate Arn ChornPond, and authentically told from his point of view as a young boy, this is an achingly raw and powerful historical novel about a child of war who becomes a man of peace. It includes an author's note and acknowledgments from Arn ChornPond himself.When soldiers arrive in his hometown, Arn is just a normal little boy. But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, his life is changed forever.Arn is separated from his family and assigned to a labor camp: working in the rice paddies under a blazing sun, he sees the other children dying before his eyes. One day, the soldiers ask if any of the kids can play an instrument. Arn's never played a note in his life, but he volunteers.This decision will save his life, but it will pull him into the very center of what we know today as the Killing Fields. And just as the country is about to be liberated, Arn is handed a gun and forced to become a soldier.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Endangered
by Eliot Schrefer (Fiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2012 ● Eliot Schrefer is also the author of
Threatened
, a National Book Award Finalist in 2014 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon
: “Congo is a dangerous place, even for people who are trying to do good. When Sophie has to visit her mother at her sanctuary for bonobos, she’s not thrilled to be there. Then Otto, an infant bonobo, comes into her life, and for the first time she feels responsible for another creature. But peace does not last long for Sophie and Otto. When an armed revolution breaks out in the country, the sanctuary is attacked, and the two of them must escape unprepared into the jungle. Caught in the crosshairs of a lethal conflict, they must struggle to keep safe, to eat, and to live.” Where Things Come Back
Winner
: “In the remarkable, bizarre, and heartwrenching summer before Cullen Witter’s senior year of high school, he is forced to examine everything he thinks he understands about his small and painfully dull Arkansas town. His cousin overdoses; his town becomes absurdly obsessed with the alleged reappearance of an extinct woodpecker; and most troubling of all, his sensitive, gifted fifteenyearold brother, Gabriel, suddenly and inexplicably disappears. Meanwhile, the crisis of faith spawned by a young missionary’s disillusion in Africa prompts a frantic search for meaning that has farreaching consequences. As distant as the two stories initially seem, they are woven together through masterful plotting and merge in a surprising and harrowing climax. This extraordinary tale from a rare literary voice finds wonder in the ordinary and illuminates the hope of second chances.” Why We Broke Up
by Daniel Handler
●
: “Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 The Returning
by Christine Hinwood

: “
Cam Attling, having lost an arm, is the only one from his town of Kayforl to return after twelve years of war. All his fellow soldiers were slain, and suspicion surrounds him. When his betrothal to Graceful Fenister is called off and his role in the community questioned, Cam leaves to find the lord who maimed him but spared his life, seeking answers and a new place in the world. But this is not just Cam's story, it's about all those whose fates entwine with his. Set in a medieval world that is entirely the author's creation, this is an ingenious, exquisite story about what happens after the battle. When sisters, sons, friends, parents, and lovers are left to deal with the subtle aftermaths and unimagined repercussions of war.
” Jasper Jones
by Craig Silvey
: “Charlie Bucktin, a bookish thirteen year old, is startled one summer night by an urgent knock on his bedroom window. His visitor is Jasper Jones, an outcast in their small mining town, and he has come to ask for Charlie's help. Terribly afraid but desperate to impress, Charlie follows him into the night. Jasper takes him to his secret glade, where Charlie witnesses Jasper's horrible discovery. With his secret like a brick in his belly, Charlie is pushed and pulled by a town closing in on itself in fear and suspicion. He locks horns with his tempestuous mother, falls nervously in love, and battles to keep a lid on his zealous best friend. In the simmering summer where everything changes, Charlie learns why the truth of things is so hard to know, and even harder to hold in his heart.” The Scorpio Races
by Maggie Stiefvater
●
: “Some race to win. Others race to survive. It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die. At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn't given her much of a choice. So she enters the competition the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen. As she did in her bestselling Shiver trilogy, author Maggie Stiefvater takes us to the breaking point, where both love and life meet their greatest obstacles, and only the strong of heart can survive. The Scorpio Races is an unforgettable reading experience.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery
by Steve Sheinkin

Winner
, 2012 ● Steve Sheinkin is
also the author of
, YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner in 2016,
Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

Winner in 2013 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “Most people know that Benedict Arnold was America's first, most notorious traitor. Few know that he was also one of its greatest Revolutionary War heroes. Steve Sheinkin's accessible biography,
The Notorious Benedict Arnold
, introduces young readers to the real Arnold: reckless, heroic, and driven. Packed with firstperson accounts, astonishing American Revolution battle scenes, and surprising twists, this is a gripping and true adventure tale from history.” Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom and Science
by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos

Finalist, 2012 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “When this awardwinning husbandandwife team discovered that they each had sugar in their family history, they were inspired to trace the globespanning story of the sweet substance and to seek out the voices of those who led bitter sugar lives. The trail ran like a bright band from religious ceremonies in India to Europe’s Middle Ages, then on to Columbus, who brought the first cane cuttings to the Americas. Sugar was the substance that drove the bloody slave trade and caused the loss of countless lives but it also planted the seeds of revolution that led to freedom in the American colonies, Haiti, and France. With songs, oral histories, maps, and over 80 archival illustrations, here is the story of how one product allows us to see the grand currents of world history in new ways.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition
by Karen Blumenthal (Nonfiction) ● YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction

Finalist, 2012 ● Karen Blumenthal is also the author of
Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different

Finalist in 2013 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “It began with the best of intentions. Worried about the effects of alcohol on American families, mothers and civic leaders started a movement to outlaw drinking in public places. Over time, their protests, petitions, and activism paid off―when a Constitutional Amendment banning the sale and consumption of alcohol was ratified, it was hailed as the end of public drunkenness, alcoholism, and a host of other social ills related to booze. Instead, it began a decade of lawlessness, when children smuggled (and drank) illegal alcohol, the most upright citizens casually broke the law, and a host of notorious gangsters entered the public eye. Filled with period art and photographs, anecdotes, and portraits of unique characters from the era, this fascinating book looks at the rise and fall of the disastrous social experiment known as Prohibition.” Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)
by Sue Macy

: “Take a lively look at women's history from aboard a bicycle, which granted females the freedom of mobility and helped empower women's liberation. Through vintage photographs, advertisements, cartoons, and songs,
Wheels of Change
transports young readers to bygone eras to see how women used the bicycle to improve their lives. Witty in tone and scrapbooklike in presentation, the book deftly covers early (and comical) objections, influence on fashion, and impact on social change inspired by the bicycle, which, according to Susan B. Anthony, "has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world."” Music Was IT: Young Leonard Bernstein
by Susan Goldman Rubin

: “Beginning with Lenny’s childhood in Boston and ending with his triumphant conducting debut at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic when he was just twentyfive, Music Was IT draws readers into the energetic, passionate, challenging, musicfilled life of young Leonard Bernstein. Archival photographs, mostly from the Leonard Bernstein Collection at the Library of Congress, illustrate this fascinating biography, which also includes a foreword by Bernstein’s daughter Jamie. Extensive back matter includes biographies of important people in Bernstein’s life, as well as a discography of his music.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Inside Out & Back Again
by Thanhha Lai
Winner
●
: “Inspired by the author's childhood experience of fleeing Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and immigrating to Alabama, this comingofage debut novel told in verse has been celebrated for its touching child'seye view of family and immigration. Hà has only ever known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, and the warmth of her friends close by. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope—toward America.This moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing received four starred reviews, including one from
Kirkus
which proclaimed it "enlightening, poignant, and unexpectedly funny."” Chime
by Franny Billingsley
●
: “Briony has a secret. It is a secret that killed her stepmother, ruined her sister's mind, and will end her life, if anyone were to know. She has powers. Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and a great mane of tawny hair. He is as natural as the sun, and he treats her as if she is extraordinary. And everything starts to change . . .
Chime
is a haunting, brilliantly written novel that will stay with youits magic, its romance, its world like none other.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 My Name Is Not Easy
by Debby Dahl Edwardson
●
: “My name is not easy. My name is hard like ocean ice grinding the shore...Luke knows his Iñupiaq name is full of sounds white people can’t say. So he leaves it behind when he and his brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles away from their Arctic village. At Sacred Heart School, students—Eskimo, Indian, White—line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there’s some kind of war going on. Here, speaking Iñupiaq—or any native language—is forbidden. And Father Mullen, whose fury is like a force of nature, is ready to slap down those who disobey. Luke struggles to survive at Sacred Heart. But he’s not the only one. There’s smartaleck Amiq, a daring leader— if he doesn’t selfdestruct; Chickie, blond and freckled, a different kind of outsider; and small, quiet Junior, noticing everything and writing it all down. They each have their own story to tell. But once their separate stories come together, things at Sacred Heart School—and the wider world—will never be the same.” Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy
by Albert Marrin (Nonfiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2011 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City burst into flames. The factory was crowded. The doors were locked to ensure workers stay inside. One hundred fortysix people—mostly women—perished; it was one of the most lethal workplace fires in American history until September 11, 2001. But the story of the fire is not the story of one accidental moment in time. It is a story of immigration and hard work to make it in a new country, as Italians and Jews and others traveled to America to find a better life. It is the story of poor working conditions and greedy bosses, as garment workers discovered the endless sacrifices required to make ends meet. It is the story of unimaginable, but avoidable, disaster. And it the story of the unquenchable pride and activism of fearless immigrants and women who stood up to business, got America on their side, and finally changed working conditions for our entire nation, initiating radical new laws we take for granted today.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Okay for Now
by Gary D. Schmidt
(Fiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2011 ● Gary D. Schmidt is also the author of
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
, a
Printz Award Honor Book in 2005 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “In this companion novel to
The Wednesday Wars
, Doug struggles to be more than the "skinny thug" that some people think him to be. He finds an unlikely ally in Lil Spicer, who gives him the strength to endure an abusive father, the suspicions of a town, and the return of his oldest brother, forever scarred, from Vietnam. Schmidt expertly weaves multiple themes of loss and recovery in a story teeming with distinctive, unusual characters and invaluable lessons about love, creativity, and survival.” Ship Breaker
by Paolo Bacigalupi
Winner
, 2011 ● National Book Award Finalist, 2010 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Paolo Bacigalupi
’s speech from the 2011 Printz Award Program and Reception ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “In America's Gulf Coast region, grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts by crews of young people. Nailer, a teenage boy, works the light crew, scavenging for copper wiring just to make quotaand hopefully live to see another day. But when, by luck or by chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, Nailer faces the most important decision of his life: Strip the ship for all it's worth or rescue its lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl who could lead him to a better life....In this powerful novel, Paolo Bacigalupi delivers a thrilling, fastpaced adventure set in a vivid and raw, uncertain future.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Stolen
by Lucy Christopher
(Fiction) ● Printz Award Honor Book, 2011 ● Lucy Christopher
’s speech from the 2011 Printz Award Program and Reception ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “A girl: Gemma, 16, at the airport, on her way to a family vacation. A guy: Ty, rugged, tan, too old, oddly familiar, eyes blue as ice. She steps away. For just a second. He pays for her drink. And drugs it. They talk. Their hands touch. And before Gemma knows what's happening, Ty takes her. Steals her away. To sand and heat. To emptiness and isolation. To nowhere. And expects her to love him. Written as a letter from a victim to her captor, STOLEN is Gemma's desperate story of survival; of how she has to come to terms with her living nightmareor die trying to fight it.” Please Ignore Vera Dietz
by A.S. King
(Fiction) ● Printz Award Honor Book, 2011 ● A. S. King
: “Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything. So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?” Revolver
by Marcus Sedgwick
(Fiction) ● Printz Award Honor Book, 2011 ● Marcus Sedgwick is also the author of
Midwinterblood
, a Printz Award Winner in 2014, and
The Ghosts of Heaven
,
a Printz Award Honor Book in 2016 ● Marcus Sedgwick
: “A LOADED GUN. STOLEN GOLD. And a menacing stranger. A taut frontier survivor story, set at the time of the Alaska gold rush. In an isolated cabin, fourteenyearold Sig is alone with a corpse: his father, who has fallen through the ice and frozen to death only hours earlier. Then comes a stranger claiming that Sig's father owes him a share of a horde of stolen gold. Sig's only protection is a loaded Colt revolver hidden in the cabin's storeroom. The question is, will Sig use the gun, and why?” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Nothing
by Janne Teller
: ““Nothing matters.” “From the moment you are born, you start to die.” “The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. You’ll live to be a maximum of one hundred. Life isn’t worth the bother!” So says Pierre Anthon when he decides there is no meaning to life, leaves his seventhgrade classroom, climbs a plum tree, and stays there. His friends and classmates cannot get him to come down, not even by pelting him with rocks. So to prove to him that there is a meaning to life, they set out to give up things of importance, challenging one another to make increasingly serious sacrifices. The pile is started with a lifetime’s collection of Dungeons & Dragons books, a fishing rod, a pair of green sandals, a pet hamster—but then, as each demand becomes more extreme, events take a morbid twist. And what if, after all these sacrifices, the pile is still not meaningful enough to bring Pierre Anthon down?” Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing
by Ann Angel
Winner
●
: “Forty years after her death, Janis Joplin remains among the most compelling and influential figures in rockandroll history. Her story—told here with depth and sensitivity by author Ann Angel—is one of a girl who struggled against rules and limitations, yet worked diligently to improve as a singer. It’s the story of an outrageous rebel who wanted to be loved, and of a wild woman who wrote long, loving letters to her mom. And finally, it’s the story of one of the most iconic female musicians in American history, who died at twentyseven. Janis Joplin includes more than sixty photographs, and an assortment of anecdotes from Janis’s friends and band mates. This thoroughly researched and wellillustrated biography is a musthave for all young artists, music lovers, and popculture enthusiasts.” They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group
by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
: “
Boys, let us get up a club.
With those words, six restless young men raided the linens at a friend’s mansion, pulled pillowcases over their heads, hopped on horses, and cavorted through the streets of Pulaski, Tennessee in 1866. The six friends named their club the Ku Klux Klan, and, all too quickly, their club grew into the selfproclaimed Invisible Empire with secret dens spread across the South.This is the story of how a secret terrorist group took root in America’s democracy. Filled with chilling and vivid personal accounts unearthed from oral histories, congressional Back to Top 2016

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2010 documents, and diaries, this account from Newbery Honorwinning author Susan Campbell Bartoletti is a book to read and remember.” Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement
by Rick Bowers
: “
The Spies of Mississippi
is a compelling story of how state spies tried to block voting rights for African Americans during the Civil Rights era. This book sheds new light on one of the most momentous periods in American history. Author Rick Bowers has combed through primarysource materials and interviewed surviving activists named in oncesecret files, as well as the writings and oral histories of Mississippi civil rights leaders. Readers get firsthand accounts of how neighbors spied on neighbors, teachers spied on students, ministers spied on churchgoers, and spies even spied on spies.
The Spies of Mississippi
will inspire readers with the stories of the brave citizens who overcame the forces of white supremacy to usher in a new era of hope and freedom—an age that has recently culminated in the election of Barack Obama.” The Dark Game: True Spy Stories
by Paul Janeczko
: “Ever since George Washington used them to help topple the British, spies and their networks have helped and hurt America at key moments in history. In this fascinating collection, Paul B. Janeczko probes such stories as that of Elizabeth Van Lew, an aristocrat whose hatred of slavery drove her to be one of the most successful spies in the Civil War; the "Choctaw code talkers," Native Americans who were instrumental in sending secret messages during World War I; the staggering engineering behind a Cold War tunnel into East Berlin to tap Soviet phones (only to be compromised by a Soviet mole); and many more famous and lessknown examples. Colorful personalities, daring missions, the feats of the loyal, and the damage of traitors are interspersed with a look at the technological advances that continue to change the rules of gathering intelligence.” Every Bone Tells a Story: Hominin Discoveries, Deductions, and Debates
by Jill Rubalcaba and Peter Robertshaw
: “Jill Rubalcaba and Peter Robertshaw recount the unearthing of four homininsTurkana Boy, Lapedo Child, Kennewick Man, and Iceman. Each discovery leads not only to deductions that scientists made in laboratories, but also to controversial debates over the scientists' differences of opinion over how, or even if, the pieces fit together. Learn how Back to Top 2016

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2010 specialized the field of archaeology has become and how new technology can change both scientists' theories and the way we view the past.” Mockingbird
by
Kathryn Erskine
Winner
, 2010 ● A 6th Grade Recommendation in 2016 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
●
: “Caitlin has Asperger's. The world according to her is black and white; anything in between is confusing. Before, when things got confusing, Caitlin went to her older brother, Devon, for help. But Devon was killed in a school shooting, and Caitlin's dad is so distraught that he is just not helpful. Caitlin wants everything to go back to the way things were, but she doesn't know how to do that. Then she comes across the word closureand she realizes this is what she needs. And in her search for it, Caitlin discovers that the world may not be so black and white after all.” What Thayer students are saying: “You should read this book if you enjoyed
Wonder
.” Dark Water
by
Laura McNeal
(Fiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2010 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “Fifteenyearold Pearl DeWitt lives in Fallbrook, California, where it's sunny 340 days of the year, and where her uncle owns a grove of 900 avocado trees. Uncle Hoyt hires migrant workers regularly, but Pearl doesn't pay much attention to them...until Amiel. From the moment she sees him, Pearl is drawn to this boy who keeps to himself, fears being caught by
la migra
, and is mysteriously unable to talk. Then the wildfires strike.” Lockdown
by
Walter Dean Myers
(Fiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2010 ● Walter Dean Myers is also the author of
Autobiography of My Dead Brother
, a National Book Award Finalist in 2005, and
Monster
, the
Printz Award Winner in 2000 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “Walter Dean Myers enjoys speaking with kids in schools and juvenile detention facilities about writing and making positive decisions. He says, "I have enormous faith in young people."What's it like in juvie jail? Enter the world of fourteenyearold Reese, who's locked up at Progress juvenile detention facility. Can he get a second chance?” Back to Top 2016

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2010 One Crazy Summer
by
Rita WilliamsGarcia
(Fiction) ● National Book Award Finalist, 2010 ● Rita WilliamsGarcia is also the author of
Jumped
●
: “Elevenyearold Delphine is like a mother to her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. She's had to be, ever since their mother, Cecile, left them seven years ago for a radical new life in California. When they arrive from Brooklyn to spend the summer with her, Cecile is nothing like they imagined. While the girls hope to go to Disneyland and meet Tinker Bell, their mother sends them to a day camp run by the Black Panthers. Unexpectedly, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern learn much about their family, their country, and themselves during one truly crazy summer.” Going Bovine
by Libba Bray
Winner
●
: “All 16yearold Cameron wants is to get through high school—and life in general—with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s sick and he’s going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure—if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of a deathobsessed, videogaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith
(Nonfiction) ● YALSA’s
Award for Excellence in Nonfiction
Winner
, 2010 ● National Book Award Finalist, 2009 ● Printz Award Honor Book, 2010 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “Charles Darwin published
The Origin of Species
, his revolutionary tract on evolution and the fundamental ideas involved, in 1859. Nearly 150 years later, the theory of evolution continues to create tension between the scientific and religious communities. Challenges about teaching the theory of evolution in schools occur annually all over the country. This same debate raged within Darwin himself, and played an important part in his marriage: his wife, Emma, was quite religious, and her faith gave Charles a lot to think about as he worked on a theory that continues to spark intense debates. Deborah Heiligman's new biography of Charles Darwin is a thoughtprovoking account of the man behind evolutionary theory: how his personal life affected his work and vice versa. The end result is an engaging exploration of history, science, and religion for young readers.” The Monstrumologist (
Monstrumologist Series
)
by Rick Yancey
●
: “
These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for nearly ninety years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me . . . and the one who cursed me.
So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphan and assistant to a doctor with a most unusual specialty: monster hunting. In the short time he has lived with the doctor, Will has grown accustomed to his late night callers and dangerous business. But when one visitor comes with the body of a young girl and the monster that was eating her, Will's world is about to change forever. The doctor has discovered a baby Anthropophagusa headless monster that feeds through a mouth in its chestand it signals a growing number of Anthropophagi. Now, Will and the doctor must face the horror threatening to overtake and consume our world before it is too late.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Punkzilla
by Adam Rapp
●
: “For a runaway boy who goes by the name "Punkzilla," kicking a meth habit and a life of petty crime in Portland, Oregon, is a prelude to a mission: reconnecting with his older brother, a gay man dying of cancer in Memphis. Against a backdrop of seedy motels, dicey bus stations, and hitched rides, the desperate fourteenyearold meets a colorful, sometimes dangerous cast of characters. And in letters to his sibling, he catalogs them all — from an abusive stranger and a ghostly girl to a kind transsexual and an old woman with an oozing eye. The language is raw and revealing, crackling with visceral details and dark humor, yet with each interstate exit Punkzilla’s journey grows more urgent: will he make it to Tennessee in time? This daring novel offers a narrative worthy of Kerouac and a keen insight into the power of chance encounters.” Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973
by John Barnes
●
: “September 1973: The beginning of Karl Shoemaker's senior year in stifling Lightsburg, Ohio. For years, Karl's been part of "the Madman Underground" kids forced to attend group therapy during school. Karl has decided that he is going to get out of the Madman Underground for good. He is going to actand beNormal. But Normal, of course, is relative. Karl has two afterschool jobs, one dead father, one seriously unhinged drunk mother . . . and a huge attitude. Welcome to a gritty, uncensored rollercoaster ride, narrated by the singular Karl Shoemaker.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream
by Tanya Lee Stone
(Nonfiction) ● YALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2010 ● Tanya Lee Stone is also the author of
Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers
, YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist in 2014 ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “What does it take to be an astronaut? Excellence at flying, courage, intelligence, resistance to stress, top physical shape — any checklist would include these. But when America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a man. Here is the tale of thirteen women who proved that they were not only as tough as the toughest man but also brave enough to challenge the government. They were blocked by prejudice, jealousy, and the scrawled note of one of the most powerful men in Washington. But even though the Mercury 13 women did not make it into space, they did not lose, for their example empowered young women to take their place in the sky, piloting jets and commanding space capsules. ALMOST ASTRONAUTS is the story of thirteen true pioneers of the space age.” Claudette Colvin: Twice toward Justice
by Phillip Hoose
(Nonfiction) ● National Book Award
Winner
, 2009 ● YALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2010 ● Phillip Hoose is also the author of of
Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95
We Were There Too! Young People in U.S. History
, a
National Book Award Finalist in 2001 ● National Book Foundation Link ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
Synopsis, via Common Sense Media
: “Claudette Colvin stood up to the unfairness of the Jim Crow laws months before Rosa Parks, yet history has largely forgotten all about her. Before Parks refused to give up her seat, 15yearold Colvin stood firm and was dragged off the bus, handcuffed, and thrown into adult prison. Her story should have been a rallying point for the civil rights movement, but Colvin was instead largely criticized and labeled "emotional" because of her stand. Despite personal problems, alienation from peers and adults, and intimidation Colvin did whatever she could to stand up for her rights and the rights of African Americans.” Back to Top 2016

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2010 The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P.T. Barnum
by Candace Fleming
(Nonfiction) ● YALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2010 ● Amazon Link ● Common Sense Media Link ●
●
: “The awardwinning author of
The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary
,
Amelia Lost
, and
Our Eleanor
brings us the largerthanlife biography of showman P. T. Barnum. Known far and wide for his jumbo elephants, midgets, and threering circuses, here’ s a complete and captivating look at the man behind the Greatest Show on Earth. Readers can visit Barnum’s American Museum; meet Tom Thumb, the miniature man (only 39 inches tall) and his tinier bride (32 inches); experience the thrill Barnum must have felt when, at age 60, he joined the circus; and discover Barnum’s legacy to the 19th century and beyond. Drawing on old circus posters, photographs, etchings, ticket stubs—and with incredible decorative art by Ray Fenwick—this book presents history as it’s never been experienced before—a showstopping event!” Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland
by Sally M. Walker (Nonfiction) ● YALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist, 2010 ● Amazon Link ● Synopsis, via Amazon.com
: “How did the colonists of Jamestown and Maryland live and die? Forensic anthropology provides an incredible array of answers. Scientists can look into a grave and determine the skeleton's gender, age at time of death, nationality, and sometimes even economic standing within minutes. Laboratory studies can provide cause of death information. Once these details are known, some skeletons can even be matched with a name via the historical record. Sibertwinning author Sally M. Walker worked side by side with archaeologists and forensic anthropologists in her research for this uniquely appealing book.” Back to Top 2016

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