The Best in Teen Fiction is Announced!

2011 Printz Winner 

The Michael L. Printz Awards are in! These are the biggies in young adult literature, so if you want to know what's hot, check out the top winner and the runner-ups. This year's awards are heavy on dark, haunting stories that will make you think. Click on the titles to get them free from your Charleston County Public Library.

The top award goes to (drumroll):

Ship Breaker 

By Paolo Bacigalupi

Near a drowned New Orleans that's been ravaged by hurricanes and global warming, teen-aged Nailer scavenges copper wiring from grounded oil tankers for a living. But when he finds a beached clipper ship with a girl in the wreckage, he must decide whether to strip the ship of its wealth -- or rescue the girl. We've heard this futuristic thriller called the next Maze Runner and couldn't agree more! It will grip and you and not let you go.

Now, for the runner-ups:

2011 Printz Honor Books

Stolen

By Lucy Christopher

The rugged Australian outback becomes Gemma’s prison after she is drugged and abducted by a handsome, obsessed stranger in a novel filled with searing imagery and archetypal characters. Over the time spent with her captor, Gemma’s appreciation of him develops…but is it real love, or Stockholm Syndrome?

Please Ignore Vera Dietz 

By A.S. King

At 18, Vera has spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie. 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. Will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?

Author A.S. King also wrote The Dust of 100 Dogs in which a 17th Century pirate is cursed to live the lives of 100 dogs.

Revolver

By Marcus Sedgwick

In this grim, chilling story set in the Arctic Circle, Sig finds his father’s frozen corpse as human predator Wolff arrives seeking retribution and a hidden Gold Rush treasure. 

Author Marcus Sedgwick has written lots of other haunting books like The Book of Dead Days, My Swordhand is Singing, and The Restless Dead: Ten Original Stories of the Supernatural.

Nothing

By Janne Teller

Pierre Anthon’s nihilism causes his classmates to begin a search for life’s meaning in this bold, unsettling parable translated from Danish. 

Author Janne Teller has a fascinating story of her own: Educated as a macro economist, she's lived and worked with humanitarian and conflict resolution issues in Tanzania, Mozambique and Bangladesh. In 1995, she left her career with the United Nations to concentrate on her literature. We bet she has tons of amazing stories to tell.

Remember to click on any title to check these books out from your Charleston County Public Library!