S.C. Young Adult Book Award

FALL FOR GREAT BOOKS!

From bloody wars and school violence to bullies and cults, there's something for every teen among the South Carolina Young Adult Book Award nominees for 2011-2012. (If you've read any of the books, leave your opinions in the comments section below!) Then, check out some new titles:


Before I Fall
By Lauren Oliver

Samantha Kingston has worked her way up the popularity ladder. Now a senior, she and her friends rule their school. But after she dies in a car crash, Samantha finds herself reliving the day of her death over and over and over again. 





Angry Management
By Chris Crutcher

Chris Crutcher fanatics rejoice! Your favorite characters are back. Mr. Nak from Ironman is holding Angry Management classes with other characters from the Crutcher archives. After a brief intro, each of the three stand-alone stories is preceded by Mr. Nak's file notes on the teen subjects.

Brutal
By Michael B. Harmon

When her mom leaves for South America, Poe Holly finds herself on the doorstep of the father she's never known. Yet, she manages to find a few friends: Theo, the cute guy in the anarchy t-shirt, and Velveeta, a troubled outcast on the hit list of Colby, the school’s untouchable bully.

The Chosen One
By Carol Lynch Williams

Kyra and her father, three mothers, and 20 siblings live in an isolated, polygamist community under the thumb of a prophet who controls every aspect of his apostles' lives. The most shocking intrusion of all comes when the prophet decrees that Kyra must marry her 60-year-old uncle.

Diary of a Witness
By Catherine Ryan Hyde

Ernie doesn't have many friends at school. Just Will. They have stuff in common like fishing. They also have common enemies: the school jocks, who seem to find bullying just another sport. Usually, Ernie and Will take life in stride. Until Ernie finds himself a witness to loss, to humiliation, and to Will's anger -- which is building each and every moment.

Dirty Little Secrets
By Cynthia Jaynes Omololu

The grief that 16-year-old Lucy experiences when her mother dies suddenly at home is overshadowed by her dread that paramedics and the general public will learn her family's secret: They've been living amid piles of filth due to her mother's refusal to ever throw anything away. Read this if you watch the TV show Hoarders.

Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-year Old GI
By Ryan Smithson

Ryan Smithson joined the Army Reserve when he was just out of high school. At 19, he was deployed to Iraq to spend a year in combat that changed his life. He tells his story in this harrowing memoir about combat, friendship, fear, and a soldier's commitment to his country.

Girl in the Arena
By Lise Haines

Lyn is a modern gladiator's daughter, and the rules of the sport are second nature to her family. But when a gifted young fighter kills Lyn's father and captures her dowry bracelet, she must marry him. To win her freedom, she'll do what no girl has done before: enter the arena and fight her father's killer — even though she's falling in love with him.

Gray Baby: A Novel
By Scott Loring Sanders

At 6, Clifton watched two white police officers beat his black father to death. The official report: accident. But Clifton and his mother know the truth. Ten years later, Clifton is a social outcast; his mother has sunk deep into alcoholism. Can a friendship with a 70-year-old man show Clifton the truth about his family, his life, and himself?

Hate List
By Jennifer Brown

After Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opens fire in their school cafeteria, Val is shot trying to stop him. Yet, she's still implicated in the shootings because of the "hate list" Nick used to pick his targets -- and which she helped created. Now, Val must confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year.

Hold Still
By Nina LaCour

Caitlin begins her junior year bitter and stunned over the suicide of her best friend Ingrid, a talented photographer and artist. Afraid to risk new friendships and unable to continue with her own art, Caitlin wrestles with questions that may remain unanswered. Then, she discovers Ingrid's journal, which sheds light on reasons for Ingrid's tragic, perhaps inevitable, fate.

Into the Wild Nerd Yonder
By Julie Halpern

Things are changing fast for high school sophomore Jessie, and she needs new friends. Her quest is a hilarious tour through high school clique-dom with a surprising stop along the way -- the Dungeons and Dragons crowd, who out-nerd everybody.







King of the Screwups
By K.L Going

Liam Geller is Mr. Popularity. Everybody loves him. He excels at sports, he knows exactly what clothes to wear, and he ends up with the most beautiful girls in school. But he's got an uncanny ability to screw up in the very ways that tick off his father the most.

Leviathan
By Scott Westerfeld

Alek is a prince on the run. Deryn is a girl disguised as a guy in the British Air Service during World War I. The two are thrown together at a time when the machine-loving Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their big steam-powered Clankers. The British have fabricated animals into warships. And their mothership, Leviathan, is a marvelous whale-dirigible in this new trilogy by the author of the Uglies series.

Sequel: Behemoth, Goliath

Muchacho: A Novel
By LouAnne Johnson

Eddie Corazon, 16, lives with his Mexican-American family in New Mexico where he faces pressures that many teens face, compounded by the realities of violence, drugs, and jail. Then, Eddie goes to live with his uncle. In a new environment, Eddie finds himself, his inner poet, and a stronger bond with Lupe, who inspires him to change.

Once a Witch
By Carolyn MacCullough

Tamsin comes from a long line of witches, and she was supposed to be one of the most Talented among them. But her magic never showed up. So, when a handsome young professor mistakes her for her very Talented sister, Tamsin agrees to find a lost family heirloom for him. But the search — and the stranger — prove to be more sinister than they appeared.
Sequel: Always a Witch

 




Purple Heart
By Patricia McCormick

While recuperating in a Baghdad hospital from a traumatic brain injury he sustained during the Iraq War, 18-year-old soldier Matt Duffy struggles to recall what happened to him and how it relates to his 10-year-old friend, Ali.

Rock n’ Roll Soldier: A Memoir
By Dean Ellis Kohler

Dean Kohler has finally scored a national record deal! But his dreams are abruptly put on hold by the arrival of his draft notice. Now he's in Qui Nhon, Vietnam, serving as a military policeman. He keeps telling himself he's a musician, not a killer, and that he's lucky he's not fighting on the front lines.

Shiver
By Maggie Stiefvater

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf -- her wolf -- is a hauntingly familiar presence. Meanwhile, Sam lives in the frozen woods with his pack and the silent company of a fearless girl. Then one summer, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy who takes her breath away.

Sequel: Linger

Unsigned Hype: A Novel
By Booker T. Mattison

Tory Tyson may only be in high school, but he knows what he wants out of life -- a successful music career. The Unsigned Hype music contest is the perfect place to launch his career. But will he be able to handle the fame and fortune he seeks?






Click on any title to reserve it at your favorite library branch! Also, click on the authors' names to learn more about your favorites.

Keep reading this summer!!