The 2006 Best Books For Young Adults Nominations List!!!
(Winners for previous years can be found below)
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Prom. Normal teen, Ashley Hannigan, is counting the days till graduation, dodging detentions and has NO interest in attending the Prom until the faculty advisor embezzles the prom funds and Ashley's best friend ropes her into full-scale emergency action.
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow. "I begin with the young…What material! With them I can make a new world." Adolf Hitler exploited the idealism of millions of Germany's young people to fuel his evil master plan for global domination.
Block, Francesca Lia. Necklace of Kisses. Facing mid-life crisis, Weetzie Bat 'escapes' on an adventure of true serendipity.
Bruchac, Joseph. Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two. After years of mistreatment at white run boarding schools, Ned Begay and other Navajo are enlisted by the Army to use their special talents to develop an unbreakable code in World War II.
Castellucci, Cecil. Boy Proof. Victoria Denton (Egg) hides behind her identity until she falls in love with an interesting new boy unlike all the others. Life becomes interesting when she learns to share her true self--her brains, her energy, her talents and love of the cinema-with others.
Corbet, Robert. Shelf Life. The teens who work in a city supermarket struggle to balance their dreams with their unglamorous realities.
Cummings, Priscilla. Red Kayak. Brady, JT and Digger don't call out to the people in the red kayak as it heads out on a stormy morning, and Brady will regret it the rest of his life.
Green, John. Looking for Alaska. Miles is looking for the Great Perhaps--and an Alabama boarding school offers the possibility of finding it, especially after he meets the captivating, unpredictable, and utterly alive Alaska.
Koontz, Trixie. Life is Good!: Lessons in Joyful Living. Trixie-(Dean Koontz's golden retriever) shares her philosophy on how to enjoy the good things in life. So relax and enjoy the old cliché and smell the roses! The proceeds from this book are donated to Canine Companions for Independence.
Lane, Dakota. The Orpheus Obsession. Famous rock star Orpheus tells Anooshka, "I could spot you in a room of thousands because you would be seeing me seeing you," and their love is perfect...or is it?
Lester, Julius. Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue. After being sold in the largest slave auction in American history, Emma and Joe agonize whether to try to escape or remain chattel in this fact based novel told almost entirely in dialogue.
Levithan, David. Are We There Yet? Brothers Elijah and Danny travel through Italy together even though they feel that they have nothing in common. Then they meet Julia.
MacCullough, Carolyn. Stealing Henry. Savannah and her little brother Henry flee after she whacks her drunken stepfather with a frying pan.
Martino, Alfred C.. Pinned. Two wrestlers, two different worlds, one destiny: Ivan Korske and Bobby Zane know only one will emerge victorious from that final six-minute showdown to be crowned state champion.
McNaughton, Janet. The Secret Under My Skin. In 2368 where environmental disasters have poisoned the earth, scientists have been sent to concentration camps and homeless children mine landfills for useful objects, orphan Blay Raytee is selected from a work camp to assist the new Bio-Indicator and begins to learn who she really is.
Meyer, Stephanie. Twilight: A Novel. Bella's move to rainy Forks, Washington is the most boring move she will ever make, until she meets Edward, the vampire love of her life.
Nelson, Marilyn. Fortune's Bones: The Manumission Requiem. FA stunning mix of powerful poetry and history honoring Fortune, a slave, whose body was dissected and rendered after his death and his skeleton studied by his master and then put on display in a museum.
Patterson, James. Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment. Meet Max--Maximum Ride. She is 98% human and 2% bird. And the girl can fly. How did she come to being? Why was she and her fellow avian-humans created? Join them on their quest to find out the secrets behind their existence and in their search to find a place for themselves to live in peace.
Pearson, Mary E.. A Room on Lorelei Street. A bed in a room. Doesn't seem like much. But when you are 17 and your alcoholic mother cannot even remember to pay rent and you deal, deal, deal with it, the room on Lorelei Street--what a pretty name--seems like heaven, if you can only figure out how to pay for it.
Peters, Julie Anne. Far from Xanadu. In a small Kansas town, sixteen-year-old Mary-Elizabeth "Mike" Szabo tries to come to terms with her father's suicide and her own homosexuality.
Sittenfeld, Curtis. Prep: A Novel. Fourteen year-old Lee Fiora becomes intrigued with the idea of attending an eastern boarding school. Her arrival and experiences as an outsider on a scholarship make her a keen observer of the traditions and mores of that rarified atmosphere.
Spillebeen, Geert. Kipling's Choice. John Kipling, son of the famous writer, Rudyard Kipling, joins the British Army in World War I with help from his father.
Stein, Tammar. Light Years: A Novel. Maya Laor comes to Virginia to escape the tragic bombing that killed her boyfriend and for which she feels responsible-- but even that may not be far enough to escape from the grief and pain.
Updale, Eleanor. Montmorency on the Rocks: Doctor, Aristocrat, Murderer? In the second installment of this series, Montmorency is firmly ensconced as an agent of his friend Lord George Fox-Selwyn. Montmorency finds himself fighting personal demons and mysterious bombers with the assistance of his old savior Dr. Farcett.
Yolen, Jane and Adam Stemple. Pay the Piper: A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale. When student journalist Callie McCallan gets the opportunity to interview the legendary folk-rock band Brass Rat, she uncovers a story of magical proportions.
Zusak, Markus. I am the Messenger. Aimless, amiable 19-year-old cab driver, Ed Kennedy, foils a bank robber and then begins to receive mysterious messages assigning him to intervene in the lives of strangers.
Top Titles for 2005
Braff, Joshua. The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bucking the Sarge
Hoose, Phillip M. The Race to Save the Lord God Bird
Levithan, David. The Realm of Possibility
Marchetta, Melina. Saving Francesca
Morpurgo, Michael. Private Peaceful
Oppel, Kenneth. Airborn
Rapp, Adam. Under the Wolf, Under the Dog
Saenz, Benjamin Alire. Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood
Weeks, Sarah. So B. It: a novel
Top Titles for 2004
Brooks, Martha. True Confessions of a Heartless Girl.
Donnelly, Jennifer. A Northern Light
Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A Novel
Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last
Levithan, David. Boy Meets Boy
Maynard, Joyce. The Usual Rules
Pattou, Edith. East
Rapp, Adam. 33 Snowfish
Stroud, Jonathan. The Amulet of Samarkand: Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book One
Thompson, Craig. Blankets: An Illustrated Novel
Top Titles for 2003
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Catalyst
Anderson, M. T. Feed
Farmer, Nancy. The House of the Scorpion
Frank, E. R. America
Korman, Gordon. Son of the Mob
Lawrence, Iain. The Lightkeeper's Daughter
Moore, Christopher. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Nelson, Peter. Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis illus.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East
Partridge, Elizabeth. This Land Was Made For You and Me: The Life & Songs of Woody Guthrie illus.
Top Titles for 2002
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn
Damage by A. M. Jenkins
You Don't Know Me by David Klass
Cut by Patricia McCormick
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali by Walter Dean Myers
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
The Land by Mildred Taylor, the prequel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Fighting Reuben Wolfe by Markus Zusak
Top Titles for 2001
Bagdasarian, Adam Forgotten Fire
Bauer, Joan Hope was Here
Chevalier, Tracy Girl with a Pearl Earring
Katz, Jon Geeks: How two boys rode the Internet out of Idaho
Konigsburg, E. L. Silent to the Bone
Paulsen, Gary The Beet Fields
Ryan, Pam Munoz Esperanza Rising
Spinelli, Jerry Stargirl
Whelan, Gloria Homeless Bird
White, Ruth Memories of Summer
