08-09 Volunteer State Book Award Young Adult nominees
Explore the 08-09 Volunteer State Book Award Young Adult nominees—a curated list of top adult award book contenders for young readers. Discover your next favorite read!

Item Not Found
ID: 0060737069
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0142411833
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0142408670
(Type: books)

Book
Ball Don't Lie
by Matt de la Peña
Newbery Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Matt de la Peña's Ball Don't Lie "is a must-read." [The Bulletin] Sticky is a beat-around-the-head foster kid with nowhere to call home but the street, and an outer shell so tough that no one will take him in. He started out life so far behind the pack that the finish line seems nearly unreachable. He’s a white boy living and playing in a world where he doesn’t seem to belong. But Sticky can ball. And basketball might just be his ticket out . . . if he can only realize that he doesn’t have to be the person everyone else expects him to be. Matt de la Peña's breakout urban masterpiece, Ball Don’t Lie takes place where the street and the court meet and where a boy can be anything if he puts his mind to it. ★ "[An] inspiring story. Sticky is a true original, and de la Peña has skillfully brought him to life." --School Library Journal, Starred "Riveting.... Teens will be strongly affected by the unforgettable...basketball action; and the questions about race, love, self-worth, and what it means to build a life without advantages." --Booklist "Stunningly realistic." --VOYA "Gritty and mesmerizing." --Kirkus Reviews "I have never before seen blacktop ball depicted so well. In this novel, you will find its flash, its power, and its elegance without chains. This is powerful stuff." --Antawn Jamison, forward for the Los Angeles Clippers "Truly authentic in its examination of both the game I love and the invariable missteps toward manhood. You cannot fail to be moved by the eloquence and truth of this story." --Rick Fox, former forward for the Los Angeles Lakers An ALA Best Book for Young Adults An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers
Item Not Found
ID: 0316166391
(Type: books)

Book
An Abundance of Katherines
by John Green
From the #1 bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars Michael L. Printz Honor Book Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist Katherine V thought boys were gross Katherine X just wanted to be friends Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail K-19 broke his heart When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun--but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.
Item Not Found
ID: 0060741406
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0374371741
(Type: books)

Book
Monkey Town
by Ronald Kidd
When her father hatches a plan to bring publicity to their Tennessee town by arresting a local teacher for teaching evolution, the resulting Scopes trial prompts fifteen-year-old Frances to rethink many of her beliefs and her relationship with her fa
Item Not Found
ID: B0014JOLJC
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0440239419
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0375835334
(Type: books)

Book
Sold
by Patricia McCormick
Thirteen-year-old Lakshmi leaves her poor mountain home in Nepal thinking that she is to work in the city as a maid only to find that she has been sold into the sex slave trade in India and that there is no hope of escape.

Book
Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City
by Kirsten Miller
Life becomes more interesting for Ananka Fishbein when, at the age of twelve, she discovers an underground room in the park across from her New York City apartment and meets a mysterious girl called Kiki Strike who claims that she, too, wants to explore the subterranean world.
Item Not Found
ID: 0316115266
(Type: books)

Book
King Dork
by Frank Portman
“King Dork will rock your world.” --John Green, New York Times bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars When Tom Henderson finds his dead father’s copy of J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, his world is turned upside down. Suddenly high school gets more complicated: Tom (aka King Dork) finds himself in the middle of mysteries involving dead people, naked people, fake people, a secret code, girls, and rock and roll. As he goes through sophomore year, he finds clues that may very well solve the puzzle of his father’s death and—oddly—reveal the secret to attracting semi-hot girls. (The secret might be being in a band, if he can find a drummer who can count to four.) This unruly cult classic features song lyrics throughout and now includes a glossary and a bandography. And look for the sequel, King Dork Approximtely, available now. Praise for King Dork: “Basically, if you are a human being with even a vague grasp of the English language, King Dork will rock your world.”—John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars “[No account of high school] has made me laugh more than King Dork. . . . Grade A.”—Entertainment Weekly “Impossibly brilliant.”—Time “Provides a window into what it would be like if Holden Caulfield read The Catcher in the Rye.”—New York Post “Loaded with sharp and offbeat humor.”—USA Today “Original, heartfelt, and sparkling with wit and intelligence. This novel will linger long in readers’ memories.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review “A biting and witty high-school satire.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review “Tom’s narration is piercingly satirical and acidly witty.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Starred Review “King Dork is smart, funny, occasionally raunchy and refreshingly clear about what it’s like to be in high school.”—San Francisco Chronicle “King Dork: Best Punk Rock Book Ever.”—The Village Voice “I love this book as much as I hated high school, and that’s some of the highest praise I can possibly give.”—Bookslut.com
Item Not Found
ID: 0440239575
(Type: books)

Book
House of the Red Fish
by Graham Salisbury
1943, one year after the end of Under the Blood-Red Sun, Tomi’s Papa and Grandpa are still under arrest, and the paradise of Hawaii now lives in fear—waiting for another attack, while trying to recover from Pearl Harbor. As a Japanese American, Tomi and his family have new enemies everywhere, vigilantes who suspect all Japanese. Tomi finds hope in his goal of raising Papa’s fishing boat, sunk in the canal by the Army on the day of the attack. To Tomi, raising Papa’s boat is a sign of faith that Papa and Grandpa will return. It’s an impossible task, but Tomi is determined. For just as he now has new enemies, his struggle to raise the boat brings unexpected allies and friends.
Item Not Found
ID: 0618593942
(Type: books)

Book
Enthusiasm
by Polly Shulman
"When someone asks for a reading suggestion, Enthusiasm is the first word off my tongue." --Stephenie Meyer, author of Twilight "There is little more likely to exasperate a person of sense than finding herself tied by affection and habit to an Enthusiast." Julie knows from bitter experience: her best friend, Ashleigh, is an Enthusiast. Ashleigh's current fancy is also Julie's own passion, Pride and Prejudice, and the heroine's quest for True Love. And so Julie finds herself swept along with Ashleigh, dressed in vintage frocks and sneaking into a dance at the local all-boys' prep school. There they discover several likely candidates for True Love, including the handsome and sensitive Parr. And Julie begins to wonder if maybe this obsession of Ashleigh's isn't so bad after all. . . . Fans of Jane Austen and Meg Cabot, and Maureen Johnson alike will swoon for Polly Shulman's charming novel.

Book
The Rules of Survival
by Nancy Werlin
Seventeen-year-old Matthew recounts his attempts, starting at a young age, to free himself and his sisters from the grip of their emotionally and physically abusive mother.
Item Not Found
ID: 006058176X
(Type: books)

Book
Elsewhere
by Gabrielle Zevin
After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to "live." An ALA Notable Children's Book. Reprint. 75,000 first printing.