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Books in AWARDS: ALA Best Books for Young Adults 2008 series

  • The Magician's Elephant

    Kate DiCamillo, Yoko Tanaka

    Hardcover (Candlewick, Sept. 8, 2009)
    Kate DiCamillo conjures a haunting fable about trusting the unexpected and making the extraordinary come true.What if? Why not? Could it be?When a fortuneteller's tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller's mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true. With atmospheric illustrations by fine artist Yoko Tanaka, here is a dreamlike and captivating tale that could only be narrated by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo. In this timeless fable, she evokes the largest of themes — hope and belonging, desire and compassion — with the lightness of a magician’s touch.
    U
  • The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer's Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors

    Chris Barton, Tony Persiani

    Hardcover (Charlesbridge, July 1, 2009)
    A discovery that made the world a brighter place!Joe and Bob Switzer were very different brothers. Bob was a studious planner who wanted to grow up to be a doctor. Joe dreamed of making his fortune in show business and loved magic tricks and problem-solving. When an accident left Bob recovering in a darkened basement, the brothers began experimenting with ultraviolet light and fluorescent paints. Together they invented a whole new kind of color, one that glows with an extra-special intensity—Day-Glo.This cover reproduction is not printed with Day-Glo colors. The actual book, however, is printed using three Day-Glo colors: Saturn Yellow, Fire Orange, and Signal Green.
    Q
  • How to Build a House: A Novel

    Dana Reinhardt

    Hardcover (Wendy Lamb Books, May 27, 2008)
    HARPER’S DAD IS getting a divorce from her beloved stepmother, Jane. Even worse, Harper has lost her stepsister, Tess; the divorce divides them. Harper decides to escape by joining a volunteer program to build a house for a family in Tennessee who lost their home in a tornado. Not that she knows a thing about construction.Soon she’s living in a funky motel and working long days in blazing heat with a group of kids from all over the country. At the site, she works alongside Teddy, the son of the family for whom they are building the house. Their partnership turns into a summer romance, complete with power tools. Learning to trust and love Teddy isn’t easy for Harper, but it’s the first step toward finding her way back home.
  • The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum

    Candace Fleming, Ray Fenwick

    Hardcover (Schwartz & Wade, Sept. 8, 2009)
    Discover the true story of P.T. Barnum, the man who created the world-famous Barnum & Bailey Circus, as featured in the movie The Greatest Showman! The award-winning author of The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary, Amelia Lost, and Our Eleanor brings us the larger-than-life biography of showman P. T. Barnum. Known far and wide for his jumbo elephants, midgets, and three-ring 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 show-stopping event!
    Y
  • Sold

    Patricia McCormick

    Hardcover (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Sept. 15, 2006)
    When she is tricked by her stepfather and sold into prostitution, thirteen-year-old Lakshmi becomes submerged in a nightmare where her only comfort is the friendship she forms with the other girls, which helps her survive--and eventually escape. Reader's Guide available.
    T
  • Anything But Typical

    Nora Raleigh Baskin

    Hardcover (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, March 24, 2009)
    Told from the first-person perspective of an autistic boy, Nora Raleigh Baskin’s novel is an enlightening story for anyone who has ever worried about fitting in.Jason Blake is an autistic twelve-year-old living in a neurotypical world. Most days it's just a matter of time before something goes wrong. But Jason finds a glimmer of understanding when he comes across PhoenixBird, who posts stories to the same online site as he does. Jason can be himself when he writes and he thinks that PhoneixBird-her name is Rebecca-could be his first real friend. But as desperate as Jason is to met her, he's terrified that if they do meet, Rebecca wil only see his autism and not who Jason really is. By acclaimed writer Nora Raleigh Baskin, this is the breathtaking depiction of an autistic boy's struggles-and a story for anyone who has ever worried about fitting in.
    X
  • What I Saw And How I Lied

    Judy Blundell

    Hardcover (Scholastic Press, Nov. 1, 2008)
    This National Book Award winner set during the aftermath of WWII is now available in paperback!When Evie's father returned home from World War II, the family fell back into its normal life pretty quickly. But Joe Spooner brought more back with him than just good war stories. When movie-star handsome Peter Coleridge, a young ex-GI who served in Joe's company in postwar Austria, shows up, Evie is suddenly caught in a complicated web of lies that she only slowly recognizes. She finds herself falling for Peter, ignoring the secrets that surround him . . . until a tragedy occurs that shatters her family and breaks her life in two.
    Y
  • The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust

    Karen Gray Ruelle, Deborah Durland Desaix

    Hardcover (Holiday House, Sept. 15, 2009)
    When the Nazis occupied Paris, no Jew was safe from arrest and deportation. Few Parisians were willing to risk their own lives to help. Yet during that perilous time, many Jews found refuge in an unlikely place--the sprawling complex of the Grand Mosque of Paris. Not just a place of worship but a community center, this hive of activity was an ideal temporary hiding place for escaped prisoners of war and Jews of all ages, especially children. Beautifully illustrated and thoroughly researched (both authors speak French and conducted first-person interviews and research at archives and libraries), this hopeful, non-fiction book introduces children to a little-known part of history. Perfect for children studying World War II or those seeking a heart-warming, inspiring read that highlights extraordinary heroism across faiths.Includes a bibliography, a recommended list of books and films, and afterword from the authors that gives more details behind the story.
    S
  • Buried

    Robin Merrow MacCready

    Hardcover (Dutton Juvenile, Sept. 21, 2006)
    When her alcoholic mother disappears, Claudine, who has put her own dreams on hold to care for her, must confront a dark truth that is buried in a shallow grave behind the family's trailer, in a psychological thriller that explores the dangers of codependency.
  • Strays

    Ron Koertge

    Hardcover (Candlewick, May 8, 2007)
    "By turns insightful, devastatingly funny, and suffused with loneliness . . . this thoughtful novel about the lost and abandoned is a hopeful one, in which some strays find a place to belong." — BooklistSixteen-year-old Ted O’Connor’s parents just died in a fiery car crash, and now he’s stuck with a set of semi-psycho foster parents, two foster brothers — Astin, the cocky gearhead, and C.W., the sometimes gangsta — and an inner-city high school full of delinquents. He’s having pretty much the worst year of his miserable life. Or so he thinks. Is it possible that becoming an orphan is not the worst thing that could have happened to him?Master novelist Ron Koertge brings his best work yet, a smart, surprising story full of trademark wit and sharp insight about a boy learning to run with a new pack.
  • Bog Child

    Siobhan Dowd

    Hardcover (David Fickling Books, Sept. 9, 2008)
    DIGGING FOR PEAT in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds the body of a child, and it looks like she’s been murdered. As Fergus tries to make sense of the mad world around him—his brother on hunger-strike in prison, his growing feelings for Cora, his parents arguing over the Troubles, and him in it up to the neck, blackmailed into acting as courier to God knows what—a little voice comes to him in his dreams, and the mystery of the bog child unfurls.Bog Child is an astonishing novel exploring the sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the unflinching strength of the human spirit.
    Z+
  • The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs

    Jack Gantos

    Hardcover (Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), April 18, 2006)
    On an unseasonably warm Easter Sunday, a young girl namedIvy discovers a chilling secret in the basement of the Rumbaughpharmacy across the street from the hotel where she lives withher mother. The discovery reveals a disturbing side to theeccentric lives of family friends Abner and Adolph Rumbaugh,known throughout their small western Pennsylvania townsimply as the Twins. It seems that Ab and Dolph have beencompelled by a powerful mutual love for their deceased motherto do something extraordinary, something that in its owntwisted way bridges the gap between the living and the dead.Immediately, Ivy's discovery provokes the revelation of aRumbaugh family curse, a curse that, as Ivy will learn over thecoming years, holds a strange power over herself and her ownmother.In his third book for young adults, Jack Gantos has scripted acompletely original drama. With gothic flavor and black humor,he depicts a group of people bound together by love,compulsion . . . and a passion for taxidermy.
    W