Volunteer State Book Award Nominees Middle School Division Grades 6-8

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi In a futuristic world, teenaged 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 has to decide if he should strip the ship for its wealth or rescue the girl.

King of Ithaka by Tracy Barrett When sixteen-year-old Telemachos and his two best friends, one a centaur, leave their life of privilege to undertake a quest to find Telemachos's father Odysseus, they learn much along the way about what it means to be a man and a king.

The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamador by Michael Beil Catholic-schooled seventh-graders Sophie, Margaret, Rebecca, and Leigh Ann help an elderly neighbor solve a puzzle her father left for her estranged daughter twenty years ago.

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell Thirteen-year-old Genevieve's summer at a frontier family history camp in Laramie, Wyoming, with her parents and brother is filled with surprises, which she reports to friends back home on the cell phone she sneaked in. Her friends then turn her reports into a blog.

The Heist Society by Ally Carter Kat schemes her way into the best boarding school, hoping to leave the thieving antics of her family behind her, but Hal, a former co- conspirator, appears on campus to tell Kat that a powerful mobster believes her father stole art from a priceless collection. In order to save him, Kat and her team will have to recover the paintings.

Is It Night or Day? By Fern Schumer Chapman Edith is sent from her home in Germany in 1938 to live with her aunt and uncle in Chicago and escape Nazi persecution.

Matched by Ally Condie Cassia has always had complete trust in the Society to make decisions for her. When she is being paired with her ideal mate, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility as she tries to decide which boy she truly loves.

The War to End All Wars: World War I by Russell Freedman A narrative history of World War I for young readers that features archival photographs, and describes how advanced military weaponry impacted the course of the war

Vampire Rising by Jason Henderson At a boarding school in Switzerland, Alex Van Helsing learns that vampires are real, that he has a natural ability to sense them, and that an agency called Polidorium ha been helping his family fight them since 1821.

Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, Salva becomes separated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe members through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on a true story.

Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen Samuel sets out toward New York City to rescue his parents from the band of British soldiers and Native Americans who kidnapped them.

Slob by Ellen Potter A bullied, overweight genius named Owen tries to invent a television that can see the past to find out what happened the day his parents were killed.

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan Jason, Piper, and Leo, three students from a school for "bad kids," find themselves at Camp Half-Blood, where they learn that they are demigods and begin a quest to free Hera, who has been imprisoned by Mother Earth herself.

Scrawl by Mark Shulman When eighth-grade school bully Tod and his friends get caught committing a crime on school property, his penalty--staying after school and writing in a journal under the eye of the school guidance counselor--reveals aspects of himself that he prefers to keep hidden.

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman Elizabeth gets an after- school job as a page at the "New-York Circulating Material Repository." When she gains coveted access to its Grimm Collection of magical objects, she and the other pages are drawn into a series of frightening adventures involving mythical creatures and stolen goods.

After Ever After by Jordon Sonnenblick Although Jeff and Tad, encouraged by a new friend, Lindsey, make a deal to help one another overcome aftereffects of their cancer treatments in preparation for eighth- grade graduation, Jeff still craves advice from his older brother Stephen, who is studying drums in Africa.

Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James Swanson This narrative non-fiction title recounts the twelve- day pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth, covering the chase through Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, with a discussion of Abraham Lincoln as a father, husband, and friend that examines the impact of his death on those close to him.

Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas. There she hopes to find out some things about his past.

Countdown by Deborah Wiles As Franny deals with drama at home and with her best friend in 1962, she tries to understand the larger problems in the world after President Kennedy announces that Russia is sending nuclear missiles to Cuba.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia In the summer of 1968, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive in Oakland to a cold welcome from their mother. They discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a Black Panther summer camp.