1. What’s New in Young Adult Literature? Donna Blackall—blueb@sbcglobal.net And Deborah Will—willd@zbths.org Presentation available at http://wheatonyabooks.wikispaces.com http://wheatonyabooks.wikispaces.com

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Teens of the future become gladiators who fight to the death to save their families and bring honor to their homelands. A survival video game in book form.

3. The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti Historical fiction based on the real life of Helmuth Hubener who came of age in Germany as the Nazis came to power. His heroic voice of defiance in the midst of the chants of “Heil,Hitler!” by his fellow youth is both an inspiring and devastating tale.

4. The Absolutely True Story of a Part- Time Indian by Sherman Alexie Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

5. Deadline by Chris Crutcher Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as "Hey-Soos.".

6. Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor Left alone with her train-wreck of a mother when her step-dad leaves with the younger children from his marriage to her mom, Addie looks everywhere for some stability and acceptance. She finds it in the most unlikely places.

7. Graceling by Kristin Cashore In a world where some people are born with extreme and often- feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

8. Savvy by Ingrid Law Recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose thirteenth birthday has revealed her "savvy"--a magical power unique to each member of her family--just as her father is injured in a terrible accident.

9. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Two women born a generation apart witness the destruction of their home and family in wartorn Kabul, losses incurred over the course of thirty years that test the limits of their strength and courage.

10. Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy From 1939, when Syvia is four and a half years old, to 1945 when she has just turned ten, a Jewish girl and her family struggle to survive in Poland's Lodz ghetto during the Nazi occupation.

11. The Great Wide Sea by M.H. Herlong When the mother of three boys aged 15, 11 and 5 dies unexpectedly in an auto accident, their father sells their home and takes them on an emotionally charged sailboat adventure.

12. Hold Tight by Harlan Coben Just how far parents will go to protect their kids? When their son Adam is implicated in the death of his classmate, Tia and Mike Baye install a sophisticated spy program on Adam's computer, and within days are jolted by a message from an unknown correspondent.

13. All Shook Up! By Shelly Pearsall Josh leave his normal teen-age life in Boston to live for awhile with his dad in Chicago - a shoe salesman turned Elvis impersonator! Although he resists, Josh learns there is more than one way to look at the world.

14. Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt How does the family of a high school BMOC recover from his devastating loss in a hit-and-run? And what happens when the truth of the accident is even more painful yet?

15. Jerk, California by Jonathan Friesen Plagued by Tourette's syndrome and a stepfather who despises him, Sam meets an old man in his small Midwest town who sends him on a road trip designed to help him discover the truth about his life.

16. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles When wealthy, seemingly perfect Brittany and Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, develop a relationship after Alex discovers that Brittany is not exactly who she seems to be, they must face the disapproval of their schoolmates--and others.

17. Scarlett by Cathy Cassidy After being expelled from yet another school in London, twelve-year- old Scarlett is sent by her exasperated mother to live with her father, stepmother, and stepsister in Ireland, where, with the help of a mysterious boy, she eventually overcomes her anger and resentment and feels part of a family again.

18. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen Isolated from friends who believe the worst because she has not been truthful with them, sixteen-year-old Annabel finds an ally in classmate Owen, whose honesty and passion for music help her to face and share what really happened at the end-of- the-year party that changed her life.

19. More Caudill Choices

20. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, a slave named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War.

21. The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer When twelve-year- old Gabe tries to hide his uncle's death from the local authorities, he is not prepared for what happens when this secret is discovered.

22. A Friendship for Today by Patricia McKissack In 1954, when desegregation comes to Kirkland, Missouri, ten-year- old Rosemary faces many changes and challenges at school and at home as her parents separate.

23. Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick After being assigned to perform community service at a nursing home, sixteen-year-old Alex befriends a cantankerous old man who has some lessons to impart about jazz guitar playing, love, and forgiveness.

24. Diamond Willow by Helen Frost In a remote area of Alaska, twelve-year-old Willow helps her father with their sled dogs when she is not at school, wishing she were more popular, all the while unaware that the animals surrounding her carry the spirits of dead ancestors and friends who care for her.

25. Scat by Carl Hiaasen Nick and his friend Marta decide to investigate when a mysterious fire starts near a Florida wildlife preserve and an unpopular teacher goes missing.

26. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull When Kendra and Seth go to stay at their grandparents' estate, they discover that it is a sanctuary for magical creatures and that a battle between good and evil is looming.

27. More Abe Nominees

28. Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee When she is almost sixteen years old, Rosemary decides she is sick of being overweight, mocked at school and at Heavenly Hair--her mother's beauty salon--and feeling out of control, and as she slowly loses weight, she realizes that she is able to cope with her mother's cancer, having a boyfriend for the first time, and discovering that other people's lives are not as perfect as they seem from the outside.

29. Boot Camp by Todd Strasser After ignoring several warnings to stop dating his teacher, Garrett is sent to Lake Harmony, a boot camp that uses unorthodox and brutal methods to train students to obey their parents.

30. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart Sophomore Frankie starts dating senior Matthew Livingston, but when he refuses to talk about the all-male secret society that he and his friends belong to, Frankie infiltrates the society in order to enliven their mediocre pranks.

31. 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.".

32. Evermore: The Immortals by Alyson Noel Since the car accident that claimed the lives of her family, sixteen- year-old Ever can see auras and hear people's thoughts, and she goes out of her way to hide from other people until she meets Damen, another psychic teenager who is hiding even more mysteries.

33. House Rules by Rachel Sontag Traces the author's journey of recovery after a childhood marked by her mentally ill father, a respected suburban doctor with an obsessive need for control that caused him to torture his wife and children about the most minute details of their lives.

34. Paper Towns by John Green One month before graduating from his Central Florida high school, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen basks in the predictable boringness of his life until the beautiful and exciting Margo Roth Spiegelman, Q's neighbor and classmate, takes him on a midnight adventure and then mysteriously disappears.

35. Right Behind You by Gail Giles After spending over four years in a mental institution for murdering a friend in Alaska, fourteen-year- old Kip begins a completely new life in Indiana with his father and stepmother under a different name, but not only has trouble fitting in, he finds there are still problems to deal with from his childhood.

36. Rucker Park Setup by Paul Volponi While playing in a crucial basketball game on the very court where his best friend was murdered, Mackey tries to come to terms with his own part in that murder and decide whether to maintain his silence or tell J.R.'s father and the police what really happened.

37. Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner Shakespeare Shapiro navigates a senior year fraught with feelings of insecurity while writing the memoir of his embarrassing life, worrying about his younger brother being cooler than he is, and having no prospects of ever getting a girlfriend.

38. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies and his ever-angry father, seventeen-year- old Tyler enjoys his tough new reputation and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts.

39. Unwind by Neal Shusterman In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs--and, perhaps, save their own lives.

40. Wake by Lisa McMann Ever since she was eight years old, high school student Janie Hannagan has been uncontrollably drawn into other people's dreams, but it is not until she befriends an elderly nursing home patient and becomes involved with an enigmatic fellow-student that she discovers her true power.