It's award time again! Every year a selection of books are chosen for the Eliot Rosewater Award, nominated in the fall and award given in the late spring. It's a program for high school students to choose the winner, and here are a few of the books nominated this year.
Fangirl- Rainbow Rowell: Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...But
for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and
her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series
when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother
leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums,
writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for
every movie premiere. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to. Now
that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to
be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort
zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around
boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end
of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk
about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving
and fragile and has never really been alone. For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? This one is really fun, and there's a lot to be loved in this novel. Request a copy here.
Throne of Glass audiobook- Sarah J. Maas: After serving out a
year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes,
18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown
Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must
act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her
opponents are men- thieves and assassins and warriors from across the
empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats
her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for
three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training
sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and
exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little
more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but
it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. Then
one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by
another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a
victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to
discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined. I have a lot of friends who adore this book, and the audiobook is said to be amazing as well. Click here to request it.
Boy Nobody- Allen Zadoff: They needed the perfect assassin. Boy
Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and
nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town
under a new name, makes a few friends, and doesn't stay long. Just long
enough for someone in his new friend's family to die-of "natural
causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, moving on to the
next target. But when he's assigned to the mayor of New York
City, things change. The daughter is unlike anyone he has encountered
before; the mayor reminds him of his father. And when memories and
questions surface, his handlers at The Program are watching. Because
somewhere deep inside, Boy Nobody is somebody: the kid he once was; the
teen who wants normal things, like a real home and parents; a young man
who wants out. And who just might want those things badly enough to
sabotage The Program's mission. I haven't read this one personally, but I think it looks pretty interesting. And it must be good if it was nominated for an award. Click here to request a copy.
So hopefully one or more of these sound interesting to you, and be sure to check out the rest of the selection on display in the teen area.
