Visit the JPL Teen Message Boards!
 

2006 Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award  Nominees
About the Abe Award:
- It began in 2004, and this spring, high school students from around the state voted for their favorite book from the 22 titles on the 2005 list. The book with the most votes was A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer. The runners up were The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.
- To be able to vote in the spring of 2006, you must be in grades 9 to 12 during the school year. You must also read (or listen to the audio recording) at least 5 of the 22 titles on this year’s list to be eligible to vote.
- Do you want to be part of the nomination process? Give titles to Leisl, the Young Adult Librarian (ljaberg@jolietlibrary.org). Also let her know if you are interested in being a Reader for the next year’s 2007 Abe Nominations Committee.

	Battle of Jericho by Sharon Draper J DRA How far would 16-year-old Jericho go to fit in? When invited to pledge for the Warriors of Distinction, he is determined to do "anything" to become a member of the gang.
	Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabeck 940.53161 GOL One of 10,000 Jewish children sent to England by fearful parents at the dawn of WWII, aspiring pianist Lisa Jura was 14 when her family put her on a Kindertransport train in Vienna. Jura's daughter, Golabek, a pianist, and writer Cohen trace the six years Jura spent in London, where she found surrogate families in the 31 other young refugees at the Willesden Lane hostel, and in the working-class British women at the East End garment factory that employed her.
	Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon Fiction  Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.
	The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler J MAC Fifteen-year-old Virginia Shreves is sure that she's the weakest link in her high-powered family until her handsome, athletic, star-student brother shockingly falls from grace.
	The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde Fiction Fforde Surreal and funny, this alternate history will appeal to lovers of zany genre work (think Douglas Adams) and lovers of classic literature alike. The scene: Great Britain circa 1985, but a Great Britain where literature has a place in everyday life. For pennies, corner Will-Speak machines will quote Shakespeare andRichard III is performed with audience participation a la Rocky Horror. In this world where high lit matters, Special Operative Thursday Next (literary detective) seeks to retrieve the stolen manuscript of Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit. The evil Acheron Hades has plans for it: after kidnapping Next's mad-scientist uncle, Mycroft, and commandeering Mycroft's invention, the Prose Portal, which enables people to cross into a literary text, he sends a minion into Chuzzlewit to seize and kill a minor character, thus forever changing the novel. Worse is to come. When the manuscript of Jane Eyre, Next's favorite novel, disappears, and Jane herself is spirited out of the book, Next must pursue Hades inside Charlotte Bronte’s masterpiece.
	First Part Last by Angela Johnson J JOH Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.
	Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier Fiction Chevalier Imagines the young woman in Johannes Vermeer's mysterious painting "The Girl With a Pearl Earring" as a sixteen-year-old Dutch girl named Griet who sparks the interest of the artist when she becomes a maid in his turbulent household.
	The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian J TAS Seventeen-year-old Josh, a loner-philosopher who wants to make a difference in the world, tries to maintain his secret identity as the author of a web site that is receiving national attention.
	Inside Out by Terry Trueman A sixteen-year-old with schizophrenia is caught up in the events surrounding an attempted robbery by two other teens who eventually hold him hostage. [The library will soon own copies of this title.]
	King of the Mild Frontier: an ill-advised autobiography by Chris Crutcher J CRU For those who want to know the real poop behind this popular author's characters (and, to some extent, his character), this is the book you've been waiting for. Protective of his alcoholic mom and at almost constant odds with his strict and demanding dad, Crutcher describes incidents and telling episodes from his formative years. His signature wit was sharpened in response to both his feelings of inadequacy and his competitive nature, honed by participation in high school and college sports.
	Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Fiction Hosseini Traces the unlikely friendship of a wealthy Afghan youth and a servant's son in a tale that spans the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy through the atrocities of the present day.
	Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve J REE In the distant future, when cities move about and consume smaller towns, a fifteen-year-old apprentice is pushed out of London by the man he most admires and must seek answers in the perilous Out-Country, aided by one girl and the memory of another.
	Mother, Come Home by Paul Hornschmeier This graphic novel is a melancholic tragedy, written from the point of view of a young boy named Thomas who's dealing with the death of his mother byretreating deep into a fantasy world while his father gradually collapses into insanity.
	My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult Fiction Picoult Imagine that you were conceived to be the donor of bone marrow and platelets for your older sister, who has a rare form of cancer. Imagine what it would be like to grow up in a family where everyone is constantly aware of one child's deadly illness, so that all decisions must be filtered through what will work for her treatment or her most recent medical emergency. How can a 13-year-old decide against donating a kidney to her older sister?
	Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz Fiction Koontz What if Cole ("I see dead people") Sear from the film The Sixth Sense had grown up and wanted to use his special gift for the benefit of others while keeping this talent hidden from all but his closest friends? He would be Odd Thomas. A 20-year-old short-order cook, Odd Thomas seeks to avoid attention and keep his life simple, at the same time dealing with spirits (including that of Elvis) that have not yet let go of their ties to the real world. In addition, Odd Thomas is able to see other spiritual entities that swarm near people and places where future violence will occur.
	Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez J SAN Three high school seniors, a jock with a girlfriend and an alcoholic father, a closeted gay, and a flamboyant gay rights advocate, struggle with family issues, gay bashers, first sex, and conflicting feelings about each other.
	Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli J SPI In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever.
	Stiff: The True Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach 611 ROA Those curious or brave enough to find out what really happens to a body that is donated to the scientific community can do so with this book.Dissection in medical anatomy classes is about the least bizarre of the purposes that science has devised.
	Sweetblood by Pete Hautman J HAU When Lucy suggests in a term paper that the symptoms of untreated diabetes might look a lot like vampirism, she gets in a world of trouble--her teacher thinks she's disturbed and her parents are worried. Then Lucy meets a man who claims to be a real vampire.
	The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen The summer following her father's death, Macy plans to work at the library and wait for her brainy boyfriend to return from camp, but instead she goes to work at a catering business where she makes new friends and finally faces her grief.
	The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard Fiction Maynard Because of a fight, Wendy, 13, didn't speak to her mother that fateful morning of 9/11 before she left for school and her mother went to work on the 84th floor of the World Trade Center. In the aftermath of the disaster, Wendy, her stepfather, and her four-year-old half brother go about in a daze until she is picked up and moved to California by her father. The divorce had been difficult and the girl doesn't know much about Garrett, who has few, if any, parenting skills. In California, her life spreads out to include all sorts of new acquaintances.
	You Remind Me of You: A Poetry Memoir by Eireann Corrigan 811.6 COR This startling autobiographical account tells of a young woman's battle with eating disorders that put her in and out of hospitals over a span of four years and led to her own parents fighting for the right to commit her. When her last source of support, her boyfriend, attempts suicide and ends up in a coma, she is forced to find strength from within.
	5/05 - ljj