2015-16 South CarolinaYoung Adult Book Award Nominees

5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Horn Book (Fall 2013)

Cassie, sixteen, prepares herself for the fifth wave of aliens, the final takeover, fearing that she may be all that's left of humanity. She's alone until she meets "very good-looking" Evan Walker, and together they must figure out how to fight back.

http://www.rickyancey.com/books/the-5th-wave

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

Horn Book (Spring 2014)

When a car crash ends Ezra's sports career he feels alienated from his popular peers. Adrift, he reconnects with an old friend, joins the debate team, and falls in love with an eccentric girl who keeps him at arm's length.

http://www.robynschneider.com/thebeginningofeverything/

Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

Horn Book (Fall 2013)

Ignoring warnings from her three overbearing older sisters, Jude Hernandez hires a heartbreaking Vargas boy to rebuild her father's vintage motorcycle. Jude falls in love with Emilio in the garage, but their relationship falters as Jude's father succumbs to early onset Alzheimer's.

http://sarahockler.com/books/the-book-of-broken-hearts/

Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff

Horn Book (Fall 2013)Assassin Boy Nobody serves a mysterious organization called The Program, assuming new identities to get close to his targets. When an assignment involving the mayor of New York stirs up memories of Boy Nobody's past, it complicates his mission.

http://www.allenzadoff.com/

The Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni

Horn Book (Fall 2013)When Verity returns to rural Pennsylvania in 1867 for an arranged marriage, she's met with old family secrets, unexpected suitors, and plenty of hostility. Most upsetting, however, is the discovery that her long-deceased mother was buried in unhallowed ground in a "caged grave." As vigorous, intelligent Verity investigates the mysterious burial, she unearths old crimes and new plots.

http://diannesalerni.com/books/the-caged-graves/

Find Me by Romily Bernard

Horn Book Guide (Fall 2014)Computer-hacking foster girl Wick, sixteen, has been dealt a tough hand, but when an old friend commits suicide and her diary ends up on Wick's front porch, the stakes are raised. Haunted by the written words "Find Me," Wick sets out to discover the truth behind Tessa Waye's death.

http://www.romilybernard.com/

The Impossible Knife of Memory

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Horn Book (Fall 2014)Hayley Kincain has spent the last five years riding shotgun in her father's rig. Constant movement has helped keep the past at bay for both Hayley and her veteran dad. When they settle down so Hayley can attend high school for senior year, their memories threaten to overtake them both.

http://madwomanintheforest.com/the-impossible-knife-of-memory/

In the Shadows of Blackbirdsby Cat Winters

Horn Book (Fall 2013)Against the graphic backdrop of the 1918 flu pandemic and the horrific physical condition of many soldiers returning from WWI, sixteen-year-old skeptic Mary Shelley Black begins to question her opinions about the spiritualist movement when she finds she's able to communicate with her deceased lover.

http://www.catwinters.com/p/in-shadow-of-blackbirds.html

Invisibilityby Andrea Cremer

Horn Book (Fall 2013)Stephen has been invisible--literally--since birth, but strangely, his neighbor, Elizabeth, can see him. The two take turns narrating as Stephen learns who's responsible for his invisibility, and Elizabeth discovers an ability to see spells cast on other people.

http://andreacremer.com/books/invisibility/synopsis/

Kindness for Weaknessby Shawn Goodman

Horn Book (Fall 2013)Fifteen-year-old James gets caught dealing drugs, but he only did it to help his big brother. Now he's locked up in a brutal juvenile detention center.

http://www.shawngoodmanbooks.com/kindness_for_weakness_118188.htm

Life After Theftby Aprilynne Pike

Horn Book (Fall 2013)On his first day at a new private high school, Jeff befriends a girl nobody else can see. Kimberlee had been a popular mean girl with kleptomania; now she is a ghost, trapped on earth until she can return her mountain of stolen goods.

http://www.aprilynnepike.com/life-after-theft/

Living with Jackie Chanby Jo Knowles

Horn Book (Spring 2014)Overcome with guilt after getting Ellie pregnant (Jumping Off Swings), Josh moves in with his karate-obsessed, incessantly cheerful uncle. He starts senior year at a new school, attends his uncle's karate classes, and makes a new friend-who-might-be-more.

http://www.joknowles.com/LIVING_WITH_JACKIE_CHAN.html

Nogginby John Corey Whaley

Horn Book (March/April, 2014)Losing his battle to terminal cancer, sixteen-year-old Travis opts to have his head surgically removed, stored cryogenically, and restored to life at some point in the distant future when medical technology is able to attach it to a new body. That day comes sooner than anyone thinks, just five years later, but so much has changed. Adjusting to his new body and his unwanted fame are the least of his worries. Travis's best friend Kyle, who had come out to him, has now gone back into the closet; his girlfriend, Cate, is now engaged to somebody else; and his parents' relationship is not as healthy as it seems.

http://johncoreywhaley.com/untitled/

Palace of Spiesby Sarah Zettel

Horn Book (Spring 2014)In eighteenth-century London, destitute orphan Peggy Fitzroy agrees to impersonate the recently deceased spy Lady Francesca as maid of honor to Princess Caroline. With a war of succession, jilted love, and religious turmoil in the mix, Peggy must navigate intrigue and shady liaisons to uncover the truth behind her predecessor's death.

http://www.sarahzettel.com/novel/palace-of-spies/

Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girlby Carolita Blythe

Horn Book (Fall 2013)Abused fourteen-year-old Faye hates her Brooklyn Catholic school. After she and her friends violently rob an elderly woman, Faye is drawn back to the scene of the crime and ends up forging a connection with the last person she ever expected.

http://carolitablythe.com/Page_4.php

Spirit and Dustby Rosemary Clement-Moore

Horn Book (Spring 2014)Teenage medium Daisy Goodnight (Texas Gothic) is consulting on a missing-persons case when she herself is abducted. Her kidnapper? The missing coed's crime-boss father, who coerces Daisy (withhot-but-probably-criminal Carson) into a wild goose chase to find the ransom: an ancient Egyptian magical artifact.

https://readrosemary.wordpress.com/books/spirit-and-dust/

Steelheartby Brandon Sanderson

Horn Book (Spring 2014)When the Calamity gives some people superpowers, no heroes arise, only power-mad villains. Ten years later, Jonah buys his way into a group of human resistance fighters with information about how to kill the seemingly invincible Chicago tyrant Steelheart.

http://brandonsanderson.com/books/steelheart/steelheart/

This is What Happy Looks Likeby Jennifer E. Smith

Horn Book (May/June, 2013)When sixteen-year-old Ellie erroneously receives an email from GDL824@yahoo.com, she writes back, striking up a snappy, flirtatious friendship with the stranger. Thankfully, this isn't a cautionary tale about an internet predator, though GDL has omitted crucial information: he's actually Graham Larkin, one of the hottest teen movie stars in the country. And, in part because of their friendship, he's decided to spend the summer filming in Ellie's small town of Henley, Maine. Ellie and Graham feel an instant attraction: after all, they already know each other. But their relationship faces challenges and disapproval from both sides. Graham is encouraged to date an actress and is relentlessly pursued by paparazzi; Ellie, hiding a family secret, doesn't want to be photographed with him or reveal their relationship to her mother.

http://www.jenniferesmith.com/this-is-what-happy-looks-like/

The Tyrant’s Daughterby J.C. Carleson

Horn Book (Fall 2014)After her father, the king of an unnamed Middle Eastern country, is assassinated, Laila, her mother, and brother find themselves living in a DC suburb, rescued by the CIA from certain death in exchange for Laila's mothers cooperation.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/197340314/The-Tyrant-s-Daughter-by-J-C-Carleson#scribd

When You Were Hereby Daisy Whitney

Horn Book (Fall 2013)Danny's mother has recently died from cancer, his father died years ago, his estranged sister lives in China, and he and Holland, the love of his life, have broken up. A trip to Japan is enlightening and helps him handle a shocking secret he learns about Holland.

http://daisywhitney.blogspot.com/p/when-you-were-here.html

Google Slide presentation produced by Michele BatesMedia SpecialistNorthside Middle School

Summaries fromHornbook (as indicated)