Teens' Top Ten 2008 Nominees
Teens' Top Ten is a "teen choice" list sponsored by YALSA, where teens from around the nation choose their favorite books of the previous year. The more teens who participate, the more accurately the winning list will reflect the reading tastes of teens all over the country!
There are four ways to participate, click here for details.
Before I Die. Jenny Downham.
Tessa, who has terminal cancer, creates a list of ten things she wants to do in the months she has left to live. This fierce and devastating novel explores end-of-life realities with honesty and grace.
Betrayed. P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.
In the second House of Night book, fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird has accepted her powers and role as Leader of the Dark Daughters. She finally really fits in. But too soon the people Zoey cares about from her old life are in danger, and it looks like the House of Night is killing human teenagers. Betrayal and heartbreak are inevitable for Zoey as her world turns upside down.
City of Bones. Cassandra Clare.
New York teenager Clary witnesses a murder she cannot prove: the victim disappears before her eyes and no one else can see the killers. She discovers she can see supernatural beings that no one else can, and is drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters (teens who kill demons and monsters.) She soon learns that her mother, Jocelyn, is the only person who knows the whereabouts of The Mortal Cup, a dangerous magical item that turns humans into Shadowhunters. Clary must find the cup and keep it from a renegade sector of Shadowhunters bent on eliminating all nonhumans.
Daemon Hall. Andrew Nance and Colin Polhemus, illus.
One night, five contestants: scariest night ever! Five writers think they are getting the chance to publish their stories. What they don't know is that this seemingly friendly competition could lead to their worst nightmares coming true and haunting them forever.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Jeff Kinney.
Greg Heffley knows he's not popular, but he tries hard to fit in. He records his observations about life in middle school in his journal (NOT a diary, he says) along with frequent drawings. Realistic and laugh out loud funny!
Eclipse. Stephenie Meyer.
In the third installment of "The Twilight Saga," Bella continues her struggle in determining what life direction to take and with whom. She is pulled romantically in one direction by vampire Edward and in the other direction toward her long time friend Jake who is a werewolf. Decisions must be made as Bella prepares to graduate from high school and move forward in her life as an immortal. Tension is high and charged with emotion as Bella grapples with choices that will result in decisions that will affect her into eternity.
Extras. Scott Westerfeld.
A few years after Tally Youngblood brought down her highly ordered society of Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, popularity reigns supreme. Everyone is doing all they can to get the most buzz. In the midst of the chaos, Aya Fuse is ok with being unknown. But then she meets a secretive clique, and she wants to show the world how cool they are, but doing so would put her in the spotlight - a dangerous place she might not be ready for.
Evil Genius. Catherine Jinks.
Fourteen-year-old Cadel Piggot studies subjects like infiltration, misinformation, and forgery at the Axis Institute for World Domination. As he learns diabolical new skills, he meets a girl who makes him reconsider his turn to the dark side. Suspenseful and thrilling, readers will want to see if Cadel can or will subvert his teacher's machinations.
Glass. Ellen Hopkins.
This sequel to Crank finds Kristina one year later with a baby and mortified by her post-baby body. Speed helps her lose the weight, but it also makes her lose her reclaimed life. The spiral into hopeless addiction to meth is even faster this time. It is not just her life being affected. She has her baby to think of...doesn't she? This brutal examination of meth and its effects is written in free verse.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J.K. Rowling.
Who will be left standing in the seventh and final book? Harry, Ron, and Hermione or Lord Voldemort? Voldermort is ruthless in his pursuit of the trio, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione have honed their magical skills in the past six years and are ready for battle. Well plotted, the magical, mental, and physical challenges will bring readers to a climax never imagined.
Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale. Holly Black.
It's not easy being an urban faerie, and changeling Kaye just made life harder on herself. Drunk on faerie wine, she made a declaration of love to her boyfriend, Roiben, newly crowned King of the Unseelie Court. Now she can't see or speak to him again until she brings him a faerie that will tell a lie. Kaye and her best friend begin this seemingly impossible quest with little hope, but everyone knows that getting there is half the fun.
Jango. William Nicholson.
In this sequel to the epic fantasy Seeker, we return to Anacrea, where Seeker of Truth, Morning Star and Wildman are undergoing training to become Nomana, or Noble Warriors. Seeker discovers his innate power and enters a strange state he calls "jango." His power threatens to overwhelm his judgment, as his fellow novices are called toward their own adventures. Time is running out as the Nomana face new threats from many directions, but the three must try to discover their individual destinies, even as they work together to protect Anacrea.
Jinx. Meg Cabot.
Unlucky Jinx hopes that moving in with her aunt and uncle in New York will help her escape the bad luck that caused her so much trouble in her hometown. But it isn't to be. Her bad luck is actually a curse, and avoiding magic doesn't seem to help. Jinx's glamorous cousin Tory and her coven of Uptown witches feel threatened by Jinx's gift. Jinx must learn to control her power to turn the curse to her advantage and stop Tory before she causes too much damage.
The Luxe. Anna Godberson.
Gossip Girl meets Age of Innocence in this lushly-detailed period piece. Four teenage girls weave a web of catty gossip, lies, backstabbing and secrets in late nineteenth-century Manhattan. This tangled web includes not one but two sets of star-crossed lovers; an upstairs/downstairs romance; a scheming social climber; a bitter servant girl; and oodles of money, all set in a Edith Wharton via Hollywood vision of Old New York.
Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. James Patterson.
Max and her flock of winged, genetically engineered teens have been literally stamped with an expiration date. Additionally, they are split apart and spread around the world, hiding or captive to their worst enemies. The whitecoats (scientists) are at it again, tinkering with the usual way of things. How will the flock manage to defeat a "re-evolution" plan to engineer a superior human race and save the world?
Saving Zoë. Alyson Noël.
Echo feels pressured to match up to her sister, Zoë, especially after her sister's brutal murder. Her parents are staggered, as is Echo, but life continues to move on. Her freshman year at high school starts embarrassingly and things look grim until Zoë's former boyfriend shows up with Zoë's diary. Turns out that Zoë had gone places and done things that Echo was not aware of. As Echo explores Zoë's life through her diary, she begins to reexamine her own.
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. Jessica Day George.
The lass, the youngest child of nine, is so rejected by her mother that she isn't even named. But in return for wealth for her family, the lass agrees to spend a year in the home of an enchanted great white bear. Will she survive the year?
The Sweet Far Thing. Libba Bray
The third book and final book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy wraps up all the loose ends. Gemma is continuing to both grow in power and come under attack in "the Realms," the magical world she and her friends visit. While the late 1800's finishing school she attends with her friends is attempting to shape them into proper ladies, forces far more strong are shaping Gemma in the Realms. Gemma also continues her relationship with Kartik, a magician from the Realms. Some characters will die, while others will change their destiny.
Tamar. Mal Peet.
If your name was on a box given to you after your secretive grandfather's death, would you open it immediately? Of would you be afraid of what it might hold? Tamar waits a bit to open her box, then is plunged into her grandfather's world of resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Holland during WWII. She and her cousin must delve deeply into the clues left by her grandfather to find the truth of what happened years ago. Love, passion, mystery, and tragedy all play out masterfully against the backdrop of WWII.
Twisted. Laurie Halse Anderson.
Tyler Miller is invisible in his high school career until a rebellious grafitti prank lands him in a summer of hard labor. Now he has muscles, and he's looking good to the ladies, including Bethany Milbury, sister of his main tormentor and daughter of his father's boss. Life seems to be taking a nice turn for Tyler until he is charged for a crime he didn't commit. The reader follows Tyler as he tries to turn his twisted life into one of which he can be proud.
Unwind. Neal Shusterman.
In the future, being a troubled teen means something worse than being sent to a boot camp to get straightened out. Abortion is illegal, but when a child is between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent may choose to retroactively "abort" the child through "unwinding," in which their body parts are harvested for use by other people. Connor, Risa and Lev, who are all scheduled to be unwound, are literally running for their lives: if they can evade capture and survive until the age of 18, they will be spared a terrible fate.
Vampire Academy. Richelle Mead.
Two best friends, one a pure vampire and one a half-blood vampire, are captured and returned to the private school they escaped from two years ago. But things have changed since they left and there is now danger to add to the drama that resides in the halls of St. Vladimir's Academy.
Wicked Lovely. Melissa Marr.
Everything would have been okay for Aislinn - her relationship with Seth, her normal life - except for the fairies noticing that she was one of the few humans with "the Sight." She begins to be "tracked" by fairies that have noticed her unwanted gift of seeing the normally invisible fairies. Now Keenan, the fairie Summer King, believes Aislinn is the bride he has been seeking for nine centuries...and he won't take no for an answer because summer itself might die.
Wildwood Dancing. Juliet Marillier.
Jenica and her four sisters have a delightful secret: they can enter into a fairy world of dancing, light, and music. When their father is called away on business, however, all of that is threatened when the dreaded cousin Cesar movies into the house. This delightful fantasy mixes the feel of a fairy tale of old with a modern female sensibility.
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