A committee of public and school Librarians chooses 20 recent books. Then teens vote for their favorite books out of the year's top 20 nominees at their high schools and local public libraries, resulting in one Peach Book Award Winner each school year and two Peach Honor Books.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
When Anna's romance-novelist father sends her to an elite American boarding school in Paris for her senior year of high school, she reluctantly goes, and meets an amazing boy who becomes her best friend, in spite of the fact that they both want something more.
www.stephanieperkins.com/ Divergent by Veronica RothIn a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life; a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.
veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/ Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Fifteen-year-old Waverly, part of the first generation of children born in deep space after her world was destroyed, questions her upcoming marriage to Kieran even though she knows she must marry and have children young in order to help populate New Earth. After she is separated from Kieran and taken hostage by the leaders of a sister ship who want to rule the planet,she finds herself at the helm of a dangerous mission.
amykathleenryan.com/glow.php Jump by Elisa Carbone
Jump. That's what sixteen-year-old P.K. has done. She's taken an impulsive jump from her restrictive life with her family into a life of total adventure: running away to go rock climbing out west with a guy she barely knows. When the cops finally catch up to them with an arrest warrant, P.K. has to decide: will she believe the amazing guy she trusts with her life or the cops who want her to believe that he may take her life?
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Rory, of Benouville, Louisiana, is spending a year at a London boarding school when she witnesses a murder by a Jack the Ripper copycat and becomes involved with the very unusual investigation.
www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com/books/the-name-of-the-star/ Now Is the Time for Running by Michael Williams.
When soldiers attack a small village in Zimbabwe, Deo goes on the run with Innocent, his mentally disabled older brother, carrying little but a leather soccer ball filled with money After facing prejudice, poverty, and tragedy, it is in soccer that Deo finds renewed hope. www.hachettebookgroup.com/
teens_books_9780316134781.htm Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
In the year 2044, Wade Watts, like the rest of humanity, chooses to escape reality and spends his waking hours in the limitless, utopian virtual world of the OASIS. But when Wade stumbles upon the first of the fiendish puzzles set up by OASIS creator James Halliday, he finds he must compete with thousands of others--including those willing to commit murder--in order to claim a prize of massive fortune.
www.readyplayerone.com/ The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Lennie plays second clarinet in the school orchestra and has always happily been second fiddle to her charismatic older sister, Bailey. Then Bailey dies suddenly, and Lennie is left at sea without her anchor. Overcome by emotion, Lennie soon finds herself torn between two boys: Bailey's boyfriend, Toby, and Joe, the charming and musically gifted new boy in town.
www.theskyiseverywhere.com/ Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach
Just before his sixteenth birthday, Felton Reinstein has a sudden growth spurt that turns him from a small, jumpy, picked-on boy with the nickname of "Squirrel Nuts" to a powerful athlete, leading to new friends, his first love, and the courage to confront his family's past and current problems.
geoffherbach.com/index.html What Can’t Wait by Ashley Hope Perez
Marooned in a broken-down Houston neighborhood--and in a Mexican immigrant family where making ends meet matters much more than making it to college--smart, talented Marissa seeks comfort elsewhere when her home life becomes unbearable.
www.ashleyperez.com/ |
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina, her mother, and brother are pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet guards and sent to Siberia, where her father is sentenced to death in a prison camp while she fights for her life, vowing to honor her family and the thousands like hers by burying her story in a jar on Lithuanian soil. Based on the author's family.
www.betweenshadesofgray.com/ The False PrincessFor sixteen years, Nalia has been raised as the princess of Thorvaldor, but one day she learns that her real name is Sinda and that she is part of a complicated plot that would change the future of her country forever.
www.eilisoneal.com/ The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Science journalist Skloot brilliantly weaves together the story of Henrietta Lacks--a woman whose cells without her knowledge or consent, have been used for scientific research since the 1950s--with the birth of bioethics, and the dark history of experimentation on African Americans.
rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/ The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
When Alex, a junior at an elite preparatory school, realizes that she may have been the victim of date rape, she confides in her roommates and sister who convince her to seek help from a secret society, the Mockingbirds.
daisywhitney.com/mynovels/ Notes From the Blender by T. Cook & B. Halpin
Declan, a fan of Finnish death metal, violent video games, and Internet porn, dreams of getting to know beautiful gymnast Neilly Foster, not realizing his dearest wish is about to come true because his dad is going to marry Neilly's mother.
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King
When her best friend, whom she secretly loves, betrays her and then dies under mysterious circumstances, high school senior Vera Dietz struggles with secrets that could help clear his name.
www.as-king.com/html/vera.php The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanan
When a school bus accident following a track meet leaves sixteen-year-old Jessica an amputee, she returns to school with a prosthetic limb and her track team finds a wonderful way to help rekindle her dream of running again. www.randomhouse.com/book/200415/the-running-dream-by-wendelin-van-draanen Stick by Andrew Smith
Fourteen-year-old Stark McClellan (nicknamed Stick because he’s tall and thin) is bullied for being “deformed” – he was born with only one ear. His older brother Bosten is always there to defend Stick. But the boys can’t defend one another from their abusive parents. When Stick realizes Bosten is gay, he knows that to survive his father's anger, Bosten must leave home. Stick has to find his brother, or he will never feel whole again.
us.macmillan.com/stick/AndrewSmith This Girl Is Different by J.J. Johnson
Having always been home schooled by her counter-culture mother, Evie has decided to spend her senior year at the local public high school, an experience that challenges her preconceptions about friendship, boundaries, and power.
www.jjjohnsonauthor.com/this-girl-is-different.html What Comes After by Steve Watkins
When her veterinarian father dies, sixteen-year-old Iris Wight must move from Maine to North Carolina where her Aunt Sue spends Iris's small inheritance while abusing her physically and emotionally. When Aunt Sue starts mistreating the farm animals, Iris has to take a stand.
www.candlewick.com/cat.asp |