Black-Eyed Susan Book Award Nominees 2010-2011
Candor by Pam Bachorz (Lexile 350)
In the model community of Candor, Florida, every teen wants to be like Oscar Banks. The son of the town's founder, Oscar, earns straight A’s,
is student-body president, and is in demand for every club and cause. But, Oscar has a secret. He knows that parents bring their teens to Candor
to make them respectful, compliant and perfect through subliminal messages that carefully correct and control their behavior. Oscar has built a
business sabotaging his father's scheme with messages of his own, getting his clients out before they’ve turned. After all, who would ever
suspect the perfect Oscar Banks? Then he meets Nia, the girl he can't stand to see changed. Saving Nia means losing her forever.
Flash Burnout by L. K. Madigan (Lexile 570)
Fifteen-year-old Blake has a girlfriend and a friend who’s a girl. One of them loves him; the other one needs him.
When he snapped a picture of a street person for his photography homework, Blake never dreamed that the woman in the photo was his friend
Marissa’s long-lost meth addicted mom. Blake’s participation in the ensuing drama opens up a world of trouble, both for him and for Marissa.
He spends the next few months trying to reconcile the conflicting roles of Boyfriend and Friend. In a tangle of life and death, love and loyalty,
Blake will emerge with a more sharply defined snapshot of himself.
Flygirl by Sherri Smith (Lexile 690)
Ida Mae Jones dreams of flight. Her daddy was a pilot and being black didn't stop him from fulfilling his dreams. But her daddy's gone now,
and being a woman, and being black, are two strikes against her. When America enters the war with Germany and Japan, the Army creates the
WASP, the Women's Air Force Service Pilots. Ida suddenly sees a way to fl y as well as do something significant to help her brother stationed
in the Pacific. But even the WASP won't accept her as a black woman, forcing Ida Mae to make a difficult choice of "passing" (pretending to
be white) to be accepted into the program. Hiding one's racial heritage, denying one's family, denying one's self is a heavy burden. While Ida
Mae chases her dream, she must also decide who it is she really wants to be.
Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt (Lexile 620)
Remy Walker has it all: he found the love of his life at home in crumbling Dwyer, West Virginia, deep in his beloved Appalachian Mountains
where his family settled more than one hundred and sixty years ago. But at seventeen, you’re not supposed to already be where you want to be,
right? You’ve got the whole world to make your way through and you start by leaving your dead-end town. Like his girlfriend, Lisa, who is
going away to college. If Remy goes with her, it would be the start of everything they ever dreamed of. So when a fascinating young artist from
out of state shows Remy his home through new eyes, why is he suddenly questioning his future?
Gamer Girl by Mari Mancusi (Lexile 660)
After Maddy's parents divorce, she's stuck starting over at a new high school. Friendless and nicknamed Freak Girl, Manga-loving artist
Maddy finds refuge in the interactive online game Fields of Fantasy. In that virtual world, she reinvents herself as Allora, a gorgeous elfin alter
ego, and meets a true friend in Sir Leo. Maddy can't hide behind Allora forever, especially as a real-life crush begins edging in on her budding
virtual romance. But would anyone pick the real Maddy, gamer girl and Manga freak, over the fantasy?
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Lexile 810)
Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United
States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy
and one girl to compete in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may
change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.
If I Stay by Gayle Foreman (Lexile 830)
In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet
Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck... A sophisticated,
layered, and heart achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make— and the ultimate choice Mia
commands.
Paper Towns by John Green (Lexile 850)
Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a
window and climbs back into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge— he follows. After their
all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon
learns that there are clues- and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew.
Pop by Gordon Korman (Lexile 740)
When Marcus moves to a new town in the dead of summer, he doesn’t know a soul. While practicing football for impending tryouts, he strikes
up an unlikely friendship with an older man. Charlie is a charismatic prankster—and the best football player Marcus has ever seen. He can’t
believe his good luck when he finds out that Charlie is actually Charlie Popovich, or “the King of Pop,” as he had been nicknamed during his
career as an NFL linebacker. But that’s not all, there is a secret about Charlie that his family is desperate to hide.
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (Lexile 740)
For years, Grace has been fascinated by the yellow-eyed wolf that saved her from its pack when she was a child. Sam, bitten by a wolf as a
boy, is that wolf. Long obsessed with each other at a distance, they finally meet after a wolf hunt (inspired by the apparent death of a local teen)
sends a wounded and temporarily human Sam into Grace's arms. Their young love is facilitated by Grace's hands-off parents, but threatened by
two linked crises: the fact that Sam will soon lose the ability to become human and the instability of a new lycanthrope.
All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg (Lexile 680)
Although he loves his American parents and new little brother, Matt misses the family he left behind two years ago, in 1975, when he was
airlifted out of Vietnam. He feels guilty for leaving behind his toddler brother, who was mutilated by a bomb, and yearns for his birth mother,
who pushed him "through screaming madness and choking dust" into the arms of soldiers. Matt's baseball coach and Vietnam vet piano teacher
help ease his pain, but it is the patience and unconditional love of his new parents, which proves the strongest healing force. The war-torn
Vietnamese village that appears in Matt's recurring nightmares sharply contrasts with the haven he has in America.
Anything but Typical by Nora Baskin (Lexile 640)
Jason Blake is an autistic 12-year-old living in his neurotypical world. Most days it’s just a matter of time before something goes wrong. But
Jason finds a glimmer of understanding when he comes across PhoenixBird, who posts stories to the same online site as he does. Jason can be
himself when he writes, and he thinks that PhoenixBird – her name is Rebecca – could be his first real friend. But as desperate as Jason is to
meet her, he’s terrified that if they do meet, Rebecca will only see his autism and not who Jason really is.
Boost by Kathy Mackel (Lexile 600)
Thirteen-year-old Savvy is six two and full of raw basketball talent; her three-point shot is deadly. But she's also skinny and gets pushed
around on the court. Her older sister, Callie, is a freshman on varsity cheerleading, but she's not quite light enough to be a flier—her coveted
position. Both girls need to boost their level of competition to get off the bench and into the action. When steroids are found in Savvy's gym
bag, she claims they are not hers. Suddenly, accusations are flying and nobody knows who is telling the truth.
Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James Swanson (Lexile 980)
This fast-paced thriller tells the story of the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth and gives a day-by-day account of the wild chase to find
this killer and his accomplices. Based on James Swanson's bestselling adult book MANHUNT: THE 12-DAY CHASE FOR LINCOLN'S
KILLER, this young people's version is an accessible look at the assassination of a president. It shows readers Abraham Lincoln the man, the
father, the husband, the friend, and how his death impacted those closest to him.
The Compound by S. A. Bodeen (Lexile 570)
Eli, the 15-year-old son of a billionaire techno-preneur, has spent the last six years with his family in the massive underground shelter his father
has built, knowing that nuclear war has destroyed the world he knows and killed his grandmother and his twin brother. With nine years to go
before the air outside will be safe to breathe again, the food supply shows signs of running out. Eli's father has a solution -- provided they
jettison all morals and ethics. Repulsed and already suspicious, Eli begins investigating his father's claims, and sets up a family death match
against a man who grows increasingly irrational and sinister but no less powerful.
Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass (Lexile 740)
Three narrators take turns: Ally, who lives with her parents and younger brother at the Moon Shadow Campground and loves every tree and
every rock on it, but most especially the stars above it; glamour-loving Bree, who announces to readers that she must have been "switched at
birth" to explain her presence among physicist parents and a geeky younger sister; and Jack, who is helping his science teacher lead a solar
eclipse tour to the Moon Shadow to make up his failing grade. The trio's paths converge because Ally's parents have sold the Moon Shadow to
Bree's, and everyone meets up at the campgrounds during a major eclipse. The voices reflect the distinct personalities, and while the outcome is
never in doubt-each character discovers unexpected powers of adaptability and new talents-Mass keeps the developments believable.
Jolted: Newton Starker’s Rules for Survival by Arthur Slade (Lexile 660)
Newton Starker lives with a mysterious curse: his family attracts lightning. Nearly all of the Starker family has died from lightning strikes,
including Newton's beloved mother. Fourteen-year-old Newton is determined not to be next, and he may have found a way to beat the odds. He
has enrolled at Jerry Potts Academy for Survival, a boarding school in Moose Jaw, Canada, whose motto is Survival Through Fierce
Intelligence. Newton's ready to learn and to be remembered in the school's Hall of Heroes. What Newton hasn't counted on are the other
students. For a boy who's spent most of his life in a protective dome, making friends is sometimes as challenging as surviving. Especially when
he's vying for top marks with the dynamo Violet Quon.
Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor (Lexile 570)
Addie's stepfather, Dwight, has always been the responsible one in the family. But after he and her mother divorce, and he gets custody of
Addie's two younger half-sisters, it's up to Addie to keep order in the tiny trailer that Dwight has found for Addie and her mother. While her
mother disappears for days at a time with her new boyfriend, Addie cultivates friendships with people she meets at a neighboring convenience
store, but the affection she receives from others doesn't compensate for the absence of love in her home. Addie works hard to fill the void her
volatile mother creates, and Addie's attempts to make things "normal" result in some of the most moving scenes: she keeps the cabinets full by
putting empty boxes of food on the shelf "for show."
When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton (Lexile 810)
Meet a town and a train and a time and a boy – Jimmy Cannon. And meet his father – as strong as a Mallet locomotive – whom Jimmy simply
cannot figure out! But who, in a dramatic and unexpected twist, turns out to be so much more than Jimmy ever knew. In a book that goes to the
core of boyhood – its Halloween mischief, its hunting day mystery, its championship football game surprise, and its nighttime adventures –
Fran Cannon Slayton brings her listeners to the breathtaking crossroads of an unforgettable WV railroad town, a family that matters.
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Lexile 750)
By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go,
like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner. Things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new
kid for what seems like no reason and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for an emergency
is stolen. Then, Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper: I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.
I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them
knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a
tragic death, until the final note makes her think she’s too late.