2011 William C. Morris Award - Shortlist

The nominees have been narrowed down. Here is the shortlist:

William C. Morris Award, which honors a book written for young adults by a previously unpublished author. YALSA will name the 2011 award winner at the Youth Media Awards on Jan. 10, during the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting in San Diego.

The 2011 finalists are:

Hush by Eishes Chayil, published by Walker Publishing Company, a division of Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc.
Growing up in her insular Chassidic Jewish community has always made Gittel feel secure and given her a sense of belonging. But when her best friend, Devory, hangs herself after being sexually abused, her faith in the group is challenged and only gradually does she find ways to express her desire for the community to deal with the issue. 

Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey, published by Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Book Group
Seventeen-year-old Ellie Spencer is just trying to make it through her last year of high school, but a chance interaction with the school's weirdo, Mark Nolan, puts her on a very different path filled with Maori legends come to life.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride, published by Henry Holt

Sam thinks his life working in a fast food restaurant is awful. But when he's confronted by a powerful necromancer, he learns that everything he thought was true about his life — isn't.

Crossing the Tracks by Barbara Stuber, published by Margaret McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon &Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

In the 1920s, Iris' emotionally distant father sends her to rural Missouri to act as a companion to an elderly woman while he heads to Kansas City with his fiance. Iris' mother died when she was five, and it takes her some time to learn to care for Mrs. Nesbitt and see her own future with optimism.

The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston, published by Carolrhoda Lab, an imprint of Carolrhoda Books, a division of Lerner Publishing Group

Loa, a strong, intelligent, hardworking sixteen-year-old experiences a year of loss: the death of her sister who was born with a genetic disorder, her lifelong friend who was killed in an accident, her best friend who has gone to Europe, and even her dog. While trying to take care of her family and make it through school she ponders the laws of physics and tries to understand what can never make sense.

Okay...confession time, I haven't read any of them. The good news is that I've at least heard of them. The last two, not so much. Have any of you read any?

2010 - Winner: Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan

Finalists: Ash by Malinda Lo, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, The Everafter by Amy Huntley, and Hold Still by Nina LaCour

2009 - Winner: A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Finalists: Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne, Madapple by Christina Meldrum, and Me, the Missing, and the Deadby Jenny Valentine.

For more information on the William C. Morris Award go HERE