Abraham Lincoln Book Award Nominees 2009

  After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings & Flew Away

Jenna Abbott separates her life into two categories: before the wreck and after the wreck. Before the wreck, she was leading a normal life with her mom in suburban New York. After the wreck, Jenna is alone, trying desperately to forget what happened that day on the bridge. Then Jenna meets Crow. He is a powerfully seductive enigma, and Jenna is instantly drawn to him. Crow is able to break down the wall that Jenna has built around her emotions, and she surprises herself by telling him things she hasn't told anyone else. Can Jenna bring herself to face the memories she's tried so hard to erase?
 

  The Bonemender
by Holly Bennett

Gabrielle is a bonemender of extraordinary talent; her life is busy, comfortable and predictable—until the day a stranger arrives at her gate, desperately seeking help for his injured friend. As her people arm for war, Gabrielle must mobilize the bonemenders. But what awaits her on that bloody field is worse than anything she has imagined. And what is she to do with the love in her heart?  

  Catch

FIC LEITCH

Everything comes easy for Tim Temples. He’s got a sweet summer job, lots of love from the ladies, and parties with his high school buddies. Why does he need to go to college? Then Tim falls hard for Helena—a worldly and mysterious twenty-two year-old. Their relationship opens his eyes to life outside the small town of Mattoon, Illinois. Now Tim has to choose: Will he settle for being a small town hero, or will he leave it all behind to follow his dreams?

  Crank
by Ellen Hopkins

FIC HOPKINS

Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, Kristina disappears and Bree takes her place. Bree is the exact opposite of Kristina — she's fearless. Through a boy, Bree meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle for her mind, her soul and her life.

  Dairy Queen
by Catherine Murdock

When you don't talk, there's a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said. Stuff like why your best friend, Amber, isn't so friendly anymore. Why your mom has two jobs and a big secret. Why your college-football-star brothers won't even call home. And why a guy named Brian is so, so out of your league. Welcome to the summer of fifteen-year-old D. J. Schwenk of Red Bend, Wisconsin, who learns to talk, and ends up having an awful lot of stuff to say.

The Girls
by Lori Lansens

FIC LANSENS

Rose and Ruby Darlen are closer than most twin sisters. Indeed, they have spent their twenty-nine years on earth joined at the head. Given that they share a web of essential veins, there is no possibility that they can be separated in their lifetime. Born in a small town in the midst of a tornado, the sisters are abandoned by their frightened teenaged mother and create a circus-like stir in the medical community. The attending nurse, however, sees their true beauty and decides to adopt them.  She and her husband move to a farm where the girls can live as normal a life as possible.  

  Hawksong
by Amelia Atwater Rhodes

FIC RHODES

Danica Shardae is an avian shapeshifter, and the golden hawk’s form in which she takes to the sky is as natural to her as the human one that graces her on land. The only thing more familiar to her is war: It has raged between her people and the serpiente for so long, no one can remember how the fighting began. As heir to the avian throne, she’ll do anything in her power to stop this war—even accept Zane Cobriana, the terrifying leader of her kind’s greatest enemy, as her pair bond and make the two royal families one. Trust. It is all Zane asks of Danica—and all they ask of their people—but it may be more than she can give.

  I Am the Messenger
by Markus Zusak

FIC ZUSAK

Meet Ed Kennedy—underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he’s hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That’s when the first Ace arrives. That’s when Ed becomes the messenger. . . . Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?

  It's Kind of a Funny Story

FIC VIZZINI

Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan’s prestigious Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Craig aces the entrance exam and gets accepted. Once Craig begins attending classes, he realizes a shocking truth: He is just one of the many brilliant kids who attend the school. In fact, he isn’t even brilliant, he is just average. As Craig starts getting so-so grades, he sees his once-perfect future crumbling away. His anxiety mounting, Craig begins to have trouble eating, sleeping, doing simple things that used to be routine. He eventually realizes he is clinically depressed.  

  Jennifer Government

FIC BARRY

In Max Barry's twisted, hilarious vision of the near future, the world is run by giant American corporations; taxes are illegal; employees take the last names of the companies they work for; the Police and the NRA are publicly traded security firms; the Government may investigate crimes only if it can bill a citizen directly. It's a free market paradise! Hack Nike finds himself pursued by Jennifer Government, a tough-talking agent with a barcode tattoo under her eye and a rabid determination to nail John Nike.  

  The Lightning Thief
by Rick Riordan

FIC RIORDAN

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse -- Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld.  

Looking for Alaska
by John Green

FIC GREEN

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words - and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.   

  A Northern Lightt

FIC DONNELLY

In 1906, sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiance, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest. Based on a true story.  

  Peeps
by Scott Westerfeld

FIC WESTERFELD

A year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying than in attending biology class. Now, after a fateful encounter with a mysterious woman named Morgan, biology has become, literally, Cal's life. Cal was infected by a parasite that has a truly horrifying effect on its host. Cal himself is a carrier, unchanged by the parasite, but he's infected the girlfriends he's had since Morgan. All three have turned into the ravening ghouls Cal calls Peeps. The rest of us know them as vampires. It's Cal's job to hunt them down before they can create more of their kind. . . .  

  Raiders Night
by Robert Lipsyte

FIC LIPSYTE

At Nearmont High School, football stars are treated like royalty, and Matt Rydek has just ascended to the throne. As co-captain of the Raiders, he's got it all, or so it seems: hot girls, all the right friends, plenty of juice to make him strong, and a winning team poised to go all the way. If he can keep his eye on the ball now, his future will be set, with a full ride to a Division One school, a shot at the pros, and—most important—his dad off his back. But when the team turns on one of its own, should Matt play by Raiders rules, or should he go long alone?  

  Sold
by Patricia McCormick

FIC McCORMICK

Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut in a mountain village in Nepal. Her life is made up of simple pleasures like going to school and spending time with her loving ama and baby brother. But these happy times are undercut by the desperate poverty that threatens the lives of the villagers. Then one day, Lakshmi's father brings her to a shopkeeper in town and tells Lakshmi that she is going to go work as a maid in India so that her wages can be sent home. Glad to help support her family, Lakshmi undertakes the long journey and arrives at "Happiness House" full of hope. But she soon discovers the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution  

  Such a Pretty Girl

FIC WEISS

 They promised Meredith nine years of safety, but only gave her three. Her father was supposed to be locked up until Meredith turned eighteen. She thought she had time to grow up, get out, and start a new life. But Meredith is only fifteen, and today her father is coming home from prison. Today her time has run out.

  Taken
by Chris Jordan

FIC JORDAN

No parent believes it can happen to them—their child taken from a suburban schoolyard in the gentle hours of dusk. But as widowed mother Kate Bickford discovers, everything can change in the blink of an eye. One minute her lanky, amazing, maddening Tommy is begging for ice cream. Then in a terrible instant, he's gone. Opening the door to her Connecticut home, hoping to find her son, Kate comes face-to-face with her son's abductor. Her comfortable life collapses as precious seconds tick by, and Kate is horrified to uncover the terrible, world-shattering secret she and her son share with a killer who will stop at nothing . . .  

  The Tenth Circle

FIC PICOULT

Fourteen-year-old Trixie Stone is in love for the first time. She's also the light of her father, Daniel's life -- a straight-A student; a pretty, popular freshman in high school; a girl who's always seen her father as a hero. That is, until her world is turned upside down with a single act of violence. Suddenly everything Trixie has believed about her family -- and herself -- seems to be a lie. Could the boyfriend who once made Trixie wild with happiness have been the one to end her childhood forever?  

  Three Cups of Tea
by Greg Mortenson

371.822 MORTENSON

Anyone who despairs of the individual's power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan's treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools-especially for girls-that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson's quest Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.  

  The Warrior Heir
by Cinda Williams Chima

FIC CHIMA

Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity. Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high-schoolers. Then one day Jack skips his medicine. Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. And it feels great until he loses control of his own strength and nearly kills another player during soccer team tryouts. Jack’s performance on the soccer field has alerted the entire magical community and they’ll stop at nothing to get Jack to fight for them.  

  What Happened to Cass McBride?
by Gail Giles

FIC GILES

Kyle Kirby has planned a cruel and unusual revenge on Cass McBride, the most popular girl in school, for the death of his brother David. He digs a hole. Drugs Cass. Kidnaps her. Puts her in a box-underground. He buries her alive. But Kyle makes a fatal error: Cass knows the power of words. She uses fear as her weapon to keep her nemesis talking - and to keep herself breathing during the most harrowing 48 hours of her life