List of Nominated Books

More about BBYA

On January 7th, the Teen Advisory Board will host a discussion of the nominated titles.  Join us for great snacks, suggestions for further reading and a chance to let the BBYA committee know what real teens think.

By:

What is this book about?
This book is about a boy who wakes up invisible one Monday morning.
He doesn't know what to do and neither does his genius dad.  He meets
a blind girl who may change everything.

What do you like/dislike about it?
This is an amazing book.  I didn't want to put it down.  The only thing
I didn't like (with a passion) was the ending.  I want to know what
happens, does he tell Alicia he loves her or does he hide his feelings?
But this book was super amazing.

Who would enjoy reading it?
Anyone!!!!

Review written by:
Tylar, age 17, Bothell Library

Click here to place a hold on Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements.

What is this book about?
Mr. Speed is a teacher who creates a website where all of his
students can type in their worries and they can anonymously get
help from other students.  This book shows all the students' worries.

What do you like/dislike about it?
This was a pretty fun book to read.  It wasn't your average book and
reading the worries of the kids makes you feel kind of sad.  And when
they find the solutions for their problems, you genuinely feel happy
for them.

Who would enjoy reading it?
Someone who wants a short, fun book to read.

Review written by:
Amrutha, age 12, Bothell Library

Click here to place a hold on The Worry Web Site by Jacqueline Wilson. 

By:

What is this book about?
Ben and Ned, a boy and his dog, are forced to be slaves on the
Flying Dutchman.  Then, when the Flying Dutchman is cursed to sail
the sea with her crew forevre, they are cast away from the ship. 
Instead of sailing the seas forever, the boy and dog wander around
the earth, never growing older, always helping those in need.

What do you like/dislike about it?
I Like how Ben ad Ned are able to communicate in their minds with
each other.  I also like how Ben gains his speech.

Who would enjoy reading it?
Those who enjoy adventure would probably enjoy this book most.

Review written by:
Benjamin, age 12, Bothell Library

Click here to place a hold on Castaways of the Flying Dutchman by Brian Jacques.

By:

What is this book about?
A man named Thomas Hunter, who after hitting his head and falling
unconscious, wakes up in a dream world.  After waking up in a
forest with evil black bats, he discovers the bats' evil plan to
take over the homes of the happy people nearby.  After Tanis drinks
the forbidden water, the bats destroy their homes.  Only Thomas,
Rachelle, and Johan are left.

What do you like/dislike about it?
I liked how there was two worlds and Thomas is in both.  The story
line is good and very intersting because the author keeps switching
worlds.  Both worlds have a different plot, which makes you want to
read a lot more.

Who would enjoy reading it?
Kids in middle school and junior high, not younger kids I don't think.

Review written by:
Rebecca, age 12, Bothell Library

Click here to place a hold on Black by Ted Dekker.

What is this book about?
A basketball player Nick Abbott gets ready to go to High School
basketball and shows a side where he reaches out and helps a
classmate and teammate with a heavy built family.

What do you like/dislike about it?
 I liked the realism of the entire book.  Everything said in it was
true and very realistic to the eye.  The intelligence and the
development of the characters was extremely interesting. 
A wonderful book!

Who would enjoy reading it?
It is a little heavy on violence and drug themes.  Teen, young adult.

Review written by:
Kiran, age 15, Bothell Library

Click here to place a hold on Night Hoops by Carl Deuker.

By:

What is this book about?
Gone with the Wind's twin plots of Scarlett O'Hara's trying life
and life in and after the Civil War are inextricably linked.  The
book follows her from prosperity to poverty multiple times, in
her loves and losses.

What do you like/dislike about it?
Amazing novel!  Mitchell not only captures the spirit, passions,
emotions, and events that defined America during the period in
exquisite detail, but creates full characters so well developed
that you fear they may escape the book pages.  The personalities
within make the novel and are responsible for its unending success. A+

Who would enjoy reading it?
Most everyone (12 and up perhaps).  At 1448 pages, significant amount
of spare time necessary.

Review written by:
Tucker, age 16, Bothell Library

By:

What is this book about?
Scott tries to survive in high school and he writes a survival guide. 
He gets involved in a ton of activities at school in the process.

What do you like/dislike about it?
I liked the humor and all of the characters, especially Wesley
and Scott.  I disliked the fights.

Who would enjoy reading it?
Anyone

Review written by:
Emily, age 12, Bothell Library

Want to start a band?  Have a band and want to know more about how to go on tour? 

Check out this fun, factual introduction to the nuts and bolts of having a band.  The book is divided into two sections:  The Basics and Touring.  It includes everything from how to choose band members to copyrighting your songs, screen-printing your own band shirts and how to divide the earnings and expenses when you go on tour.   Written in a conversational style this is an engaging, quick read.  The light-hearted, cartoon-like illustrations include a mini-comic in the middle of the book showing a successful band tour.  Although most of the advice is very practical and well-grounded, some of the recommendations assume readers are old enough to exercise good judgment about safety.   

For all the months that Audrey dated Evan, he kept promising that he would write a song for her, andhe finally did -- after she broke up with him.  That wasn't exactly ideal, but it was a really good song.  So good that it got Evan and his band a deal with a record company, and before she knew it, everyone in the country was humming along to a song about how evil she was.  That was mortifying.  Then the paparazzi learned who she was, and her life would never be the same again.

The author of Speak and Fever 1793 has returned with another fast-paced glimpse into American history.

The year is 1776 and everyone is talking about freedom.  To Isabel, freedom is a cruel joke.  Her former mistress promised to set her free, but then she died and her nephew sold Isabel and her sister to a cruel Loyalist family in New York City.   Grieving the death of her mother, her kind former mistress and her dream of freedom, Isabel struggles to adjust to life in the New World's biggest city.  As if that weren't enough, her new family is not only loyal to King George, they are actively working to support His Majesty's troops against these pesky rebels.  Since Isabel is nothing but a slave, they have no qualms about talking in front of her, saying things the rebels would pay dearly to know.  That leaves Isabel with an awkward question:  What is most likely to keep her and her sister safe: being loyal to the cruel family who own her, or spying for George Washington's army?

When she's not totally exhausted from long days working in a meat packing plant, Ruby Jacinski loves to dance.  When she hears about a way that she can earn nearly four times as much as she does at the factory as a dance instructor, she leaps at the chance.  She thought the only problem is that in Chicago in 1941, there are not too many places a girl can go dancing without folks thinking she's some kind of floozy.  She knows her mother will never allow her to take a job at a dance hall, so she does the only thing that makes sense:  she takes the job and lies to everyone she knows.  Only then does she discover that what her mother will think is the least of her worries once she enters the world of Chicago's seamy underbelly.

The author based this story on the experiences of her mother's Aunt Sofia.     

On a cold and snowy night, a polar bear came to the poor wood cutters hut and offered to make the family wealthy if only the youngest daughter would live with him for a year. 

It sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it?  That's because it's based on the fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon.  But this is more than just unwanted daughters, talking bears and evil troll queens.  It is layers of folklore and mythology woven together in a delicious blend of mystery, romance and adventure. 

Pika was the unwanted youngest daughter of a woodcutter.  Her mother did not care enough to even name her.  Pika just means "girl" in the language of the north.  But Pika was an unusual child.  When her older brother returned from the sea, she listened closely to his tales.  A strange encounter with an enchanted stag gave her the ability to speak with animals and brought her first and truest companion, a young wolf cub.

So when she went to live with the bear, she quickly realized that things were not quite what they seemed on the surface and has a few surprises of her own.

Click here to place a hold on Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow

If you enjoy this story, you might also want to check out

East by Edith Pattou

When their cousin comes to town, Ted and his sister have to take their cousin sightseeing.  The line for the London Eye, a ferris wheel like stucture in downtown London, is so long that Salim gets a chance to jump the line, they agree to wait for him at the bottom, knowing that he'll get off exactly one hour later.  The problem is that 30 minutes later, everyone else who got on the same observation car gets off, but not Salim.  They wait for several more cars, thinking they may have gotten it wrong, but Ted knows they were right.  Salim is missing.

Ted is not exactly what you would call normal.  If brains were computers, you could say his ran on a different operating system from ours.  He has an amazing recall for facts and details and the ability to process those facts quickly and accurately, but he doesn't understand people or emotions at all.  So when the police don't believe him about Salim's disappearance, Ted really doesn't understand why they can't believe a 14 year old.  He just knows he will have to solve the mystery himself.

Click here to place a hold on The London Eye Mystery.

This book has it all!  Action!  Adventure!  Romance!  Tragedy!  In this novel loosely based on The Count of Monte Cristo, Eoin Colfer shows that he can write historical fiction that reads like science fiction with fabulous characters and the perfect setting for the story.

Conor Broekhart has a fabulous life for a young man in the early 1900s.  As the son of an advisor to the king of the Saltee Islands, he has everything he could ever want, including a tutor who shares his curiousity and his desire to build the first flying machine.  But when the king is assassinated, Conor is framed for the crime and sent to the prison work camp on Little Saltee Island.  There, he has little hope of survival, let alone escape...unless his desperation will give him the inspiration he needs to finally build that flying machine.

Click here to place a hold on Airman.