2022 & 2021 Morris Award Winners & Finalists
Firekeeper's Daughter by
Daunis, who is part Ojibwe, defers attending the University of Michigan to care for her mother and reluctantly becomes involved in the investigation of a series of drug-related deaths.
Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, either in her hometown or on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of college, but when her family is struck by tragedy she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, a new recruit on her brother Levi's hockey team. When Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, she reluctantly agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source of a new drug. How far will she go to protect her community, if it threatens to tear apart the only world she's ever known? -- adapted from jacket.
Call Number: GPA LEISURE READING BOUPublication Date: 2021
Ace of Spades by
At Niveus Private Academy, Devon and Chiamaka are the only students chosen to be Senior Prefects who are also black, which makes them targets for a series of anonymous texts revealing their secrets to the entire student body. Both students were on track toward valedictorian and bright college futures, but this prank quickly turns into a very dangerous game and they are at more than one disadvantage as it looks like things could turn deadly.
Call Number: GPA LEISURE READING ABIPublication Date: 2021
Vampires, Hearts and Other Dead Things by
As her father lies gravely ill with pancreatic cancer, eighteen-year-old Victoria's last hope is to find a vampire in New Orleans, an impossible mission that rekindles a special friendship.
"Victoria and her dad have shared a love of the undead since the first vampire revealed his existence on live TV. Public fear soon drove the vampires back into hiding, yet Victoria and her father still dream about finding a vampire together. When her dad is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Victoria vows to find a vampire, so that she can become one and then save her father. Armed with research, speculations, and desperation-- and helped by her estranged best friend, Henry-- Victoria travels to New Orleans in search of a miracle. She meets Nicholas, who might give her what she desires. But first, he needs Victoria to prove she loves life enough to live forever.
Call Number: GPA LEISURE READING FUSPublication Date: 2021
Me (Moth) by
Moth, who lost her family in an accident, and Sani, who is battling ongoing depression, take a road trip that has them chasing ghosts and searching for ancestors, which helps them move forward in surprising, powerful and unforgettable ways.
Call Number: GPA LEISURE READING MCBPublication Date: 2021
What Beauty There Is by
Jack Dahl has nothing left. Except his younger brother, Matty, who he'd do anything for. Even die for. Now with their mother gone, and their funds quickly dwindling, Jack needs to make a choice: lose his brother to foster care, or find the drug money that sent his father to prison. He chooses the money. Ava Bardem lives in isolation, a life of silence. For seventeen years her father has controlled her fate. He has taught her to love no one. Trust no one. Now her dad is stalking the same money as Jack. When he picks up Jack's trail, Ava must make her own wrenching choice: remain silent or help the brothers survive.
Call Number: GPA LEISURE READING ANDPublication Date: 2021
If These Wings Could Fly by
n Auburn, Pennsylvania, a farming community overrun with crows, high school senior Leighton struggles to keep herself and her sisters safe from their abusive father even as she starts a relationship.
Tens of thousands of crows invading Auburn, Pennsylvania, is a problem for everyone in town except seventeen-year-old Leighton Barnes. Residents complain about the nuisance, the strangeness of the birds. But for Leighton, it's no stranger than her house, which inexplicably repairs itself every time her father loses his temper and breaks things. No stranger than growing up in a town full of people who look the other way. Leighton doesn't have time for the crows, or for her classmate, Liam, even if he is funny, kind, and entirely too charming. It's her senior year, and acceptance to her dream college is finally within reach. But grabbing that lifeline means abandoning her sisters. Which is a choice she's not ready to face. With her father's rage worsening and the town in chaos over the vrows, Leighton allows herself a chance tat happiness with Liam, even though falling in love feels like a revolutionary act. Balancing school, dating, and survival under the shadow of sixty thousand feathered wings starts to feel almost comfortable, but Leighton knows that this fragil equilibrium can only last so long before it shatters. In this searing and magnificent debut, Kyrie McCauley uncages a beautiful and powerful story about the haunting specter of domestic violence and the rebellious forces of sisterhood and first love.
Call Number: GPA LEISURE READING MCCPublication Date: 2020
Black Girl Unlimited by
From age six through her high school valedictory speech, believing she and her mother are wizards helps young Echo cope with poverty, hunger, her mother's drug abuse, and much more.
Call Number: GPA LEISURE READING BROPublication Date: 2022
The Black Kids by
With the Rodney King riots closing in on high school senior Ashley and her family, the privileged bubble she has enjoyed, protecting her from the difficult realities most black people face, begins to crumble.
Los Angeles, 1992. It's the end of senior year and Ashley Bennett and her friends are spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. When four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death, violent protests engulf LA and the city burns. Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal; her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. The model black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents built starts to crumble. Her friends are spreading a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson. Ashley is left to question who is the us? And who is the them? -- adapted from jacket
Call Number: GPA LEISURE READING HAMPublication Date: 2020
It Sounded Better in My Head by
Devastating acne during her adolescence left Natalie with low self-esteem. Now, as if the news of her parents’ divorce isn’t enough, Natalie feels like a third wheel with her best friends, is anxious about an unknown future after high school, and is confused by romantic feelings for her best friend's brother. A surprising romance begins, challenging Natalie to examine the kind of person her acne has formed her into versus who she really is. Told with snarky humor and vulnerability, Kenwood examines the often confusing yet empowering transition into adulthood.
Call Number: Materials On OrderPublication Date: 2021
Woven in Moonlight by
Ximena is the decoy Condesa, a stand-in for the last remaining Illustrian royal. Her people lost everything when the usurper, Atoc, used an ancient relic to summon ghosts and drive the Illustrians from La Ciudad. Now Ximena's motivated by her insatiable thirst for revenge, and her rare ability to spin thread from moonlight. When Atoc demands the real Condesa's hand in marriage, it's Ximena's duty to go in her stead. She relishes the chance, as Illustrian spies have reported that Atoc's no longer carrying his deadly relic.
Call Number: GPA LEISURE READING LBAPublication Date: 2020
Recommended & Award Winning Books
Ain't Burned All the Bright by Call Number: GPA PS3618.E9753 A78 2022ISBN: 9781534439467Publication Date: 2022-01-11"Reynolds’s introspective narrative poem shares the stage with Griffin’s emotive collage-like illustrations to create an authentic young adult narrator trying to grapple with the confusion and fear of the double pandemic (COVID-19 and systemic racism) he is facing."-- Horn Book magazine review.
A Few Red Drops by Call Number: Children's Books HARISBN: 9780544785137Publication Date: 2018-01-022019 Coretta Scott King Award
Hello Lighthouse by Call Number: Children's Books BLAISBN: 9780316362382Publication Date: 2018-04-102019 Caldecott Medal winner.
Wolf in the Snow by Call Number: CHILDREN'S BOOKS CORISBN: 9781250076366Publication Date: 2017-01-032018 medal winner
Hello, Universe by Call Number: CHILDREN'S BOOKS KELISBN: 9780062414151Publication Date: 2017-03-14Newbery Medal winner 2018
Vincent and Theo by Call Number: GPA ND653.G7 H39 2017ISBN: 9780805093391Publication Date: 2017-04-18YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults winner for 2018
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Call Number: CHILDREN'S BOOKS BARISBN: 9781616205676Publication Date: 2016-08-092017 Newbery Medal Winner
Radiant Child by Call Number: CHILDREN'S BOOKS STEISBN: 9780316213882Publication Date: 2016-10-252017 Medal Winner
Last Stop on Market Street by Call Number: Children's Books DELISBN: 9780399257742Publication Date: 2015-01-08Newbery Award winner for 2016
Finding Winnie by Call Number: Children's Books MATISBN: 9780316324908Publication Date: 2015-10-20Caldecott Award winner for 2016
Gone Crazy in Alabama by Call Number: Children's Books WILISBN: 9780062215871Publication Date: 2015-04-21Coretta Scott King Book Award winner for 2016
Bone Gap by Call Number: GPA LeisRead RUBISBN: 9780062317605Publication Date: 2015-03-03Michael Printz Award winner for 2016
Enchanted Air by Call Number: CHILDREN'S BOOKS ENGISBN: 9781481435239Publication Date: 2016-08-02Pura Belpre Award winner for 2016
Most Dangerous by Call Number: GPA CT275.E38518 S54 2015ISBN: 9781596439528Publication Date: 2015-09-22YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults winner for 2016
Every Day by Call Number: GPA Leisure Read LEVISBN: 9780307931887Publication Date: 2012-08-28Author David Levithan is the Margaret A. Edwards Award winner for 2016
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Call Number: GPA LeisRead ALBISBN: 9780062348678Publication Date: 2015-04-07William C. Morris Award winner for 2016
Children's Links
- Database of Award-Winning Children's LiteratureCreate a tailored reading list of quality children's literature or to find out if a book has won one of the indexed awards.
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Teen Links
- Comic Book ResourcesNews, reviews, resources and graphic novel community.
- Outstanding Books for the College BoundPut out by YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association.
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