20072008 Junior Book Award Nominees

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2007-2008 Junior Book Award Nominees
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Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
In a novel based on Chinese Cinderella tales,
fourteen-year-old stepchild Xing-Xing endures a
life of neglect and servitude, as her stepmother
cruelly mutilates her own child's feet so that
she alone might marry well.
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Chicken Boy by Frances ORoark Dowell
Since the death of his mother, Tobin's family and
school life have been in disarray, but after he
starts raising chickens with his seventh-grade
classmate, Henry, everything starts to fall into
place.
4
The Cloud Chamber by Joyce Maynard
In 1966, when his father's attempted suicide
causes the ostracism of the family in their small
Montana community, fourteen-year-old Nate copes
with his sadness and anger by trying to win the
school science fair.
5
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith
Twins, Grace and Marty, along with a mysterious
uncle, are dropped into the middle of the
Congolese jungle in search of their missing
photojournalist parents.
6
Day of Tears by Julius Lester
Presents an historical fiction written in
first-person format that follows Emma, the slave
of Pierce Butler, through a series of events in
her life as her master hosts the largest slave
auction in American history in Savannah, Georgia
in 1859 in order to pay off his mounting gambling
debts.
7
Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Thirteen-year-old Bethany's parents have always
been overprotective, but when they suddenly drop
out of sight with no explanation, leaving her
with an aunt she never knew existed, Bethany
uncovers shocking secrets that make her question
everything she thought she knew about herself and
her family.
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Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury
Following orders from the United States Army,
several young Japanese American men train K-9
units to hunt Asians during World War II.
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Hitch by Jeanette Ingold
To help his family during the Depression and
avoid becoming a drunk like his father, Moss
Trawnley joins the Civilian Conservation Corps,
helps build a new camp near Monroe, Montana, and
leads the other men in making the camp a success.
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In Darkness, Death by Dorothy Hoobler
In eighteenth-century Japan, young Seikei becomes
involved with a ninja as he helps Judge Ooka, his
foster father, investigate the murder of a
samurai.
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Last Shot A Final Four Mystery by John
Feinstein
After winning a basketball reporting contest,
eighth graders Stevie and Susan Carol are sent to
cover the Final Four tournament, where they
discover that a talented player is being
blackmailed into throwing the final game.
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The Liberation of Gabriel King by Kelly Going
Gabriel, a white boy who is being bullied, and
Frita, an African-American girl facing prejudice,
decide to overcome their many fears together as
they go back to school in Georgia in 1976.
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The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Percy, expelled from six schools for being unable
to control his temper, learns the truth from his
mother that his father is the Greek god Poseidon,
and is sent to Camp Half Blood where he is
befriended by a satyr and the demigod daughter of
Athena who join him in a journey to the
Underworld to retrieve Zeus's lightning bolt and
prevent a catastrophic war.
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Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
While attending a strict academy for potential
princesses with the other girls from her mountain
village, fourteen-year-old Miri discovers
unexpected talents and connections to her
homeland.
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The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm
Tired of being bullied and picked on, three
seventh-grade outcasts join forces and, using
scientific methods and the power of the Internet,
begin to create a new atmosphere at Parkland
Middle School.
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The Safe Keepers Secret by Sharon Shinn
Fiona is Safe-Keeper in the small village of
Tambleham, where neighbors and strangers alike
come one by one, in secret, to tell her things
they dare not share with anyone else.
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The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
After Jack becomes apprenticed to a Druid bard,
he and his little sister Lucy are captured by
Viking Berserkers and taken to the home of King
Ivar the Boneless and his half-troll queen,
leading Jack to undertake a vital quest to
Jotunheim, home of the trolls.
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The Secret of Castle Cant by K.P Bath
When twelve-toed orphan Lucy Wickwright is
brought to Castle Cant to be serving girl to the
Baron's daughter, the Adorable Honorable
Pauline, she becomes involved with
revolutionaries and uncovers surprising palace
intrigues.
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Shakespeares Secret by Elise Broach
Named after a character in a Shakespeare play,
misfit sixth-grader Hero becomes interested in
exploring this unusual connection because of a
valuable diamond supposedly hidden in her new
house, an intriguing neighbor, and the unexpected
attention of the most popular boy in school.
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Sixth Grade Glommers, Norks and Me by Lisa
Papademetriou
Allie Kimball discovers that middle school is a
very different place than fifth grade and
struggles to learn ways to fit in.
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Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton
Bethany Hamilton shares the story of her lifelong
love of surfing, and tells how she was able to
recover and return to competition with the help
of her family, friends, and faith, after losing
her arm in a shark attack at the age of thirteen.