2016 KBA Master List, 6-8
Brown Girl Dreaming / Jacqueline Woodson – Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), 2014.
The author shares her childhood memories and reveals the first sparks that ignited her writing career in free-verse poems about growing up in the North and South
The Crossover / Kwame Alexander – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.
Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.
Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii / Vicky AlvearSchecter – Arthur A. Levine Books, and imprint of Scholastic, Inc., 2014.
Tagus is a medical slave who wants be a gladiator, Lucia is the daughter of Tag's owner and betrothed to an older man, and the two teenagers are in love with each other--but it is the year 79 and soon Vesuvius will alter their lives forever.
I Kill the Mockingbird / Paul Acampora–Roaring Brook Press, 2014.
When best friends Lucy, Elena, and Michael receive their summer reading list, they are excited to see 'To Kill A Mockingbird' included. However, not everyone in their class shares the same enthusiasm. To get the entire town talking about the Harper Lee classic, they hatch a plot that quickly becomes more that they bargained for.
The Iron Trial / Holly Black and Cassandra Clare; with illustrations by Scott Fischer. – Scholastic Press, 2014.
Warned away from magic all of his life, Callum endeavors to fail the trials that would admit him to the Magisterium - only to be drawn into its ranks against his will and forced to confront dark elements from his past.Book 1 of an exciting new fantasy series.
The Night Gardener / Jonathan Auxier – Amulet Books, 2014.
Irish orphans Molly, fourteen, and Kip, ten, travel to England to work as servants in a crumbling manor house where nothing is quite what it seems to be. The siblings are confronted by a mysterious stranger and the secrets of the cursed house in this spooky tale.
The Secret Hum of a Daisy / Tracy Holczer – G. P. Putnum’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), 2014.
After 12-year-old Grace's mother's sudden death, Grace is forced to live with a grandmother she's never met. Then she discovers clues in a mysterious treasure hunt--one that will help her find her true home.
Skink: No Surrender / Carl Hiaasen – Alfred A. Knopf, 2014.
With the help of an eccentric ex-governor, a teenage Richard searches for his missing cousin in the Florida wilds. There are a million places she could be, a million unpleasant fates that might have befallen her, but one thing is certain: in the Florida swamp, justice is best served wild.
Unfriended / Rachel Vail – Viking, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), 2014.
When thirteen-year-old Truly is invited to sit at the Popular Table, she finds herself caught in a web of lies and misunderstandings, made inescapable by the hyper-connected social media world.
Wildflower / Alecia Whitaker – Poppy/Little Brown and Company, 2014.
Sixteen-year-old Bird Barrett is discovered by a country music record label while playing in her family's bluegrass band. As her star rises, she must learn to stay true to her roots while navigating a brave new world of glamour and gold records in Nashville, Tennessee.