Vote Now for the 2010 Teens' Top Ten List

August 24, 2010

Looking for something fantastic to read? Wishing someone would listen to your opinions about which books are the best books? Have I got good news for you! The next four weeks mark voting time for the annual Teens’ Top 10 List. Teens’ Top 10 was first started by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) in 2003, and it has gotten bigger and bigger every year. Here’s how it works. 

Each year from January to April, 15 different groups of teens across the country get to nominate their favorite books published during the previous year (so this year’s nominees were all published during 2009). The nominees are announced on Support Teen Lit Day in April, and teens read as many of them as possible over the spring and summer. Then, from mid-August to mid-September (August 23rd through September 17th, 2010), any teen (ages 12-18) anywhere in the U.S. can vote online for his or her favorite books from the list of nominees. The Top 10 winners are announced via webcast during Teen Read Week in October (October 18th-22nd, 2010).

So, how can you participate? If you haven’t already read all of the nominees, go check some out from your local library branch. Then, get online and vote!!! Nominees are listed below.

Abbott, Ellen Jensen. Watersmeet.
Abisina is born into a colony of religious fanatics, where she is persecuted for her appearance, kept alive only because her mother is the healer. But when a new leader arrives, he rids the colony of the outcasts. Abisina escapes and is rescued by some dwarves, who help her journey to Watersmeet to find her father.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Wintergirls.
Lia sees her eating disorder as a way to avoid her stepmother’s pressure to be a role model for her new stepsister, her parents’ divorce, her mother constantly critiquing her daughter’s eating habits whenever she finds the time in the rest of her life. But most importantly, she sees it as a means to escape the death of her best friend, the one she ignored the day she died from the same disease Lia is fighting herself.

Brown, Jennifer. Hate List.
Valerie and her boyfriend Nick are constantly picked on by other kids at Garvin High. They write a Hate List, and Nick participates in a Columbine type killing. Valerie survives, is hailed as both a hero and a villain, and has to live with the consequences. 

Carter, Ally. Heist Society.
Katarina is trying to get out of the family thievery business. When her father is suspected of stealing a priceless art collection from an Italian mobster, she has to steal them back to save his life—but she has no idea where they are. 

Cashore, Kristin. Fire.
Fire is a monster, quite literally. She is extraordinarily beautiful and can control the minds of humans. Soon she gets sucked into the kingdom’s political turmoil and encounters everything from cold princes to brightly colored bunny rabbits.

Clare, Cassandra. City of Glass.
Clary must dig deep within herself to complete the journey into the unfamiliar in the name of family and love. Clary goes to the City of Glass to try to save her mother — even though it may mean her own death. 

Clayton, Emma. The Roar.
Mika's world appears to be based purely on mystery and lies, though he seems to be the only one who senses it. After his sister vanishes and a new government program that targets children rises, Mika decides that the only hope of finding his sister may be in beating the government at their own game. 

Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire.
In the sequel to The Hunger Games, Katniss is faced with the challenges of being a victor of the Games, from keeping up the image of a romantic relationship with Peeta to trying to prevent any rioting in the other districts. But when the Capitol announces a twist that will affect Katniss forever, will she be able to survive re-entering the world of the Games? 

Dessen, Sarah. Along for the Ride.
College-bound Auden lets academics drive her entire life until she moves to a beach town for the summer to live with her father, stepmother, and newborn half-sister. Slowly she learns to break out of her shell as she makes friends with the locals and falls for a trick bike rider. 

Fisher, Catherine. Incarceron.
In a distant future, all the world's criminals are dumped in a vast, living prison called Incarceron, with live forests and mechanical animals, climate-controlled weather, and everlasting dark walls that stretch to nowhere. 17-year-old Finn knows he should not be there and must rely on help from the outside to escape. 

Fitzpatrick, Becca. Hush, hush.
Nora ends up sitting next to Patch in biology. Patch is a scary guy, a fallen angel, and he is shrouded in mystery. But he has a knack for getting under Nora’s skin. Many people seem to be out to get her and she is slowly starting to realize she is falling for Patch, even if he is trying to kill her. 

Forman, Gayle. If I Stay.
After a drive with her family, Mia wakes up to find the car in pieces and the bodies of her family by the side of the road. She is in a coma, but she can see everything happening around her, almost as if she was a ghost. With her family gone, Mia has to decide if she should stay among the living or not. 

Garcia, Kami and Margaret Stohl. Beautiful Creatures.
Lena isn't like the other girls in Gatlin, South Carolina. She's as different from them as a person can get. She is a Caster. Ethan wants to be different. He hates life in Gatlin. So when he runs into Lena, almost literally, something just clicks. Can an ancient curse, a shut-in uncle, and certain doom keep them apart?

Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd. Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci.
Anyone who has ever been labeled or proclaimed themselves to be "geeks" will fall to the floor laughing and fall in love with these different short stories and illustrations by some top young adult authors. 

Golding, Julia. Dragonfly.
A princess from a country formed on rules is being forced to marry a prince from a different country who just likes to live life. They dislike each other on sight— and then they are kidnapped. Can they travel back home, through enemy territory, without strangling each other? 

Jinks, Catherine. The Reformed Vampire Support Group.
Grumpy vampire Nina is in a support group so that she doesn't prey on humans. But things start to look grimmer than ever when one of the vampires in the support group turns up murdered. Will Nina be able to get to the bottom of this crime before another vampire is attacked? 

Lieb, Josh. I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President.
A young boy (who happens to be an evil genius) wants to be student body president to attract his father/arch-nemesis’ attention. After using his almost unlimited resources, he thinks he has the election in the bag, when suddenly everything goes wrong. 

Ockler, Sarah. Twenty Boy Summer.
Anna joins her best friend Frankie’s family for a beach vacation in California. Frankie and Anna make a bet to attract 20 boys in 20 days. Anna struggles with a painful secret and falls in love— and isn’t sure she can finish their bet. 

Patterson, James. Witch & Wizard.
Siblings Whit and Wisty are suddenly pronounced a witch and a wizard by their oppressive government. They are sent to prison, where they learn to use their powers with hopes of escape. 

Peters, Julie Anne. By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead.
Daelyn Rice is determined to succeed in killing herself this time. Using a website for “completers,” she reveals a history of bullying and torment that started in kindergarten. One day, though, a boy sits with her as she is waiting to be picked up from school. While she makes it known that she wants to be alone, he won't give up on her. 

Pierce, Tamora. Bloodhound.
Beka has grown and needs to take on new assignments. When her old partner gets hurt, she is sent out on a new type of mission. Finding love and a culprit can be complicated in a big city—but nothing is too hard for the Terrier! 

St. Crow, Lili. Strange Angels.
Dru’s family kills mythical creatures. After a catastrophe befalls her parents, she wants revenge. To find out what happened to her family, she’ll need to learn to trust others. 

Stiefvater, Maggie. Shiver.
Ever since being saved by a wolf as a child, Grace has been fascinated with the wolves around her Minnesota home. But the wolves are becoming restless and need Grace's help to save them. One of the wolves takes human form and falls in love with Grace — but as the weather grows colder, he’ll turn back into a wolf, likely forever. Soon, he must make a life or death decision to stay with the one he loves. 

Tanigawa, Nagaru. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
Haruhi Suzumiya is a high-school student who is bored by normal humans. She wants something supernatural to happen, so she starts a club with a boy named Kyon. Little does she realize the power she has to affect the world supernaturally, herself! 

Westerfeld, Scott. Leviathan.
The prince of Austria-Hungary is on the run, his parents murdered. Deryn Sharp is a girl who pretends to be a boy to live out her dream. One chooses to go on an adventure; the other is forced into it. The pair are on opposite sides but must work together to escape from German troops. 

Yep, Laurence. City of Fire.
Twelve-year-old Scirye vows to avenge her sister’s death and reclaim a stolen treasure for her people by taking on the villainous dragon Badik and the strange Dr. Roland. She and her companions travel to a Hawaiian island created by magic, where a goddess helps them in their quest to stop Dr. Roland from achieving a great power.

~Erin D.
Boardwalk Branch