NOBLE Book Awards 2018: Young Adult Fiction
First place
The poet X : a novel
When Xiomara Batista, who pours all her frustrations and passion into poetry, is invited to join the school slam poetry club, she struggles with her mother’s expectations and her need to be heard.
Runners-up
Children of blood and bone
Seventeen-year-old Zélie, her older brother Tzain, and rogue princess Amari fight to restore magic to the land and activate a new generation of magi, but they are ruthlessly pursued by the crown prince, who believes the return of magic will mean the end of the monarchy.
Bridge of Clay
Upon their father’s return, the five Dunbar boys, who have raised themselves since their mother’s death, begin to learn family secrets, including that of fourth brother Clay, who will build a bridge for complex reasons, including his own redemption.
Other nominees
Leah on the offbeat
Summary:With prom and graduation around the corner, senior Leah Burke struggles when her group of friends start fighting.
The cruel prince
Summary:Jude, seventeen and mortal, gets tangled in palace intrigues while trying to win a place in the treacherous High Court of Faerie, where she and her sisters have lived for a decade.
Summer bird blue
Summary:After her sister and songwriting partner, Lee, dies in an automobile accident, seventeen-year-old Rumi is sent to Hawaii with an aunt she barely knows while she and her mother grieve separately.
The Belles
Summary:"In a world where Beauty is a commodity only a few control, one Belle will learn the dark secrets behind her powers, and rise up to change the world"–
Picture us in the light
Summary:Daniel, a Chinese-American teen, must grapple with his plans for the future, his feelings for his best friend Harry, and his discovery of a family secret that could shatter everything.
Dread nation
Summary:When families go missing in Baltimore County, Jane McKeene, who is studying to become an Attendant, finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy that has her fighting for her life against powerful enemies.
Darius the Great is not okay
Summary:Clinically-depressed Darius Kellner, a high school sophomore, travels to Iran to meet his grandparents, but it is their next-door neighbor, Sohrab, who changes his life.
The lady’s guide to petticoats and piracy : a Montague siblings novel
Summary:Felicity Montague must use all her womanly wits and wiles to achieve her dreams of becoming a doctor, even if she has to scheme her way across Europe to do it.
Kingdom of ash : a throne of glass novel
Summary:With Aelin locked in an iron coffin by Queen of the Fae Maeve, Aedion and Lysandra struggle to defend Terrasen, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian face their own fates, and Rowan seeks his captured wife and queen.
Puddin’ : [don’t break the rules. change ’em.]
Summary:Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a little girl. Not this year. This year she has new plans to chase her secret dream of being a newscaster—and to kiss the boy she’s crushing on. Callie Reyes is the pretty girl who is next in line for dance team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she’s more frenemy than friend. When circumstances bring the girls together over the course of a semester, they surprise everyone (especially themselves) by realizing that they might have more in common than they ever imagined.
Anger is a gift : a novel
Summary:Six years ago, Moss Jefferies’ father was murdered by an Oakland police officer. Along with losing a parent, the media’s vilification of his father and lack of accountability has left Moss with near crippling panic attacks. Now, in his sophomore year of high school, Moss and his fellow classmates find themselves increasingly treated like criminals in their own school. New rules. Random locker searches. Constant intimidation and Oakland Police Department stationed in their halls. Despite their youth, the students decide to organize and push back against the administration. When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.
Neverworld wake
Summary:"A group of teens who all attended the same elite prep school reunite a year after graduation. After a night on the town, the teens are faced with an impossible choice–only one of them can live and the decision must be unanimous"–
Tempests and slaughter
Summary:Arram Draper, Varice Kingsford, and Ozorne Tasikhe forge a bond of friendship that sees them through many changes as student mages at Imperial University of Carthak.