9-12 KBA Master List 2008-2009

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian / Sherman Alexie.  Little, Brown, 2007.  ISBN: 9780316013680

Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. 

The Arrival / Shaun Tan.  Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007.  ISBN: 9780439895293

In this wordless graphic novel, a man leaves his homeland and sets off for a new country, where he must build a new life for himself and his family.

Before I Die / Jenny Downham.  David Fickling Books, 2007.  ISBN: 9780385751551

A terminally ill teenaged girl makes and carries out a list of things to do before she dies.

Buried / Robin MacCready.  Dutton Books, 2006.  ISBN: 9780525477242

When her alcoholic mother goes missing, seventeen-year-old Claudine begins to spin out of control, despite her attempts to impose order on every aspect of her life.

Firestorm / David Klass.  Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006.  ISBN: 9780374323073

After learning that he has been sent from the future for a special purpose, eighteen-year-old Jack receives help from an unusual dog and a shape-shifting female fighter.

First Shot / Walter Sorrells.  Dutton, 2007.  ISBN: 9780525478010

As David enters his senior year of high school, a family secret emerges that could solve the mystery of why his mother was murdered two years ago.

General Winston’s Daughter / Sharon Shinn.  Viking, 2007.  ISBN: 9780670062485

Seventeen-year-old heiress Averie Winston travels with her guardian to faraway Chiarrin, a country her father's army has occupied, and once she arrives and is reunited with her fiance, she discovers that her notions about politics, propriety, the military, and even her intended have changed.

Gym Candy / Carl Deuker.  Houghton Mifflin, 2007.  ISBN: 9780618777136

Groomed by his father to be a star player, football is the only thing that has ever really mattered to Mick Johnson, who works hard for a spot on the varsity team his freshman year, then tries to hold onto his edge by using steroids, despite the consequences to his health and social life.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier / Ishmael Beah.  Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007.  ISBN: 9780374105235

Ishmael Beah, now 25 years old, tells how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.

Red Glass / Laura Resau.  Delacorte, 2007.  ISBN: 9780385734660

Sixteen-year-old Sophie has been frail and delicate since her premature birth, but discovers her true strength during a journey through Mexico, where the six-year-old orphan her family hopes to adopt was born, and to Guatemala, where her would-be boyfriend hopes to find his mother and plans to remain.

Slam / Nick Hornby.  Putnam, 2007.  ISBN: 9780399250484

At the age of fifteen, Sam Jones's girlfriend gets pregnant and Sam's life of skateboarding and daydreaming about Tony Hawk changes drastically.

Story of a Girl / Sara Zarr.  Little, Brown, 2007.  ISBN: 9780316014540

In the three years since her father caught her in the back seat of a car with an older boy, sixteen-year-old Deanna's life at home and school has been a nightmare, but while dreaming of escaping with her brother and his family, she discovers the power of forgiveness.

Thirteen Reasons Why / Jay Asher.  Razorbill, 2007.  ISBN: 9781595141712

When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

Trigger / Susan Vaught.  Bloomsbury, 2006.  ISBN: 9781582349206

Teenager Jersey Hatch must work through his extensive brain damage to figure out why he decided to shoot himself.

Twisted / Laurie Halse Anderson.  Viking, 2007.  ISBN: 9780670061013

After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies and his ever-angry father, seventeen-year-old Tyler enjoys his tough new reputation and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts.