2012-2013
Georgia Peach Award Books
Anna and the French Kiss
by Stephanie Perkins
Anna is looking forward to her
senior year in Atlanta.
Which is why she is less
than thrilled about being
shipped off to boarding
school in Paris—until she
meets Tienne St. Claire:
perfect, Parisian, and utterly
irresistible. The only
problem is that he’s taken,
and Anna might be too, if
anything comes of her
almost-relationship back
home.
Between Shades of Gray
by Ruta Sepetys
In 1941, fifteen-year-old
Lina, her mother, and
brother are pulled from
their Lithuanian home by
Soviet guards and sent to
Siberia, where her father
is sentenced to death in a
prison camp while she
fights for her life, vowing
to honor her family and
the thousands like hers by
burying her story in a jar
on Lithuanian soil.
Divergent
by Veronica Roth
In a future Chicago, sixteenyear-old Beatrice Prior must
choose among five
predetermined factions to
define her identity for the
rest of her life, a decision
made more difficult when
she discovers that she is an
anomaly who does not fit
into any one group, and
that the society she lives in
is not perfect after all.
The False Princess
by Eilis O’Neal
For sixteen years, Nalia
has been raised as the
princess of Thorvaldor,
but one day she learns
that her real name is
Sinda and that she is
part of a complicated
plot that would change
the future of her
country forever.
Glow
by Amy Kathleen Ryan
If a violent battle destroyed the only
world you’ve ever known, would
you be brave enough to save who
was left? Part of the first
generation to be successfully
conceived in deep space, 15 year
old Waverly and her boyfriend
Kieran will be pioneers of New
Earth. Everyone expects them to
marry young and have children. But
Waverly is also intrigued by Seth.
Waverly and Kieran find themselves
separated by war and both
responsible for leading dangerous
missions, with no room for
decisions of the heart.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
The children and husband of
Henrietta Lacks, who, twenty
years after her death from
cervical cancer in 1951, learned
doctors and researchers took
cells from her cervix without
consent which were used to
create the immortal cell line
known as the HeLa cell. This
book provides an overview of
Henrietta's life; and explores
issues of experimentation on
African-Americans and
bioethics.
Jump
by Elisa Carbone
Sixteen-year-old P.K. has taken an
impulsive jump from her restrictive life
with her family into a life of total
adventure: running away to go rock
climbing out west with a guy she barely
knows. At first everything's amazing.
But then she starts to learn more
about her companion and she's not
sure she likes what she hears. When
the cops finally catch up to them, with
an arrest warrant, P.K. has to decide
whom to believe: this amazing guy
whom she trusts with her life or the
cops, who want her to believe that he
may take her life.
The Mockingbirds
by Daisy Whitney
Themis Academy is a quiet
boarding school with an
exceptional student body that
the administration trusts to
always behave the honorable
way--the Themis Way. So
when Alex is date raped
during her junior year, she has
two options: stay silent and
hope someone helps her, or
enlist the Mockingbirds--a
secret society of students
dedicated to righting the
wrongs of their fellow peers.
Name of the Star
by Maureen Johnson
Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in
London to start a new life at a London
boarding school. The same day a series of
brutal murders beaks out across the city,
gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific
Jack the Ripper events of more than a
century ago.
“Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day
London, and the police are left with only.
Rory as a witness. Even her roommate,
who was walking with her at the time,
didn't notice the mysterious man. So why
can only Rory see him? And more urgently,
why has Rory become his next target? In
this thriller, full of suspense, humor, and
romance, Rory will learn the truth about
the secret ghost police of London and
discover her own shocking abilities.
Notes from the Blender
by Cook, Trish & Halpin, Brendan
Declan, a fan of Finnish
death metal, violent
video games, and
Internet porn, dreams
of getting to know
beautiful gymnast Neilly
Foster, not realizing his
dearest wish is about to
come true because his
dad is going to marry
Neilly's mother.
Now is the Time for Running
by Michael Williams
Deo and his friends play soccer in
the dusty fields of Zimbabwe,
cheered on by Deo's mentally
disabled older brother,
Innocent. It is a day like any
other . . . until the soldiers arrive
and Deo and Innocent are
forced to run for their lives.
Along the way, they face the
prejudice and poverty that await
refugees everywhere, and must
rely on the kindness of people
they meet to make it through.
When tragedy strikes, Deo's love
of soccer is all he has left.
Please Ignore Vera Dietz
by A. S. King
Vera’s spent her whole life secretly
in love with her best friend,
Charlie Kahn. And over the
years she’s kept a lot of his
secrets. Even after he betrayed
her. Even after he ruined
everything.
So when Charlie dies in dark
circumstances, Vera knows a lot
more than anyone—the kids at
school, his family, even the
police. But will she emerge to
clear his name? Does she even
want to?
Ready Player One
by Ernest Cline
In 2044, the world is a bleak place,
but luckily, OASIS, a virtual
online utopia. In OASIS, people
can play, go to school, earn
money, and meet avatars.
Wade Watts dreams of finding
three keys left behind by James
Halliday, the creator of OASIS.
Whoever finds the keys will
inherit Halliday’s fortune. There
are real dangers in OASIS. Can
Wade root out enough
knowledge about the 1980s to
figure out the mystery? Can he
survive the real world death
threats on his quest?
The Running Dream
by Wendelin Van Draanen
Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a
leg in a car accident. She's not comforted by
the news that she'll be able to walk with the
help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about
walking when you live to run?
As she struggles to cope with crutches and a
first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels
oddly both in the spotlight and invisible.
People who don't know what to say, act like
she's not there. Which she could handle
better if she weren't now keenly aware that
she'd done the same thing herself to a girl
with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to
tutor her through all the math she's missed.
A girl who sees right into the heart of her.
The Sky is Everywhere
by Jandy Nelson
Lennie plays second clarinet in the school
orchestra and has always happily been
second fiddle to her charismatic older
sister, Bailey. Then Bailey dies
suddenly, and Lennie is left at sea
without her anchor. Overcome by
emotion, Lennie soon finds herself
torn between two boys: Bailey's
boyfriend, Toby, and Joe, the charming
and musically gifted new boy in town.
While Toby can't see her without
seeing Bailey and Joe sees her only for
herself, each offers Lennie something
she desperately needs. But ultimately,
it's up to Lennie to find her own way
toward what she really needs-without
Bailey.
Stick
by Andrew Smith
Fourteen-year-old Stark McClellan
(nicknamed Stick because he’s tall and
thin) is bullied for being “deformed” –
he was born with only one ear. His
older brother Bosten is always there to
defend Stick. But the boys can’t defend
one another from their abusive
parents.
When Stick realizes Bosten is gay, he
knows that to survive his father's
anger, Bosten must leave home. Stick
has to find his brother, or he will never
feel whole again. In his search, he will
encounter good people, bad people,
and people who are simply indifferent
to kids from the wrong side of the
tracks. But he never loses hope of
finding love – and his brother.
Stupid Fast
by Geoff Herbach
I AM NOT STUPID FUNNY.
I AM STUPID FAST.
My name is Felton Reinstein, which is
not a fast name. But last November,
my voice finally dropped and I grew all
this hair and then I got stupid fast. Fast
like a donkey. Zing
Now they want me, the guy they used
to call Squirrel Nut, to try out for the
football team. With the jocks. But will
that fix my mom? Make my brother
stop dressing like a pirate? Most
important, will it get me girls especially Aleah?
So I train. And I run. And I sneak off to
Aleah's house in the night. But deep
down I know I can't run forever. And I
wonder what will happen when I
finally have to stop
This Girl is Different
by JJ Johnson
Evie is different. Not just her upbringing-though that's
certainly been unusual-but also her mindset. She's
smart, independent, confident, opinionated, and
ready to take on a new challenge: The Institution of
School.
It doesn't take this homeschooled kid long to discover
that high school is a whole new world. It's a social
minefield, and Evie finds herself confronting new
problems at every turn, failing to follow or even
understand the rules, and proposing solutions that
aren't welcome or accepted.
Not one to sit idly by, Evie sets out to make big
changes. The movement she starts takes off, but
before she realizes what's happening, her plan spirals
out of control, forcing her to come to terms with a
world she is only just beginning to comprehend.
What Can’t Wait
by Ashley Hope Perez
"Another day finished, gracias a Dios."
Seventeen-year-old Marisa's mother has
been saying this for as long as Marisa can
remember. Her parents came to Houston
from Mexico. They work hard, and they
expect Marisa to help her familia. An
ordinary life--marrying a neighborhood guy,
working, having babies--ought to be good
enough for her.
Marisa hears something else from her calc
teacher. She should study harder, ace the AP
test, and get into engineering school in
Austin. Some days, it all seems possible. On
others, she's not even sure what she wants.
When her life at home becomes unbearable,
Marisa seeks comfort elsewhere--and
suddenly neither her best friend nor
boyfriend can get through to her. Caught
between the expectations of two different
worlds, Marisa isn't sure what she wants-other than a life where she doesn't end each
day thanking God it's over. But some things
just can't wait...
What Comes After
by Steve Watkins
After her veterinarian dad dies, sixteen-year-old Iris
Wight must leave her beloved Maine to live on a
North Carolina farm with her hardbitten aunt and
a cousin she barely knows. Iris, a vegetarian and
animal lover, clashes with Aunt Sue, who mistreats
the livestock, spends Iris’s inheritance, and thinks
nothing of striking Iris for the smallest offense.
When Iris sets two young goats free to save them
from slaughter an enraged Aunt Sue orders her
brutish son, Book, to beat Iris senseless. That lands
Book and his mother in jail. Sent to live with an
offbeat foster family and their "dooking" ferrets,
Iris must find a way to take care of the animals
back at the farm, even if it means confronting Aunt
Sue.
Sources:
• Book jacket images from Destiny library catalog
and alibris.com
• Descriptions from book jackets and from
goodreads.com
Compiled by Cheryl Youse, Media Specialist
Colquitt County High School, Moultrie, Georgia