2007-2008 Junior Book
Award Nominees
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
In a novel based on
Chinese Cinderella tales,
fourteen-year-old
stepchild Xing-Xing
endures a life of neglect
and servitude, as her
stepmother cruelly
mutilates her own child's
feet so that she alone
might marry well.
Chicken Boy
by Frances O’Roark Dowell
Since the death of his mother,
Tobin's family and school life have
been in disarray, but after he
starts raising chickens with his
seventh-grade classmate, Henry,
everything starts to fall into place.
The Cloud Chamber
by Joyce Maynard
In 1966, when his father's
attempted suicide causes
the ostracism of the family
in their small Montana
community, fourteen-yearold Nate copes with his
sadness and anger by
trying to win the school
science fair.
Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith
Twins, Grace and
Marty, along with a
mysterious uncle, are
dropped into the middle
of the Congolese jungle
in search of their
missing photojournalist
parents.
Day of Tears by Julius Lester
Presents an historical fiction
written in first-person format
that follows Emma, the slave
of Pierce Butler, through a
series of events in her life as
her master hosts the largest
slave auction in American
history in Savannah, Georgia
in 1859 in order to pay off his
mounting gambling debts.
Double Identity
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Thirteen-year-old Bethany's
parents have always been
overprotective, but when they
suddenly drop out of sight with
no explanation, leaving her with
an aunt she never knew existed,
Bethany uncovers shocking
secrets that make her question
everything she thought she knew
about herself and her family.
Eyes of the Emperor
by Graham Salisbury
Following orders from
the United States
Army, several young
Japanese American
men train K-9 units to
hunt Asians during
World War II.
Hitch by Jeanette Ingold
To help his family during the
Depression and avoid
becoming a drunk like his
father, Moss Trawnley joins
the Civilian Conservation
Corps, helps build a new
camp near Monroe, Montana,
and leads the other men in
making the camp a success.
In Darkness, Death
by Dorothy Hoobler
In eighteenth-century
Japan, young Seikei
becomes involved with a
ninja as he helps Judge
Ooka, his foster father,
investigate the murder of a
samurai.
Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery
by John Feinstein
After winning a basketball
reporting contest, eighth
graders Stevie and Susan
Carol are sent to cover the
Final Four tournament, where
they discover that a talented
player is being blackmailed
into throwing the final game.
The Liberation of Gabriel King
by Kelly Going
Gabriel, a white boy who is
being bullied, and Frita, an
African-American girl facing
prejudice, decide to
overcome their many fears
together as they go back to
school in Georgia in 1976.
The Lightning Thief
by Rick Riordan
Percy, expelled from six schools for
being unable to control his temper,
learns the truth from his mother
that his father is the Greek god
Poseidon, and is sent to Camp Half
Blood where he is befriended by a
satyr and the demigod daughter of
Athena who join him in a journey to
the Underworld to retrieve Zeus's
lightning bolt and prevent a
catastrophic war.
Princess Academy
by Shannon Hale
While attending a strict
academy for potential
princesses with the other
girls from her mountain
village, fourteen-year-old
Miri discovers unexpected
talents and connections to
her homeland.
The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm
Tired of being bullied and
picked on, three seventhgrade outcasts join forces
and, using scientific methods
and the power of the Internet,
begin to create a new
atmosphere at Parkland
Middle School.
The Safe Keeper’s Secret
by Sharon Shinn
Fiona is Safe-Keeper in
the small village of
Tambleham, where
neighbors and strangers
alike come one by one,
in secret, to tell her
things they dare not
share with anyone else.
The Sea of Trolls
by Nancy Farmer
After Jack becomes
apprenticed to a Druid bard,
he and his little sister Lucy
are captured by Viking
Berserkers and taken to the
home of King Ivar the
Boneless and his half-troll
queen, leading Jack to
undertake a vital quest to
Jotunheim, home of the trolls.
The Secret of Castle Cant
by K.P Bath
When twelve-toed orphan
Lucy Wickwright is brought to
Castle Cant to be serving girl
to the Baron's daughter, the
Adorable & Honorable
Pauline, she becomes
involved with revolutionaries
and uncovers surprising
palace intrigues.
Shakespeare’s Secret
by Elise Broach
Named after a character in a
Shakespeare play, misfit sixthgrader Hero becomes interested
in exploring this unusual
connection because of a valuable
diamond supposedly hidden in
her new house, an intriguing
neighbor, and the unexpected
attention of the most popular boy
in school.
Sixth Grade Glommers, Norks and
Me by Lisa Papademetriou
Allie Kimball discovers that
middle school is a very different
place than fifth grade and
struggles to learn ways to fit in.
Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton
Bethany Hamilton shares
the story of her lifelong
love of surfing, and tells
how she was able to
recover and return to
competition with the help
of her family, friends, and
faith, after losing her arm
in a shark attack at the
age of thirteen.