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Reading Circle Program

2009-10 GATEWAY READERS AWARD NOMINEES (Grades 9-12)

The Compound, by S.A. Bodeen. Macmillan, ©2008. Eli and his family have lived in an underground compound for six years. They moved there to be safe from the outside world, but Eli is beginning to wonder if he should take his chances on the outside.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart. Disney-Hyperion, ©2009. Frankie Landau-Banks has blossomed from nerd to knockout when she returns to her elite boarding school after summer vacation. Her new look earns her a handsome senior boyfriend, Matthew. Her bliss is interrupted when she learns of Matthew's involvement in an all-male secret society.

    Good Enough, by Paula Yoo. HarperCollins, ©2008. Patti faces constant pressure from her Korean-American parents. Everything seems to cause concern for her chances of getting into an Ivy League school or winning her violin competition. Patti's priorities start to change when she meets a cute trumpet player.  

Graceling, by Kristin Cashore. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, ©2009. Katsa should be living a privileged life as a king's niece, but her special abilities keep her at work as a hired thug. Her life changes when she learns a secret that could destroy her own kingdom and six others.

The Hunger Games, By Suzanne Collins. Scholastic, ©2008. Katniss lives with her mother and sister in the poorest area of what used to be the United States. When her sister is summoned to fight to the death in the televised Hunger Games, Kat arranges to go in her place.

The Juvie Three, by Gordon Korman. Hyperion, ©2008. Three boys are doing time in a juvenile detention center until they get a chance to move to an experimental halfway house in New York City. Things go well, until the house's director experiences amnesia.

Lock and Key, by Sarah Dessen, Penguin, ©2008. Ruby goes to live with her older sister, Cora, after her mother leaves and does not return. Despite the private school, the new clothes and the expensive house, Ruby cannot seem to fully enjoy her new life.  

The Musician's Daughter, by Susanne Dunlap. Bloomsbury USA., ©2008. Theresa Maria Shurman lives a life of glamour at court in 18th-century Vienna. When Theresa's musician father is murdered and his prize violin is stolen, she takes it upon herself to solve the mystery.  

Paper Towns, by John Green. Penguin, ©2008. Quinton Jacobsen has pined for Margo, his former best friend, ever since she migrated to cooler friends. One night, she appears at his bedroom window and demands that he take her on a night of score-settling pranks. When Margo disappears the next day, Quinton devotes himself to solving the mystery of where she went.  

Playing with Matches, by Brian Katcher. Random House, ©2008. Seventeen-year-old Leon Sanders is mortified when Melody, the school outcast, is his new locker neighbor. But Leon finds himself becoming friends with Melody, who was burned in a childhood accident, and then even dating her. Leon faces a dilemma when the class queen asks him to a dance. Will he be able to get out of this quandary without hurting anyone? Missouri author.  

Shift, by Jennifer Bradbury. Simon and Schuster, ©2008. Best friends Chris and Win set out on a cross-country bicycle trip just after their high school graduation. Win goes missing when they reach Seattle, prompting an investigation by his powerful parents. Meanwhile, Chris tries to find his friend on his own.

Stealing Heaven, by Elizabeth Scott. HarperCollins, ©2009. Danielle has lived a thief's life with her mother. They travel from town to town and steal from the rich, skipping town before they can be caught. But when Danielle is 15, she begins to break the rules of the life her mother has established. 

Sweethearts, by Sara Zarr.  Little, Brown Book Group, ©2008. Jennifer and Cameron are outcasts at their school and each other's only friend. When Cameron disappears without warning, Jennifer moves on to a life of popularity. Cameron re-emerges, causing the two to confront their memories of the past and the differences of their present.

Three Little Words, by Ashley Rhodes-Courter. Simon and Schuster, ©2008. The author of this memoir recounts painful memories of spending nine years shuffling between 14 foster homes, as well as different schools, agencies and caseworkers. Still, she finds the courage to succeed.

Wake, by Lisa McMann. Simon and Schuster, ©2008. Seventeen-year-old Janie is tired of being sucked into other people's dreams. This gets even worse when she falls into a twisted nightmare.