Novelist Plus (a database at www.scdiscus.org)
2023-2024
South Carolina
Young Adult Book Award
Nominees
Book summaries and images courtesy of:
African Town
Irene Latham & Charles Waters
In this powerful novel-in-verse that chronicles the story of the last Africans brought illegally to America in 1860, 14 distinct voices recreate a pivotal moment in U.S. and world history, the impacts of which we still feel today.
All of Us Villains
Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn Herman
Seven teenage tributes must fight to the death to secure their family’s control over magick, the most powerful element in the world. As the tournament goes on, the tributes are faced with destiny-changing decisions.
Beasts of Prey
Ayana Gray
Sixteen-year-old indentured beastkeeper Koffi and seventeen-year-old warrior candidate Ekon forge an unusual alliance and venture into the Greater Jungle to hunt down a monster that has been menacing their city for a century.
Bluebird
Sharon Cameron
Eva arrives in New York City after fleeing from Berlin. She says she’s looking to create a new life after the war, but she’s actually looking for the Nazi who was in charge of “Project Bluebird,” a mind-control experiment that took place in the concentration camps. She must keep her identity and aims secret, all while managing to survive.
The City Beautiful
Aden Polydoros
In 1893 Chicago, after his best friend becomes the latest victim in a long line of murdered Jewish boys, Alter Rosen is plunged into a nightmare where he is thrown back into the arms of a dangerous boy from his past.
The Cost of Knowing
Brittney Morris
Every time Alex Rufus touches an object or person, he can see the future of that object, so he’s spent most of his life avoiding getting close to people. But then he has a vision of his little brother dying in mere days. Alex has to figure out just how his brother dies, and do everything in his power to stop it.
Enduring Freedom
Jawad Arash & Trent Reedy
A tale of two young men experiencing a war that will forever change their lives. They meet as enemies, but will they depart as friends?
Every Single Lie
Rachel Vincent
Beckett Bergen finds a dead baby in the girls’ locker room. The story captures the attention of not only the small town and its gossipers but also the nation and its social media. Suspicions arise and secrets erupt as the reader investigates the death along with Beckett’s mom, a local police officer.
The Girls I’ve Been
Tess Sharpe
When seventeen-year-old Nora O'Malley, the daughter of a con artist, is taken hostage in a bank heist, every secret she is keeping close begins to unravel.
Huda F Are You?
Huda Fahmy
When Huda and her family move to Dearborn, Michigan, she must figure out how she fits in, and come to terms with what it means to be yourself, no matter who is watching.
In the Wild Light
Jeff Zentner
When his best friend, Delaney, gets them both full rides to an elite prep school in Connecticut, Cash must choose between his need to love and protect Delaney and his loyalty to his grandparents and their small Appalachian town.
A Lesson in Vengeance
Victoria Lee
While helping the eccentric new girl research the Dalloway Five, five students who died mysteriously and were said to be witches, Felicity finds history repeating itself, forcing her to face the darkness in Dalloway--and in herself.
Lies Like Wildfire
Jennifer Lynn Alvarez
After she and her friends accidentally spark an enormous and deadly wildfire, 18-year-old sheriff's daughter and aspiring FBI agent Hannah Warner finds herself going to extreme lengths to protect their secret.
Luck of the Titanic
Stacey Lee
After smuggling herself onto the RMS Titanic, British-Chinese teenager Valora Luck reunites with her twin brother and tries to convince him that their acrobatic training could be their ticket to a better life.
Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir
Ryland Grace wakes up with no memory aboard a spaceship heading to an unknown universe. While aboard the ship he pieces together his mission: save the world from an extinction-level threat to Earth.
The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss
Amy Noelle Parks
Evie and Caleb have been best friends forever. And Caleb is a little in love with Evie. So when she gets over her anxiety to date new boy Leo, romantic comedy ensues.
She Drives Me Crazy
Kelly Quindlen
Getting into a fender-bender with a beautiful rival after an embarrassing loss to her ex, a talented basketball athlete reluctantly agrees to a carpool arrangement before an opportunity for revenge leads to an unlikely relationship.
This Poison Heart
Kalynn Bayron
Teenaged Briseis, who possesses a supernatural power over plants, even poisonous ones, inherits a dilapidated estate in rural New York and must protect herself and her family from centuries-old secrets that threaten their lives.
Vinyl Moon
Mahogany L. Browne
After an incident, Angel finds herself in Brooklyn, far from her California home, where she finds solace and healing in a revolutionary literature course in which her classmates share their own stories of pain, joy, and fortitude.
You’d Be Home Now
Kathleen Glasgow
After a fatal car accident that reveals Emory's brother Joey's opioid addiction, Emory struggles to help him on his road to recovery and make herself heard in a town that insists on not listening.