Fitchburg - Teen Award Winners

"For 400 years, Earth has been a barren wasteland. The few humans that survive scrape together an existence in the cruel city of Pocatel -- or go it alone in the wilderness beyond, filled with wandering spirits and wyrms. They don't last long. 13 year-old pickpocket Leandro and his sister Gabi do what they can to forge a life in Pocatel. The city does not take kindly to Cascabel like them -- the descendants of those who worked the San Joaquin Valley...

"America Redux explores the themes that create our shared sense of American identity and interrogates the myths we've been telling ourselves for centuries. With iconic American catchphrases as chapter titles, these twenty-one visual stories illuminate the astonishing, unexpected, sometimes darker sides of history that reverberate in our society to this very day--from the role of celebrity in immigration policy to the influence of one small group of...

An anthology of ten stories by young adult authors about surprising and unusual collections.

"Winter approaches, and there's much to do if Piŋa's family wants to be prepared: hunting, fishing, gathering, and more. Now, Piŋa must travel up the mountain to collect obsidian for knapping - the same mountain where his two older brothers disappeared. As he leaves, Piŋa reassures his parents that he will not succumb to the same fate as his brothers. He will return. But when he reaches the mountaintop, he is confronted by a terrifying eagle god...

"Ánte's life has been steeped in Sámi tradition. It is indisputable to him that he, an only child, will keep working with the reindeer. But there is something else too, something tugging at him. His feelings for his best friend Erik have changed, grown into something bigger. Ánte is so aware of Erik and his body in relation to his own; everything he does matters so much. What would people say if they knew? And how does Erik feel?"-- Provided by...

When sixteen-year-old Sadie, a Black bisexual recluse, develops agoraphobia the summer before her junior year, she relies on her best friend, family, and therapist to overcome her fears. On a perfect summer day, wrapped in her girlfriend's arms. Sadie feels safe. She's been struggling to manage her chronic anxiety, and is hopeful better times are ahead. When her girlfriend reveals some unexpected news, and the two witness a violent incident of police...

Growing up as a teenager in Amman, Jordan, in the 1980s and 90s, Mufleh knew enough to keep her sexuality a secret. If discovered, her conservative religious community wouldn't hesitate to kill her; she fears her family would cast her out. She made the tough decision to apply for asylum in the United States while attending college, causing her family to break ties with her when she refused to return home. In her memoir, Mufleh shows how she forged...

Erin Powers navigates growing up as a mixed-Black transracial adoptee being raised by a white, closeted lesbian mother. Based on the author's experience. Two girls on different timelines-- each growing up as a mixed-Black transracial adoptee-- find their lives bridged by a mysterious portal. Part memoir, part speculative fiction, Gibney examines the absurdities of the adoptee experience through her own adoption experiences. -- adapted from jacket...

Seventh-grader Selah Godfrey knows that to be "normal" she has to keep her feelings tightly controlled when people are around, but after hitting a fellow student, she needs to figure out just what makes her different--and why that is ok. Told in verse.

"Some girls call their mother their best friend. Marisol Martin? She could never relate. She and her mom were forever locked in an argument with no beginning and no end. Clothes, church, boys -- no matter the topic, Marisol always felt like there was an unbridgeable gap between them. But when her mother dies suddenly, Marisol is left with no one to fight. Her dad seems completely lost, and worse, baffled by Marisol's attempts to connect with her mother's...