2018 Illinois Teen Choice Award

These 20 books are nominated for a statewide readers' choice award. High school students across Illinois will read the books, then vote for their favorites in February.

The LMC has 5 print copies of each title, plus ebook and audiobook copies available on Overdrive.

Brochure

All American Boys book coverAll American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

Summary: When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend.

 

 

Denton Little's Deathdate book coverDenton Little's Deathdate by Lance Rubin

Summary: In a world where everyone knows the day they will die, a teenage boy is determined to outlive his upcoming expiration date.

 

 

Divided We Fall book coverDivided We Fall by Trent Reedy

Summary: Danny Wright, 17, joined the Idaho Army National Guard to serve the country as his father had, but when the Guard is sent to an anti-government protest in Boise and Danny's gun accidently fires, he finds himself at the center of a conflict that results in the federal government declaring war on Idaho.

 

An Ember in the Ashes book coverAn Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Summary: Laia is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire's greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.

 

Exit, Pursued by a Bear book coverExit, Pursued by a Bear by E. K. Johnston

Summary: At cheerleading camp, Hermione is drugged and raped, but she is not sure whether it was one of her teammates or a boy on another team--and in the aftermath she has to deal with the rumors in her small Ontario town, the often awkward reaction of her classmates, the rejection of her boyfriend, the discovery that her best friend is gay, and above all the need to remember what happened so that the guilty boy can be brought to justice.

Highly Illogical Behavior book coverHighly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

Summary: Agoraphobic sixteen-year-old Solomon has not left his house in three years, but Lisa is determined to change that--and to write a scholarship-winning essay based on the results.


 

March: Book Three book coverMarch: Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, art by Nate Powell

Summary: In this non-fiction graphic novel, John Lewis and other protestors stand up against racist Jim Crow laws. But fractures within the movement are deepening, even as Lewis prepares to risk everything in a historic showdown high above the Alabama river, in a town called Selma.
 

Nimona book coverNimona art and story by Noelle Stevenson

Summary: In this graphic novel, Lord Ballister Blackheart seeks to bring down the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics with the aid of his new shapeshifting sidekick Nimona.
 

 

Notorious RBG book coverNotorious RBG by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik

Summary: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg never asked for fame -- she was just trying to make the world a little better and a little freer. But along the way, the feminist pioneer's searing dissents and steely strength have inspired millions. Notorious RBG takes you behind the myth for an intimate, irreverent look at the justice's life and work.

Out of Darkness book coverOut of Darkness by Ashey Hope Perez

Summary: Loosely based on a school explosion that took place in New London, Texas, in 1937, this is the story of two teenagers: Naomi, who is Mexican, and Wash, who is black, and their dealings with race, segregation, love, and the forces that destroy people.

 

The Rest of Us Just Live Here book coverThe Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Summary: What if you aren't the Chosen One? The one who's supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you're like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week's end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions.

Salt to the Sea book coverSalt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Summary: As World War II draws to a close, refugees try to escape the war's final dangers, only to find themselves aboard a ship with a target on its hull.

 

 

The Serpent King book coverThe Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

Summary: The son of a Pentecostal preacher faces his personal demons as he and his two outcast friends try to make it through their senior year of high school in rural Forrestville, Tennessee without letting the small-town culture destroy their creative spirits and sense of self.

 

Shadowshaper book coverShadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older

Summary: When the murals painted on the walls of her Brooklyn neighborhood start to change and fade in front of her, Sierra Santiago realizes that something strange is going on--then she discovers her Puerto Rican family are shadowshapers and finds herself in a battle with an evil anthropologist for the lives of her family and friends.

 

Six of Crows book coverSix of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Summary: Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction--if they don't kill each other first.


 

These Shallow Graves book coverThese Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

Summary: A young woman in nineteenth-century New York City must struggle against gender and class boundaries when her father is found dead of a supposed suicide, and she believes there is more than meets the eye, so in order to uncover the truth she will have to decide how much she is willing to risk and lose.

 

To All the Boys I've Loved Before book coverTo All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Summary: Lara Jean writes love letters to all the boys she has loved and then hides them in a hatbox until one day those letters are accidentally sent.

 

 

When We Collided book coverWhen We Collided by Emery Lord

Summary: Can seventeen-year-old Jonah save his family restaurant from ruin, his mother from her sadness, and his danger-seeking girlfriend Vivi from herself?

 

 

The Wrath and the Dawn book coverThe Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Summary: In this reimagining of The Arabian Nights, Shahrzad plans to avenge the death of her dearest friend by volunteering to marry the murderous boy-king of Khorasan but discovers not all is as it seems within the palace.

 

 

Zeroboxer book coverZeroboxer by Fonda Lee

Summary: As seventeen-year-old Carr 'the Raptor' Luka rises to fame in the weightless combat sport of zeroboxing, he learns a devastating secret that jeopardizes not only his future in the sport, but interplanetary relations.