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Teen's Choice Award Winners

A list of Teen's Choice Award Winners.

2023

Cover of Don't Look Back: A Memoir
Achut Deng and
Keely Hutton
2022

After a deadly attack in South Sudan left six-year-old Achut Deng without a family, she lived in refugee camps for ten years, until a refugee relocation program gave her the opportunity to move to the United States. When asked why she should be given a chance to leave the camp, Achut simply told the interviewer: I want life.
But the chance at starting a new life in a new country came with a different set of challenges. Some of them equally deadly. Taught by the strong women in her life not to look back, Achut kept moving forward, overcoming one obstacle after another, facing each day with hope and faith in her future. Yet, just as Achut began to think of the US as her home, a tie to her old life resurfaced, and for the first time, she had no choice but to remember her past.

2022

Cover of Any Sign of Life
Rae
Carson
Greenwillow Books
2021

When a teenage girl thinks she may be the only person left alive in her town, maybe in the whole world, she must rely on hope, trust, and her own resilience. A harrowing and pulse-pounding survival story for readers that enjoy books like Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave and Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman's Dry.

2021

Cover of Clap When You Land
Elizabeth
Acevedo
Quill Tree Books
2020

Separated by distance--and Papi's secrets--Camino Rios and Yahaira Rios are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered. And then, when it seems like they've lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.

Excerpt from NPR interview: Elizabeth Acevedo dedicated her new book to the lives lost on American Airlines Flight 587 — the Dominican Republic-bound flight that crashed into Queens, New York, in 2001, killing everyone onboard.  "I was 13 years old when that plane crashed," she says. "It rocked my community. I mean, everyone knew someone who was on that flight. But I'll say that, like, this story was based on research that I did on flight AA 587. All of these secrets. The indignity of a tragedy, of the death of folks and the ways that their secrets come out. And so I started reading about people who had a lot of complications around getting grievance money from the airlines because, you know, the person who was deceased had a lot of secrets."

2020

Cover of Stronger Than a Bronze Dra
Mary
Fan
Page Street Kids
2019

As a warrior who protects her village from shadow spirits, Anlei has never been beyond the borders of her town. All of that changes the day the viceroy and his fleet of mechanical dragons arrives. It's the protection her village is desperate for, but it will only be given in exchange for Anlei's hand in marriage. Torn between wanting to protect her village and her own freedom, Anlei is forced to make a sacrifice. Amid dark experiments and battles on magic-fueled airships, Anlei must summon the courage to be the hero; to live the life she has always dreamed of.

2019

Cover of Secrets of a Charmed Life
Susan
Meissner
New American Library
2015

When Oxford student Kendra Van Zant interviews 93-year-old artist Isabel MacFarland about her experience as a survivor of the London Blitz, Isabel is ready to share secrets she has kept for decades-- beginning with who she really is.

2018

Cover of The Hate U Give
Angie
Thomas
Balzer + Bray
2017

After witnessing her friend's death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter's life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died.

2017

Cover of Truthwitch
Susan
Dennard

On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a 'witchery,' a magical skill that sets them apart from others. In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble--as two desperate young women know all too well.

Cover of Cinder
Marissa
Meyer

As plague ravages the overcrowded Earth, observed by a ruthless lunar people, Cinder, a gifted mechanic and cyborg, becomes involved with handsome Prince Kai and must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect the world in this futuristic take on the Cinderella story.

2016

Cover of Nimona
Noelle
Stevenson

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

2015

Cover of The Maze Runner
James
Dashner

When 16-year old Thomas wakes up, the only thing he can remember is his name. He's surrounded by strangers -- boys whose memories are also gone. Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It's the only way out -- and no one has ever made it through alive. Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Cover of The Statistical Probabilit
Jennifer
Smith

Quirks of timing feature in this romantic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver find that true love can be unexpected.

Cover of Unbreakable
Kami
Garcia

Seventeen-year-old Kennedy Waters discovers she is a member of an ancient secret society formed to protect the world from a powerful demon determined to find a way out of his dimension and into ours. She joins the Legion on a mission to find a weapon that can defeat the demon.

2014

Cover of Smile
Raina
Telgemeier

From sixth grade through tenth, Raina copes with a variety of dental problems that affect her appearance and how she feels about herself.

2013

Cover of Legend
Marie
Lu

In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, fifteen-year-olds Day, a famous criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have a common enemy.

2012

Divergent by Veronica Roth. In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomoly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.

The Alchemyst: the secrets of the immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott. While working at pleasant but mundane summer jobs in San Francisco, fifteen-year-old twins, Sophie and Josh, suddenly find themselves caught up in the deadly, centuries-old struggle between rival alchemists, Nicholas Flamel and John Dee, over the possession of an ancient and powerful book holding the secret formulas for alchemy and everlasting life.

2011

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. By winning the annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have secured a life of safety and plenty for themselves and their families, but because they won by defying the rules, they unwittingly become the faces of an impending rebellion.

Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham. After a shark attack causes the amputation of her right arm, fifteen-year-old Jane, an aspiring artist, struggles to come to terms with her loss and the changes it imposes on her day-to-day life and her plans for the future

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore. In rural Ohio, friendships and a beautiful girl prove distracting to a fifteen-year-old who has hidden on Earth for ten years waiting to develop the Legacies, or powers, he will need to rejoin the other six surviving Garde members and fight the Mogadorians who destroyed the planet, Lorien.>

2010

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. In a future world, 16 year-old Katniss takes her younger sister Prim's place in the annual Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death. All she hopes to do is survive as long as possible - revolution doesn't even cross her mind.

Cirque Du Freak by Darren Shan. When Darren and his best friend sneak into an illegal freak show expecting to be grossed out, maybe a little frightened, neither one realizes how their lives will be unalterably changed.

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick. To eighth-grader Steven Alper his five year-old brother Jeffrey is a pain. Then Jeffrey is diagnosed with leukemia and Steven's life is turned upside down.

2009

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal by Jeff Kinney. Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive.

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson. After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "birdkids," who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose.

Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick. After being assigned to perform community service at a nursing home, sixteen-year-old Alex befriends a cantankerous old man who has some lessons to impart about jazz guitar playing, love, and forgiveness.

2008

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins. Gregor and his little sister, Boots, are just doing the laundry when Boots seems to fall into the vent in the wall. Gregor follows her to get her back out and finds himself hurtling into a subteranian world of giant cockroaches, rats and bats, and albino humans.

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz. When Alex Rider's uncle and guardian, Ian, turns up dead Alex is told it was a traffic accident, but Alex can't believe it. Alex digs further and discovers that his uncle, far from being the bank executive he claimed to be, was actually a spy with the Special Operations Division of Britain's M16 and he was murdered while on a mission. Now Alex is asked to take over that mission.

Close To Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Mark Capuzzo. In the summer of 1916 vacationers flocked to the New Jersey shore by train, leaving the city behind and looking forward to ocean swims and a relaxing time at the beach. One rogue shark, a Great White, changed all that, attacking up and down the shoreline over the course of the summer.

2007

Trickster's Choice by Tamara Pierce.Captured and enslaved, Alianne must call forth her mother's courage and her father's wit in order to survive on the Copper Isles in a royal court rife with political intrigue and murderous conspiracy.

So Hard to Say by Alex Sanchez. Mexican American, Xio, and Frederick, the cute new boy, quickly become friends, but when Xio wants more than a friendship Frederick has to figure out what he really wants.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson’s summer is turned upside down when he learns he is a demigod, is sent to summer camp for demigods, then sets out to prevent a war between the gods.

2006

In Darkness, Death by Dorothy and Thomas Hobbler. In eighteenth-century Japan, Seikei is called upon to pursue and trap a powerful ninja in order to solve a murder mystery.

A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett. When Tiffany begins her apprenticeship in magic she is pursued, then taken over by a soul-stealing hiver, an entity which has killed each of it's hosts up to now.

Uglies by Scott Westerfield. On Tally's 16th birthday she plans to undergo an operation to make her pretty, like everyone else in her world. Then she enounters an underground group of people who have chosen to remain "ugly".

2005

Eragon by Christopher Paolini. In Aagaesia, fifteen-year-old Eragon finds a mysterious stone that leads him to a destiny of magic and power peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.

Silent to the Bone by E. L. Konigsburg. Wrongly accused of seriously injuring his baby half-sister, Branwell loses his ability to speak and only his friend Connor is able to reach him and uncover the truth about what really happened.

Girlhearts by Norma Fox Mazer. Thirteen-year-old Sarabeth’s life is turned upside-down when her mother dies suddenly, leaving her orphaned, confused, and at the mercy of adults who believe they know what is best for her.

Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde. While playing a total immersion virtual reality game of kings and intrigue, Giannine learns that protesters have damaged the equipment to which she is connected, and she must win the game quickly or else...

2004

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen. Ever since he moved into the neighborhood in 2nd grade, Bryce's oddball neighbor, Juli, has had a crush on him. Now, in 8th grade, Juli has taken to sitting in trees and selling eggs, and Bryce is finding her attention even harder to take.

Sabriel by Garth Nix. After receiving a message from her missing father, Sabriel must journey into the Old Kingdom, a place of dangerous magic and frightening half-dead creatures, to battle a powerful sorcerer and rescue her father from the land of the dead.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. When Matteo Alacran learns that he is the clone of El Patron, the lord of a country called Opium, he is sure El Patron is educating him to take his place as leader, but El Patron has other plans for Matt.

2003

I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade by Diane Wilson. As a small child, Oyuna's foot was crushed by a mare. The clan now believes she is touched by bad luck, but, although Oyuna can barely walk, she finds her true freedom on horseback.

Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff. Fourteen year-old LaVaughn is only trying to earn money for college when she takes the babysitting job. The problem is that Jolly, a seventeen year-old single mom, who has trouble keeping a job herself, is LaVaughn's boss.

Tangerine by Edward Bloor. Even though Paul Fisher is legally blind, he's still a great soccer goalie, but no matter how good Paul is, his parents only seem to notice his older brother, Erik, the football star.

Time Windows by Kathryn Reiss. When Miranda and her family move into the old house, Miranda discovers an antique dollhouse - a model of the real house. Then Miranda realizes that the old house is having a strange effect on the women who live there, especially Miranda's own mother. Miranda studies the dollhouse, looking for any clue that can help her release the real house from its spell.

2002

Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce. When Daine is hired to help a horse trader transport the herd, she is drawn into a battle against immortal creatures that have recently begun to attack the kingdom of Tortall.

Thwonk! by Joan Bauer. A.J. McCreary is obsessed with Peter Terris. Meanwhile, he hardly knows she exists. Just one shot from the cupid's bow and - thwonk - she could have the undying devotion of handsome Peter forever!

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. Thirteen year-old Koly's parents have arranged a marriage for her, but when she meets her new husband, she finds that he is very sick. Now Koly must live with his family, and do his mother's bidding.

2001

The Third Eye by Lois Duncan. Karen is babysitting the first time it happens. Bobby, the little boy she’s taking care of disappears. Hours later, worried and exhausted, Karen closes her eyes and the vision comes. It’s Bobby, and he'’s trapped in the trunk of a car.

The Giver by Lois Lowry. Jonas lives in a perfect world, a future world where there’s no hunger, no poverty, no unemployment, no divorce. But hidden behind his perfect world is a terrifying secret...

Clockwork by Philip Pullman. Once you’ve wound up a clock, there’s something frightful in the way it keeps going at its own relentless pace. Its hands move around the wheel as if they had a mind of their own. Some stories are like that. Once you’ve wound them up, nothing will stop them.”

2000

Alanna: the First Adventure by Tamora Pierce. Alanna wants to train for the knighthood, while her twin brother, Thom, wishes to be a great sorcerer. On the eve of their departure to the training grounds that will seal their fates, they come up with a plan.

Holes by Louis Sachar. Stanley Yelnats is wrongly convicted of stealing and sent to Camp Greenlake, a juvenile detention center where everyone must dig one hole every day, five feet deep and five feet wide.

Virtual War by Gloria Skurzinsky. Genetically engineered and trained from birth to to be a soldier in a virtual war, Corgan has lived his life completely separated from all other humans. Then Corgan meets Sharla and Brig, two others who are being trained to be soldiers. The three teens meet face to face and decide to make the system work for them for a change.

1999

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. To Lyra, the Gobblers are just imaginary spooks invented to tease and frighten children. Then Lyra's friend disappears and she sets off on a North-bound journey to find him.

They Cage the Animals at Night by Michael Jennings Burch. One rainy day eight year-old Jennings Burch is taken to an orphanage by his ill mother and left there. On that day Jennings enters the first in a series of orphanages and foster homes.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. In this Cinderella story with a twist, Faerie Lucinda bestows the gift of obedience on Ella at birth. Ella, now nearly grown, must find Lucinda and break the spell.

1998

Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples. 11 year-old Shabanu has been promised in marriage to her distant cousin, Murad. Shabanu likes Murad. He is kind, patient and good-looking, and Shabanu believes they will be happy together. Then a tragedy occurs that changes her life forever.

The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm by Nancy Farmer. General Matsika's children sneak out of the house to go on a forbidden adventure - and disappear. Finding the kids in the huge city of Zimbabwe in the year 2194 is no easy task, so their parents call on some unusual detectives: the Ear, the Eye and the Arm.

Kokopelli's Flute by Will Hobbs. When Tepary Jones found the flute in the ancient cliff dwelling called Picture House, something told Tep he should put it back right where he found it, but he couldn't resist playing it. Then the flute's magic began.

1997

Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi. A young Korean girl survives the oppressive Japanese and Russian occupation of North Korea during the 1940s, to later escape to freedom in South Korea.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. As the lone "young lady" on a transatlantic voyage in 1832, Charlotte learns that the captain is murderous and the crew rebellious.

Earthquake at Dawn by Kristiana Gregory. A novelization of twenty-two-year-old photographer Edith Irvine's experiences in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, as seen through the eyes of fifteen-year-old Daisy, a fictitious traveling companion.