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2008 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOL AWARD NOMINEES

A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT -- Laura Whitcomb                                                                           
The spirit of a woman long dead, unable to move on to the afterlife, clings to the physical world until she encounters James, a spirit similarly marooned, who shows her how to inhabit an "empty" body. Overjoyed by their discover of each other, the two soon fall deeply in love. Click here to visit the author's website.

DROPPING IN WITH ANDY MAC -- Andy MacDonald                                                           
A pro skateboarding legend, known for his rejection of the drugs and alcohol so prevalent among his peers, recounts the story of his long, uphill road to success in his demanding and wildly popular sport. Click here to visit the author's website.

FAULT LINE -- Janet Tashjian                                                                                        
When Becky meets fellow comedian Kip at the improv clubs where they both perform, he seems the perfect guy for her – until the relationship turns abusive. Click here to visit the author's website.

THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN -- Mitch Albom                                     
83-year-old Eddie is convinced his life has had little meaning, until his death brings him into the presence of five people who show him the unexpected impact he has had on others. Click here to visit the author's website.

THE GLASS CASTLE -- Jeannette Walls                                                                                
Walls, now an MSNBC columnist, reveals the story of her chaotic youth, during which she and her siblings were mostly left to fend for themselves while her alcoholic father and artist mother moved about the country evading bill collectors and the law.

HEIR APPARENT -- Vivian Vande Velde                                                                                      
A girl is trapped in a virtual reality game when protestors damage the gaming center’s equipment, and losing is no longer an option for her if she hopes to escape unharmed.

HOUSE OF THE SCORPION -- Nancy Farmer                                                          
In a near-future world, Matt learns he is the clone of El Patron, a powerful drug lord who controls a private empire on the U.S.-Mexico border. Though despised by humans, Matt is sure that El Patron loves him, until he learns the true – and horrifying – reason for his existence.

LEFT FOR DEAD: A YOUNG MAN’S SEARCH FOR JUSTICE FOR THE U.S.S. INDIANAPOLIS -- Pete Nelson            
The true story of a young boy who spent six years researching the sinking of a U.S. Navy ship in World War II and exposed the Navy cover-up of the rigged court-martial of the ship’s captain.

MAXIMUM RIDE: THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT -- James Patterson                                     
A group of genetically engineered children, part human and part bird, flee the lab where they were created and the pursuit of the brutal Erasers, wolf-like predators sent to eliminate them so their existence will never be discovered. Click here to visit the author's website.

THE MEQ -- Steve Cash                                                                                                             
Having learned on his 12th birthday in 1881 that he is not human but an immortal creature known as a Meq, Zianno Zezen embarks on a dual quest to find his soul-mate and to destroy an evil Meq called Fleur-du-Mal.

PIRATES -- Celia Rees                                                                                                                 
In 1722, upon her father’s death, 16-year-old Nancy Kington is headed for marriage to a wealthy old man. In desperation, she flees with the slave girl Minerva to join a pirate band. Click here to visit the author's website. 

ROCK STAR, SUPERSTAR -- Blake Nelson                                                                        
When a high school bass guitar player joins a rock group which is about to make it big, his new focus on his music career forces a crisis in his relationship with his girlfriend. Click here to visit the author's website. 

SNOW FLOWER & THE SECRET FAN -- Lisa See                                                                 
A Chinese woman looks back on her youth and young womanhood, reflecting on her laotong ("old sames") relationship with another girl, and on the ways in which they struggled for some degree of self-determination in a society which oppressed women through such practices as foot-binding and arranged marriages. Click here to visit the author's website.

TELL NO ONE -- Harlan Coben                                                                                                   
Eight years after the police told him a serial killer had murdered his wife, a man receives a message which seems to indicate that she’s alive, but if he tries to uncover the truth, it will endanger his own life. Click here to visit the author's website. 

13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES -- Maureen Johnson                                                     
Ginny’s adored Aunt Peg, a free-spirited artist, has died, and her legacy to her niece is a plane ticket to London, and a series of letters which will guide Ginny on the adventure of a lifetime.

TITHE -- Holly Black                                                                                                 
With a freewheeling rock musician for a mother and a band of faeries for her childhood friends, Kaye’s life has always been weird, but it becomes weirder – and more perilous – when she discovers that she herself is a pixie changling with a special destiny to fulfill. Click here to visit the author's website.

24 GIRLS IN 7 DAYS -- Alex Bradley                                                                             
When the love of Jack’s life rejects his invitation to the prom, his friends jump in to "help" by posting an online ad for a date for Jack which results in 24 eager applicants.

TWILIGHT -- Stephenie Meyer                                                                                            
A bored girl in a dreary small town finds her life suddenly much more interesting -- not to mention dangerous – when she becomes attracted to an unusual boy who belongs to a family of vampires. Who don’t hunt humans. Usually. Click here to visit the author's website.

UPSTATE -- Kalisha Buckhanon                                                                        
Natasha, a bright, ambitious Harlem teen who intends to become a lawyer, maintains a years-long correspondence with her boyfriend Antonio, who is in prison for involuntary manslaughter. Click here to visit the author's website. 

YOSSEL -- Joe Kubert                                                                             
The story, in graphic novel format, of a Jewish teen’s experiences of Nazi brutality in the Warsaw Ghetto which led to the desperate uprising of 1943.