2016 Kentucky Bluegrass Nominees
High School Level
Above
by Isla Morley
Abducted and locked in an abandoned missile silo by a mad survivalist, a Kansas teen endures loneliness and despair while struggling to raise a baby in isolation before escaping into a world more changed than she anticipated.
Complicit
by Stephanie Kuehn
Two years ago, fifteen-year-old Jamie Henry breathed a sigh of relief when a judge sentenced his older sister to juvenile detention for burning down their neighbor's fancy horse barn. The whole town did. But today Cate got out. And now she's coming back.
Faking Normal
by Courtney C. Stevens
The Geography of You and Me
by Jennifer E. Smith
Sparks fly when sixteen-year-old Lucy and seventeen-year-old Owen meet on an elevator rendered useless by a New York City blackout. Soon after, the two teens leave the city, but as they travel farther away from each other geographically, they stay connected emotionally.
I'll Meet You There
by Heather Demetrios
Skylar Evans, seventeen, yearns to escape Creek View by attending art school, but after her mother's job loss puts her dream at risk, a rekindled friendship with Josh, who joined the Marines to get away then lost a leg in Afghanistan, and her job at the Paradise motel lead her to appreciate her home town.
Inhuman
by Kat Falls
In the wake of a devastating biological disaster, the United States east of the Mississippi has been abandoned. Now called the Feral Zone, a reference to the virus that turned millions of people into bloodthirsty savages, the entire area is off-limits. Lane McEvoy can't imagine why anyone would risk it. But when Lane learns that someone close to her has crossed into the Feral Zone she has little choice but to follow.
The Nazi Hunters
by Neal Bascomb
In 1945, at the end of World War II, Adolf Eichmann, the head of operations for the Nazis' Final Solution, walked into the mountains of Germany and vanished from view. Sixteen years later, an elite team of spies captured him at a bus stop in Argentina and smuggled him to Israel, resulting in one of the century's most important trials -- one that cemented the Holocaust in the public imagination.
The Scar Boys
by Len Vlahos
In attempting to describe himself in his college application essay, Harry Jones goes way beyond the 250-word limit and gives a full account of his life. The first defining moment: the day the neighborhood goons tied him to a tree during a lightning storm. The second defining moment: the day in 8th grade when Johnny rescued him from the bullies and suggested that they form a band.
The Walk On
by John Feinstein
After moving to a new town his freshman year in high school, Alex Myers is happy to win a spot on the varsity team as a quarterback but must deal with the idea of not playing for two years since the first-string quarterback is not only a local hero, he is also the son of the corrupt head coach.
The Winners Curse
by Marie Rutkoski
As a general's daughter, seventeen-year-old Kestrel enjoys an extravagant and privileged life. Arin has nothing but the clothes on his back. Then Kestrel makes an impulsive decision that binds Arin to her. Though they try to fight it, they can't help but fall in love. In order to be together, they must betray their people . . . but to be loyal to their country, they must betray each other.