The Abraham Lincoln Award is awarded annually to the author of the book voted as most outstanding by participating students in grades nine through twelve in Illinois. The award is named for Abraham Lincoln, one of Illinois' most famous residents and himself an avid reader and noted author. The award is sponsored by the Illinois School Library Media Association (ISLMA).The Abraham Lincoln Award is designed to encourage high school students to read for personal satisfaction and become familiar with authors of young adult and adult books. |
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After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings and Flew Away by Joyce Carol Oates
Blaming herself for the car accident on the Tappan Zee Bridge that killed her mother, fifteen-yearold
Jenna undergoes a difficult physical and emotional recovery.
http://jco.usfca.edu/ |
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The Bonemender by Holly Bennett
Gabrielle DesChenes, gifted Healer and one of the royal family of Verdeau, finds herself falling in
love with Feolan, an Elf who arrives at her castle seeking help for his wounded friend and who
warns of imminent danger from invaders who threaten the freedom of all who live in the Krylian
Basin. |
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Catch: A Novel by Will Leitch
Teenager Tim Temples must decide if he wants to leave his comfortable life in a small town and go
to college. |
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Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Kristina Snow is the perfect daughter, but she meets a boy who introduces her to drugs and
becomes a very different person, struggling to control her life and her mind.
http://www.ellenhopkins.com |
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Dairy Queen: A Novel by Catherine Murdock
After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's
rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the
reactions of those around her. http://www.catherinemurdock.com |
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The Girls by Lori Lansens
“We’ve been called many things: freaks, horrors, monsters, devils, witches, retards, wonders,
marvels. To most, we’re a curiosity. In small-town Leaford, where we live and work, we’re just ‘The
Girls.’” |
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Hawksong by Amelia Atwater Rhodes
In a land that has been at war so long that no one remembers the reason for fighting, the
shapeshifters who rule the two factions agree to marry in the hope of bringing peace, despite
deep-seated fear and distrust of each other. |
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I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
After capturing a bank robber, nineteen-year-old cab driver Ed Kennedy begins receiving
mysterious messages that direct him to addresses where people need help, and he begins getting
over his lifelong feeling of worthlessness. |
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It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
A humorous account of a New York City teenager's battle with depression and his time spent in a
psychiatric hospital. http://www.nedvizzini.com |
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Jennifer Government: A Novel by Max Barry
In a corporate-governed future world where people take the last names of the companies they
work for, merchandising officer Hack Nike tries to get out of a contract that requires him to shoot
teenagers, a situation that results in his unwitting involvement with an agent who is out to get
Hack's employer. http://www.maxbarry.com |
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The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old
Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new friends on a quest to
prevent a war between the gods. http://www.rickriordan.com |
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Looking for Alaska by John Green
Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good
friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal
car crash. http://www.sparksflyup.com |
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A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her
father and boyfriend, takes a job at a hotel in 1906 where the death of a guest renews her
determination to live her own life. http://www.jenniferdonnelly.com |
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Peeps: A Novel by Scott Westerfield
Cal Thompson is a carrier of a parasite that causes vampirism, and must hunt down all of the
girlfriends he has unknowingly infected. http://www.scottwesterfeld.com |
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Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte
Matt Rydeck, co-captain of his high school football team, endures a traumatic season as he
witnesses the rape of a rookie player by teammates and grapples with his own use of
performance-enhancing drugs. http://www.robertlipsyte.com |
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Sold by Patricia McCormick
Thirteen-year-old Lakshmi leaves her poor mountain home in Nepal thinking that she is to work in
the city as a maid only to find that she has been sold into the sex slave trade in India and that
there is no hope of escape. http://www.pattymccormick.com |
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Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess
Haunted by flashbacks, fifteen-year-old Meredith learns that three years in prison has not changed
the abusive father who molested her. http://www.laurawiess.com |
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Taken by Chris Jordan
In a terrible instant, Kate Bickford's young son vanishes. Racing home hoping to find her son, Kate
comes face-to-face with his abductor, who wants all the money she has. If she doesn't follow
something he calls The Method, the consequences will be gruesome. http://www.rodmanphilbrick.com |
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The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
Trixie Stone is only a freshman in high school when Jason, the junior she thinks she loves, dumps
her. Then one night at a party, their paths cross again. A few hours later, a visibly shaken Trixie
comes home to tell her father that Jason assaulted her. Daniel Stone has always done everything
in his power to keep his daughter safe. But he never imagined anything so devastating could
happen to Trixie--and now he's not sure how to help her. http://www.jodipicoult.com |
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Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace – One School at a Time
by Greg Mortenson
Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief, Karakoram mountains, Pakistan in 1993, after a terrifying and
disastrous attempt to climb K2, a mountaineer called Greg Mortenson drifted, cold and dehydrated,
into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram Mountains. This is the story of that promise
and its extraordinary outcome. http://www.ikat.org |
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The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
After learning about his magical ancestry and his own warrior powers, sixteen-year-old Jack
embarks on a training program to fight enemy wizards. http://www.cindachima.com |
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What Happened to Cass McBride? A Novel by Gail Giles
After his younger brother commits suicide, Kyle Kirby decides to exact revenge on the person he
holds responsible. http://www.gailgiles.com |
See the Illinois School Library Media Association website for more information about the Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award.
See past Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award Master Lists:
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