The Soaring Eagle Nominee list is a list of 10 books picked by teens, 7th-12th grade, in the state of Wyoming. These are titles that other teens have said are amazing and should be read. This year’s list includes nonfiction, novels in verse, realistic fiction, fantasy, and mystery.
Our last set of books are standalone books. The Library of Lost Things, They Both Die at the End and Grenade are all standalone novels.
The Library of Lost Things
By Laura Taylor Namey
“How could I open that door and let him see the messiest parts of me?”
Darcy loves to read. She loves books and language and words. She loves how they help her escape from the reality of her own life.
But what might happen if she chooses to live her life instead of escaping it? Could she create a story of her own to rival any she has experienced through print?
Join her as she navigates family secrets and the beautiful sweetness of young love, and perhaps be inspired to take some risks in the story that is yours to create.
They Both Die at the End
By Adam Silvera
“Mateo, I regret to inform you that sometime in the next twenty-four hours you’ll be meeting an untimely death. And while there isn’t anything we can do to suspend that, you still have a chance to live.”
Imagine receiving this phone call. This is the reality for Mateo, Rufus, and countless others. They don’t know how it will happen or even the exact minute, just that they will die that day. They live in a near future world where a company called Death Cast knows when people will die and then notifies them. You choose what to do with your last 24 hours. Do you hold a funeral? Make memories at Make a Moment where you can virtually skydive, swim with sharks, and have other adventures? Do you spend it with family and friends?
If the last option is your choice and you don’t have any friends or family, the Last Friend App has you covered. Just download the app, sign up and the app will match you with other people dying or just a friendly person that wants to be there for your last day. The Last Friend app connects Mateo and Rufus for their last day. They are completely different; Mateo is a homebody who prefers books and video games, and Rufus is a street kid who prefers to be with his gang of friends. What they don’t realize is they both need each other on their last day and they are more alike than they ever thought.
Grenade
By Alan Gratz
Imagine being pulled out of your classroom at school and told your small island, the only home you have known, is about to be invaded by enemy forces. You are just 14; you know nothing about fighting, and yet you are told that you, and all your classmates, are expected to fight.
Each of you is given two hand grenades, and these instructions: with the first grenade, throw it at the attacking soldiers, and kill as many as possible.
With the second grenade, if you aren’t able to escape… kill yourself.
These are the instructions given to Hideki, a teen boy living on the island of Okinawa, just off the coast of Japan, during World War II. Part of the Pacific theater, the battle of American and Japanese troops on the tiny island of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest of the war. In Grenade, author Alan Gratz shows us the terror Hideki faces as he is expected to fight the American soldiers on the Japanese-occupied island that has been his family’s home.
Gratz also introduces us to Ray, an American soldier who is the second narrator of the story… a soldier who is fighting because it is his duty, but not because he hates the Okinawan people.
As Hideki and Ray move across the island, their stories converge in a fateful moment of decision.
Some of you might remember that author Alan Gratz visited schools in Campbell County in the fall of 2019. Some of his other books include Refugee, which is a current Indian Paintbrush book award nominee, and Projekt 1065, which was the first runner-up for the Soaring Eagle book award in 2019.
To find these titles, stop by the Teen Room or your school library. Haven’t heard of one you might like? That’s okay; stop by the library for other recommendations. You can also click on the category Readers Advisory or Soaring Eagles on the side for other recommendations.
Library Link: The Library of Lost Things
Library Link: They Both Die at the End
Library Link: Grenade