The National Book Foundation has announced the finalists for the 2004 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.
Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti
Godless by Pete Hautman
Harlem Stomp! by Laban Carrick Hill
The Legend of Buddy Bush by Shelia P. Moses
Luna by Julie Anne Peters

Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini (0786809957)
Jeremy is a teen who is definitely not cool. He has friends, but he doesn’t have any luck with girls. But then Jeremy hears about a new pill that contains a nanocomputer that will interface with his brain and make him more cool. Stealing from his aunt, he get the money together for the pill and buys his “squip”. Now he has a voice in his mind that leads him through liaisons with girls, dresses him in cool clothes, and helps him remember his lines in the play.
This modern story offers up some real issues cloaked in sex and humor. What happens when society creates something that fundamentally changes you? What is the squip and what is you? Who or what is making the decisions in your life? This book is for teens only, not younger kids. It has a lot of sexuality and swearing as well as some drug use. But for older teens, this is a great look into a future that may be here before we know it.

Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce (0-06-073330-6)
What would you do if you found a bag full of money, but only had seventeen days to spend it? A bag filled with over 200,000 pounds falls at Damian’s feet. Damian believes that it was sent by God in answer to a prayer, but discovers that the money causes more problems than it does help.
This is a charming tale about morals, sudden wealth and ethical dilemmas. It is a story that easily leads to discussions about what kids would do if this happened to them. The story has humor and a wonderful main character in Damian. Damian is made even more vivid due to his obsession with saints after his mother’s death and his visions. Share this one.