2020 Lincoln Award Nominees

Welcome back to the new Lincoln Award list!

This year's Lincoln Award program is up and running. RB received extra support for our Lincoln Award program as a recipient of an LBSS  (Library Book Selection Service) Endowment Fund Reader's Choice Grant. This grant allowed RB to receive a full set of the 20 Lincoln Award nominees, allowing more RB students to read, enjoy, and participate in this year's program.

Remember, participating is very easy--just read one of the 20 Lincoln Award nominees! Then turn in a bookmark to any RBLibrary staff member, showing you've read the book, and you will receive 5 Hero Points for participating in the program. Read 4 of the nominated titles before the beginning of March, and you will be invited to a pizza party where students will gather, discuss the books they read, and vote for your favorite. The title that receives the most student votes across the entire state of Illinois will be named the 2020 Lincoln Award Winner.

Here are the titles on this year's list:

The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater
A riveting book about race, class, gender, crime, and punishment tells the true story of an agender teen who was set on fire by another teen while riding a bus in Oakland, California.

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan
After her mother's suicide, grief-stricken Leigh Sanders travels to Taiwan to stay with grandparents she never met, determined to find her mother who she believes turned into a bird.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Seventeen-year-old Zelie, her older brother Tzain, and rogue princess Amari fight to restore magic to the land and activate a new generation of magi, but they are ruthlessly pursued by the crown prince, who believes the return of magic will mean the end of the monarchy.

Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., seventeen-year-old college-bound Justyce McAllister struggles to face the reality of race relations today and how they are shaping him.

Don't Get Caught by Kurt Dinan
To his great surprise, uncool eleventh-grader Max Cobb is invited to join the Chaos Club, an exclusive group of students responsible for some of the biggest pranks at his high school.

Far From the Tree by Robin Benway
Being the middle child has its ups and downs. But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties.

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
Three years after her sister's murderer walked free and Alex Craft skillfully achieves her vengeance without detection, she begins to form a friendship with the preacher's daughter and draws the attention of popular Jack Fisher, until the dark side of Alex finds its way out.

Hooper by Geoff Herbach
For Adam Reed, basketball skills have taken him from an orphanage in Poland to a loving adoptive mother in Minnesota. When he's tapped to play on a select AAU team along with some of the best players in the state, it just confirms that basketball is his ticket to the good life: to new friendships, to the girl of his dreams, to a better future.

How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
Presents the story of Sandra Uwiringiyimana, a girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who tells the tale of of how she survived a massacre, immigrated to America, and overcame her trauma through art and activism.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez
Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents' house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family. But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga's role. Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
As Will, fifteen, sets out to avenge his brother Shawn's fatal shooting, seven ghosts who knew Shawn board the elevator and reveal truths Will needs to know.

Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable--more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn't turn up for the first day of school, Claudia's worried. As Claudia digs deeper into her friend's disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she's gone?

Nyxia by Scott Reintgen
Emmett accepts an interstellar space contract but learns en route that to win the promised fortune he and nine other recruits face a brutal competition, putting their very humanity at risk.

Only Child by Rhiannon Navin
Surviving a horrific school shooting, a six-year-old boy retreats into the world of books and art while making sobering observations about his mother's determination to prosecute the shooter's parents and the wider community's efforts to make sense of the tragedy.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and fierceness to the talking.

Sadie by Courtney Summers
Told from the alternating perspectives of nineteen-year-old Sadie who runs away from her isolated small Colorado town to find her younger sister's killer, and a true crime podcast exploring Sadie's disappearance.

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Natasha is a girl who believes in science and facts. Daniel has always been a good son and good student. But when he sees Natasha he forgets all that believes there is something extraordinary in store for both of them.

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
In a near-future New York City where a service alerts people on the day they will die, teenagers Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio meet using the Last Friend app and are faced with the challenge of living a lifetime on the End Day.

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
Aza Holmes is a young woman navigating daily existence withing the ever tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
Teenagers Rachel and Henry find their way back to each other while working in an old bookstore full of secrets and crushes, love letters and memories, grief and hope.