Georgia Peach Award Nominees 2020-2021

SCIENCE FICTION

Auroroa Rising by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff Science Fiction

The yearis 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assignedtheir first missions. Starpupil TylerJones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheadedheroism seeshim stuck withthe dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

A cocky diplomatwitha black belt in sarcasm

A sociopathscientistwitha fondnessfor shootingher bunkmates

A smart-ass techwiz withthe galaxy’s biggestchip on his shoulder

An alien warrior withanger managementissues

A tomboy pilot who’s totally notinto him, in case you were wondering

And Ty’s squad isn’tevenhis biggestproblem—that’dbe Aurora Jie-LinO’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalystthatstarts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the lasthope for the entire galaxy.

They're not the heroes we deserve. They're just the ones we could find. Nobody panic.

-Review from GoodReads

Dry by Neal Shusterman & JarodShusterman Science Fiction

When theCalifornia droughtescalates to catastrophic proportions,one teen is forcedto make life and death decisionsfor herfamily in thisharrowingstoryof survival,

The drought—orthe Tap-Out,as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’slives have become an endless list of don’ts:don’t water thelawn, don’t fill up yourpool, don’t take long showers.

Until the taps run dry.

Suddenly,Alyssa’squietsuburbanstreetspirals into a warzone of desperation; neighborsand families turnedagainst each otheron the hunt for water.Andwhen her parents don’t returnand her life—and the life of her brother—isthreatened,Alyssa has to make impossible choicesif she’sgoing tosurvive.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

Internment by SamiraAhmed ScienceFiction

Set in a horrifying near-future UnitedStates, seventeen-year-oldLayla Amin and her parents are forcedinto an internment camp for MuslimAmerican citizens.

With the help of newly made friends also trappedwithinthe internment camp, her boyfriendon the outside,and an unexpectedalliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom,leading a revolutionagainst the internment camp's Directorand his guards.

Heart-racing and emotional,Internmentchallenges readersto fight complicit silence that exists in oursocietytoday.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg ScienceFiction

Glimmering like a jewel behind its gateway,The Kingdomis an immersive fantasy theme park where guests soaron virtualdragons, castles loomlike giants, and bioengineeredspecies--formerlyextinct--roamfree.

Ana isone of seven Fantasists,beautiful "princesses" engineered to makedreams come true. When she meetspark employee Owen, Ana begins to experience emotionsbeyond her programmingincluding, for thefirst time...love.

But thefairytale becomesa nightmare whenAna is accusedof murderingOwen, igniting thetrial of the century.Throughcourtroom testimony,interviews,and Ana's memoriesof Owen, emerges a tale of love, lies, and cruelty--andwhat it trulymeans tobe human.

-Review from GoodReads

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson ScienceFiction

Defeated, crushed, and driven almost to extinction, the remnants of the human race are trapped on a planet that is constantly attacked by mysterious alien starfighters.Spensa, a teenage girl living among them, longs to be a pilot. When she discovers the wreckage of an ancient ship, she realizes this dream might be possible—assumingshe can repair the ship, navigate flight school,and (perhaps most importantly) persuade the strange machine to help her. Because this ship, uniquely, appears to have a soul.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

FANTASY/HORROR

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones Fantasy

Seventeen-year-oldAderyn("Ryn")only caresabout twothings: her family, and her family's graveyard.And right now,both are in dire straits.Since thedeath of theirparents,Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggersin theremotevillage of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadlymountainrange that wasonce home tothe fae. The problemwith being a gravedigger in Colbren, though,is that the dead don't always stay dead.

The risen corpsesare knownas "bone houses,"and legend says that they're the result of a decades-oldcurse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysteriouspast, arrives in town,the bone housesattack with new ferocity.What is it that drawsthem near? And more importantly,how can they be stoppedfor good?

Together,Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them deep into theheart of the mountains,where they will have to face both thecurse and the long-hiddentruths about themselves,

	-Reviewfrom GoodReads

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig Fantasy

Annaleigh lives a shelteredlife at Highmoor,a manor by the sea, with her sisters,their father,and stepmother.Once they were twelve,but loneliness fills thegrand halls now that fourof the girls' lives have been cutshort. Each death wasmore tragic thanthe last—theplague, a plummetingfall, a drowning,a slippery plunge—and there are whispersthroughout thesurroundingvillages that thefamily is cursedby the gods.

Disturbedby a seriesof ghostlyvisions, Annaleigh becomesincreasingly suspiciousthat thedeathswere no accidents.Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attendglittering balls, dancing until dawnin silk gownsand shimmeringslippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whetherto try to stop themorto join theirforbiddentrysts.Because who—orwhat—are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh'sinvolvement with a mysteriousstranger whohas secretsof his ownintensifies, it's a race to unravel the darknessthat has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

Internment by SamiraAhmed ScienceFiction

Set in a horrifying near-future UnitedStates, seventeen-year-oldLayla Amin and her parents are forcedinto an internment camp for MuslimAmerican citizens.

With the help of newly made friends also trappedwithinthe internment camp, her boyfriendon the outside,and an unexpectedalliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom,leading a revolutionagainst the internment camp's Directorand his guards.

Heart-racing and emotional,Internmentchallenges readersto fight complicit silence that exists in oursocietytoday.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg ScienceFiction

Glimmering like a jewel behind its gateway,The Kingdomis an immersive fantasy theme park where guests soaron virtualdragons, castles loomlike giants, and bioengineeredspecies--formerlyextinct--roamfree.

Ana isone of seven Fantasists,beautiful "princesses" engineered to makedreams come true. When she meetspark employee Owen, Ana begins to experience emotionsbeyond her programmingincluding, for thefirst time...love.

But thefairytale becomesa nightmare whenAna is accusedof murderingOwen, igniting thetrial of the century.Throughcourtroom testimony,interviews,and Ana's memoriesof Owen, emerges a tale of love, lies, and cruelty--andwhat it trulymeans tobe human.

-Review from GoodReads

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly Fantasy

Isabelle shouldbe blissfully happy – she’sabout to winthehandsome prince. Except Isabelle isn’t the beautiful girl wholost the glass slipper and capturedtheprince’s heart. She’sthe ugly stepsisterwho’scutoff her toesto fit into Cinderella’sshoe ... which is now filling with blood.

When theprince discoversIsabelle’s deception,she is turnedawayin shame. It’s no more thanshe deserves:she is a plain girl in a worldthat values beauty; a feisty girl in a worldthat wants her to be pliant.

Isabelle has triedto fit in. To live up to her mother’sexpectations.To be like her stepsister.To be sweet.To be pretty.One by one, she has cutawaypieces of herselfin order to survive a worldthat doesn’t appreciate a girl like her.And that has made her mean, jealous,and hollow.

Until she gets a chance to alter her destiny and prove what ugly stepsistershave always known:it takesmore thanheartache to break a girl.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

YA FRIENDSHIP & ROMANCE

American RoadTrip by Patrick Flores-Scott Romance

With a strong,loving family, an incredibly loyal best

friend, and a buddingromance with the girl of his

dreams,life showspromise for seventeen-year-old

Teodoro“T”Avila. But he takessome hardhits the

summer before his senior yearwhen his nearly perfect

brotherManny returnsfrom a tourin Iraq with a

devastatingcase of PTSD.

In a desperateeffort to save Manny fromhimself and

pull theirfamily back together,T's fiery sisterXochitl

hoodwinksher brothersinto a roadtrip with many

stopsalong the roadto visit loved ones fromtheirpast.

-Review from GoodReads

Opposite of Always by JustinReynolds Romance

When Jack and Kate meetat a party, bonding until sunrise over theirmutuallove of Froot Loopsand theirfavoriteflicks, Jack knowshe’sfalling—hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins themover as easily as she did Jack.

But then Kate dies. And theirstoryshouldend there.

YetKate’sdeath sendsJack back to thebeginning, themoment theyfirst meet, and Kate’sthere again. Healthy,happy, and charmingas ever. Jack isn’t sure if he’s losing his mind.

Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate’sdeath,he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However,Jack will learn that his actionsare not without consequences.Andwhen one choice turnsdeadlyfor someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to doto save thepeople he loves.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

Pride by Ibi Zoboi Romance

ZuriBenitez has pride. Brooklynpride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots.But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood frombecoming unrecognizable.

When thewealthy Darcy family movesin acrossthestreet,Zuri wants nothingto do with theirtwoteenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, startsto fall for the charming Ainsley.She especially can’t standthe judgmentaland arrogant Darius.Yet as Zuriand Dariusare forcedto find commonground,theirinitial dislikeshifts into an unexpectedunderstanding.

But with four wildsisterspulling her in different directions,cute boy Warren vying for her attention,and college applications hoveringon the horizon,Zurifights to find her place in Bushwick’schanging landscape, orlose it all.

In a timelyupdateof Jane Austen'sPride andPrejudice, critically acclaimedauthorIbi Zoboiskillfully balances culturalidentity, class, and gentrification against theheady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of thisbeloved classic.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

Rayne & Deliah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner Realistic Fiction

Every Fridaynight, best friends Delia and Josie become Rayne Ravenscroft and Delilah Darkwood,hosts of the campycreature feature show MidniteMatinee on the local cable stationTV Six.

But with the end of senioryear quicklyapproaching, thegirls face tough decisionsabout theirfutures.Josie hasbeen dreadinggraduation,as she tries to decide whetherto leave for a big university and chase her dream career in mainstreamTV. And Lawson,one of theshow'sguest performers,a talentedMMA fighter with weaknessesfor pancakes, fantasy novels, and Josie, is making her tough decisioneven harder.

Scary movies are thelast connection Delia has to her dad,who abandonedthefamily years ago. If MidniteMatinee becomesa hit, maybe he'llsee it and want to be a part of her life again. And maybe Josie will staywith theshow instead of leaving her behind, too.

As thetug-of-warbetween growingup and growingapart tests thebonds of their friendship,Josie and Delia start to realize that an uncertain future can be both monstrous...andmomentous.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett Romance
After an awkward first encounter, Birdie and Daniel are forced to work together in a

Seattle hotel where a famous author leads a mysterious and secluded life in this romantic contemporary novel from the author of Alex, Approximately.

Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she’s cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel.

In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. The hotel’s charismatic young van driver shares the same nocturnal shift and patronizes the waterfront Moonlight Diner where she waits for the early morning ferry after work. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he’s stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel.

To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that the most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

YA DIVERSITY

Have a Little Faith in Me by Sonia Hartl Romance

When CeCe’s born-again ex-boyfriend dumpsher after they have sex,she follows him to Jesuscamp in order to winhim back. Problem: She knowsnothingabout Jesus.But her best friend Paul does.He accompaniesCeCe to camp, and the plan— God’sorCeCe’s—goes immediatelyawry whenher ex showsup with a new girlfriend, a TrueBeliever at that.

Scrambling tosave face, CeCe ropesPaul into faking a relationship.But as deceptionsstack up, she questionswhetherher ex is really the nice guy he seemed. And what about her strange new feelings for Paul—is thislove, lust, oran illusion born of heartbreak? To figure it out,she’llhave to confront the reasonsshe chased her ex to camp in the first place, including the truth about the night she lost her virginity.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver Romance

When Ben De Backer comesout to theirparents as nonbinary, they're thrown out of theirhouse and forcedto move in with theirestrangedolder sister, Hannah, and her husband,Thomas,whomBen has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disordercompoundedby theirparents' rejection, theycome out only toHannah, Thomas,and theirtherapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.

But Ben's attemptsto survive thelast half of senior yearunnoticedare thwartedwhen NathanAllan, a funny and charismaticstudent,decidesto take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan'sfriendship grows,their feelings for each otherbegin tochange, and what startedas a disastrousturn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.

At turnsheartbreakingand joyous,I Wish You Allthe Best is both a celebration of life, friendship,and love, and a shining example of hope in the face of adversity.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas Realistic Fiction

Sixteen-year-oldBri wants to be one of the greatest rappersof all time. Or at least winher first battle. As thedaughterof an undergroundhip hop legend whodiedright before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoesto fill.

But it’shardto get yourcome up whenyou’re labeled a hoodlumat school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom losesher job. So Bri pours her anger and frustrationinto her first song, which goes viral . . . for all the wrongreasons.

Bri soonfinds herself at thecenter of a controversy,portrayedby the media as more menace thanMC. Butwith an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want tomake it—she has to.Even if it means becomingthe verything the public has made her out to be.

Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart,On the Come Up isan ode to hip hop fromone of themost influential literary voicesof a generation.It is the story of fighting for yourdreams,even asthe oddsare stackedagainst you;and about how,especially for youngblack people, freedomof speech isn’t always free.

	-Reviewfrom GoodReads

With the Fire on High with Elizabeth Acevedo Realistic Fiction

With her daughterto care for and her abuelato help support,high school senior Emoni Santiago has to makethe tough decisions,and do what must be done. The one place she can let herresponsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she addsa little somethingmagical to everything she cooks, turning her foodinto straight-up goodness.Still, she knowsshe doesn’t have enough time for her school’snew culinary arts class, doesn’t have themoney for the class’strip to Spain — and shouldn’tstill be dreaming of somedayworkingin a realkitchen.But even with all the rules she has for her life — and all the ruleseveryone expects her to play by — once Emoni startscooking,heronly real choice is to let hertalent break free.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

Pride by Ibi Zoboi Romance

ZuriBenitez has pride. Brooklynpride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots.But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood frombecoming unrecognizable.

When thewealthy Darcy family movesin acrossthestreet,Zuri wants nothingto do with theirtwoteenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, startsto fall for the charming Ainsley.She especially can’t standthe judgmentaland arrogant Darius.Yet as Zuriand Dariusare forcedto find commonground,theirinitial dislikeshifts into an unexpectedunderstanding.

But with four wildsisterspulling her in different directions,cute boy Warren vying for her attention,and college applications hoveringon the horizon,Zurifights to find her place in Bushwick’schanging landscape, orlose it all.

In a timelyupdateof Jane Austen'sPride andPrejudice, critically acclaimedauthorIbi Zoboiskillfully balances culturalidentity, class, and gentrification against theheady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of thisbeloved classic.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

YA MALE PROTAGONIST

Barely Missing Everything by Matt Mendez Realistic Fiction

Juan has plans. He’s going to get out of El Paso, Texas, on a basketball scholarship and make somethingof himself—orat leastfind somethingbetter than his mom Fabi’s cruddy apartment, her string of loserboyfriends, and a deaddad. Basketball is going to be his ticketout, his ticketup. He just needs tomake it happen.

His bestfriend JD has plans, too. He’s going to be a filmmaker one day, like Quinten Tarantinoor Guillermo del Toro (NOT StevenSpielberg). He’s got a camera and he’s got passion—whatelse could he need?

Fabi doesn’thave a plan anymore. When you get pregnantat sixteen and have been stuck bartending to make ends meetfor the pastseventeen years, you realize plans don’talways pan out, and that there some things you just can’tplan for…

Like Juan’s run-in withthe police, like a sprained ankle, and a tankingmathgrade thatwill likely ruin his chance at a scholarship. Like JD causing the implosion of his family. Like letters from a man named Mando on deathrow. Like finding out this man could be the father your mother said was dead.

Soon Juan and JD are embarking on a Thelma and Louise–like road trip to visitMando. Juan will finally meethis dad, JD has a perfect subject for his documentary, and Fabi is desperate to stop them. But, as we already know, there are some things you just can’t plan for…

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

Here to Stay by Sara Farizan Sports and Realistic Fiction

For most of high school,Bijan Majidi has flown under the radar.He gets good grades,reads comics,hangs out with his best friend, Sean, and secretlycrushes on Elle, one of the most populargirls in his school.When he’scalled off the basketballteam’svarsity bench and makesthe winning basket in a playoff game, everything changes in an instant.

But not everyone is happythat Bijan is the man of the hour:an anonymous cyberbully sends theentire schoola picture of Bijan photoshoppedto look like a terrorist.His motheris horrified,and the schooladministrationis outraged.They promise to find and punish the culprit. All Bijan wants is topretendit never happened and move on, but theincident isn’t so easily erased. Thoughmany of his classmatesrally behindBijan, some don’t want him or his type to be a part of theirschool.And Bijan’s finding out it’s not always easy to tell yourenemies from yourfriends . . .

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

Sorry ForYour Loss by Jessie Ann Foley Realistic Fiction

As theyoungest of eight,painfully average Pup Flanagan is usedto flying under the radar.He’sbarely passing hisclasses. He lets his longtime crush walk all over him.And he’sin no hurryto decide on a college path. The only personwho ever made him think he could be more washis older brotherPatrick,the family’s golden child.But that wasbefore Patrick died suddenly,leaving Pup with a family whowon’t talk about it and acquaintanceswho just keep saying, “sorryfor your loss.”

But whenPup excels at a photographyassignment he thoughthe’d bomb, things start to come into focus.His dream girl showsher true colors.An unexpectedfriend exposes Pup to a whole new world,right under his nose. And thephotograph that wassupposedto show Pup a wayout of his grief ultimatelyreveals someone else whois still stuck in theirown.Someone with a secretregretPup never couldhave imagined.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads

American RoadTrip by Patrick Flores-Scott Romance

With a strong,loving family, an incredibly loyal best

friend, and a buddingromance with the girl of his

dreams,life showspromise for seventeen-year-old

Teodoro“T”Avila. But he takessome hardhits the

summer before his senior yearwhen his nearly perfect

brotherManny returnsfrom a tourin Iraq with a

devastatingcase of PTSD.

In a desperateeffort to save Manny fromhimself and

pull theirfamily back together,T's fiery sisterXochitl

hoodwinksher brothersinto a roadtrip with many

stopsalong the roadto visit loved ones fromtheirpast.

-Review from GoodReads

Opposite of Always by JustinReynolds Romance

When Jack and Kate meetat a party, bonding until sunrise over theirmutuallove of Froot Loopsand theirfavoriteflicks, Jack knowshe’sfalling—hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins themover as easily as she did Jack.

But then Kate dies. And theirstoryshouldend there.

YetKate’sdeath sendsJack back to thebeginning, themoment theyfirst meet, and Kate’sthere again. Healthy,happy, and charmingas ever. Jack isn’t sure if he’s losing his mind.

Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate’sdeath,he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However,Jack will learn that his actionsare not without consequences.Andwhen one choice turnsdeadlyfor someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to doto save thepeople he loves.

-Reviewfrom GoodReads