Blue Spruce Award winner

 The Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult book award has been facilitating teen nominations and selection of teens' favorite books since 1985. This is the last year for the award in its present iteration, however, another group may be creating a similar teen book award in the near future.  This year's winner, Allies by Alan Gratz, is a fictionalized account of D-Day, which weaves together individual experiences from six different operations in settings across Europe.  The narrative covers a sea invasion, French citizens and Resistance Fighters on land, and soldiers arriving by air, but focuses repeatedly on Dee, a German fighting on the American side and hiding his identity from his best friend Sid, a Jewish American soldier. The account is historically accurate, but covers a very diverse cast of main characters.  In the end all the stories come together showing that it took a great deal of cooperation to defeat the Nazis in WWII.  Gratz has a new novel coming out this month, Ground Zero which is a dual tale taking place at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and in battle torn Afghanistan on September 11, 2019. 

This month I am going to review new books by three past winners of the Blue Spruce Award. Neal Shusterman won the 2019 award for Scythe, the first book in a series about controlling population in a futuristic society where death by natural causes has been eliminated.  His new book Game Changer, is set in the multiverse and takes on issues of racism, classism, misogyny and homophobia. Angie Thomas was the 2018 winner for The Hate You Give, which is about the fatal shooting of a black teen by a police officer. She published On the Come Up about an aspiring female rapper in 2019. Marissa Meyer was the 2015 winner for Cinder, the first in the Lunar Chronicles series that reimagines Cinderella as a cyborg. She has written a new book about a girl who has the ability to surreptitiously punish wrong doers in Instant Karma.

Game Changer, set in the multiverse, introduces linebacker  Ash Bowman, who gets thrown into a new world every time he suffers a hard tackle. As he travels though various "Elsewheres," he experiences segregation, being gay, being female and various levels of family wealth.  He is the "chosen one," navigating different realities, trying to change things for the better with each shift. His relationships with his family (mom, brother and professional football player father), the team quarterback and the girlfriend he abuses, his black best friend and his sister and Ash's gay math tutor, serve as foils for his exploration of racism, homophobia, misogyny and classism.  Ash's changes in perspective prompt him to develop a greater sense of empathy and urgency regarding the suffering of others.  As I said in my August blog, the multiverse is a popular topic in new YA novels, and Shusterman's new novel is a strong addition to the lexicon.

In On the Come Up Bri is aspiring rapper who is following in her late father's footsteps. She records "On the Come Up" to protest the assault she endured at the hands of white security guards at her high school and the racial profiling that goes on there.  The song goes viral, and Bri hopes to get a recording contract and help lift her family out of poverty, but her mother and brother worry.  The song espouses violence which really isn't who Bri is, and some listeners paint her as a violence inciting black girl. Tension mounts as Bri's mother loses her job, and Bri's beloved aunt and  musical mentor goes to jail for dealing drugs.  Her late father's manager promises fame and wealth - at a price.  She must agree to sing songs she hasn't written that promote the idea that she is a tough girl from the hood.  Bri must decide if she wants to sell her identity for success. Her thoughts and lyrics permeate the narrative, speaking truth to power. Angie Thomas, who was an aspiring rapper herself, paints a vivid picture of the challenges kids face when trying to escape a life of poverty and oppression. Thomas's latest book Concrete Rose which came out January 12th is a prequel to The Hate You Give. It tells the story of Maverick Carter, Starr's father, as he navigates fatherhood, gang life and family loyalty.

In Instant Karma judgmental overachiever Prudence Daniels finds herself with the ability to cast instant karma on people around her.  She is thrilled to punish everyone from vandals to mean girls, but the one person she can't seem to impact is her slacker lab partner Quint Erickson.  Hoping to get a redo on their joint lab project on which they received a C, she agrees to volunteer at the rescue center for local sea animals, where he works.  As she begins to uncover the truth about environmental hazards, she also discovers Quint is more noble than she ever imagined. The punishments continually backfire on her, and Pru slowly realizes that good and bad are not so clear. This enemies to lovers rom com is a fun beach read, with the bonus of a informative look at animal rescue centers. 

Blue Spruce Award Winner and Nominees

The winner of the 2019 Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award is Scythe by Neal Shusterman,  The first book in his Arc of the Scythe trilogy introduces a world where humanity has conquered death. There is no aging, no disease, no poverty, no war.  Earth is ruled by an omniscient "cloud" called the Thunderhead and to deal with overpopulation, a group of humans called Scythes randomly cull the population.  Against their wishes, the main characters, Citra and Rowan, are chosen to train to be scythes. The sequels Thunderhead and The Toll are also available for this thought-provoking and engrossing series.  The 2020 nominees are unusually heavy on historical fiction.  I will review those titles in this month's blog, as well as briefly mention the other nominees.  
Allies by Alan Gratz is a fictionalized account of D-Day, which weaves together individual experiences from six different operations in settings across Europe. The narrative covers a sea invasion, French citizens and Resistance fighters on land, soldiers arriving by air, but focuses repeatedly on Dee, a German fighting on the American side and hiding his identity from his best friend Sid, a Jewish American soldier.  The account is historically accurate, but covers a very diverse cast of main characters.  In the end all the stories come together, showing that it took a great deal of cooperation to defeat the Nazis in WWII.
Like a Love Story by Adi Nazemian is set in NYC in the 80s and examines the AIDS epidemic through the eyes of three teenage friends.  Judy, whose uncle is living with AIDS, has befriended Art and defends him  against homophobic classmates. When Reza, who is questioning his sexuality, arrives, things get complicated.  Reza pairs off with Judy, even though it's Art he's really attracted to.  When Reza finally admits he's fallen for Art, Judy is shattered.  Her uncle, who is not long for this world, helps them navigate this rift in their friendship and what it means to be part of the LBGTQ community during this devastating time. 
Lovely War by Julie Berry blends fact with fantasy. Set in a Manhattan hotel during WWII, Greek God Hephaestus catches his wife Aphrodite with his brother Ares.  To exonerate herself, she weaves a story of love during wartime, which focuses on four different characters.  Aubrey, an African American musician, Colette, a bereaved Belgian singer, Hazel, a British pianist and her lover James.  Alternating between past and present, the story finds Colette and Hazel volunteering in France, where they meet Aubrey, who quickly falls for Colette.  Meanwhile, James is on the front experiencing firsthand the devastation of war.  As the mortals' stories play out, Aphrodite is teaching her husband about the ups and downs of true love.  
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys focuses on Francisco Franco's fascist rule of Spain.  Set in Madrid 1957, the story introduces 18-yr-old Daniel Matheson, who is staying at the luxurious Castellana Hilton with his Texas oil baron dad and Spanish mother.  He meets Ana, a hotel employee, who worries about losing her job, as he pursues a relationship with her.  Trying to find a subject for his entry into a photo competition, Daniel goes out each day and captures disturbing images of local people trying to survive under Franco's regime.  He goes to Ana's village and meets her parentless siblings and becomes aware of a government and church collusion, which involves stolen children.  Ultimately he heads back to the U.S, with his parents and newly adopted sister and submits an award-winning portfolio.  Eighteen years later he returns to Spain with his sister and reconnects with Ana.  Official quotations from academic and foreign service archives are interspersed among the chapters. 
Additional Blue Spruce nominees include
Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - 1st in a sci fi series about intergalactic travel
Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau - Graphic novel about about two boys who fall in love over baked goods.
Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte - Fantasy about a thief and an upstanding citizen who work to solve a murder mystery, falling in love in the process.
Guts by Raina Telgemeier - Graphic novel about author conquering childhood anxieties.
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell - Graphic novel about a girl in a toxic relationship with a popular girl who is using her.
A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir - 3rd book in the An Ember in the Ashes series.
To learn more about the Blue Spruce Award go to https://www.coloradobluespruceaward.org/