THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART TIME INDIAN
by Sherman Alexie
Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

THE BOOK THIEF
by Markus Zusak
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel - a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.

DAIRY QUEEN
by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.

ECLIPSE
by Stephenie Meyer
Bella must choose between her friendship with Jacob and her relationship with Edward, both vampires, but when Seattle is ravaged by a mysterious string of killings, the three of them need to decide whether their personal lives are more important than the well-being of an entire city.

FLUSH
by Carl Hiaasen
This is the story of what happens after Paine Underwood pulls the plug on the Coral Queen, gets arrested for this act, and how this spurs his family and community to take action.

FOREVER IN BLUE: THE FOURTH SUMMER OF THE SISTERHOOD
by Ann Brashares
As their lives take them in different directions, Lena, Tibby, Carmen and Bridget discover many more things about themselves and the importance of their relationship with each other.

JUST LISTEN
by Sarah Dessen
Isolated from friends who believe the worst because she has not been truthful with them, sixteen-year-old Annabel finds an ally in classmate Owen, whose honesty and passion for music helps her to face and share what really happened at the end-of-the-year party that changed her life.

MAXIMUM RIDE: SCHOOL'S OUT–FOREVER
by James Patterson
After a short stay with an FBI agent who gives them a chance to attend school and live a normal life, the six genetically-altered, winged youths head toward Florida and Max's ultimate destiny–to save the world, whether she wants to or not.

WARRIORS THE NEW PROPHECY BOOK 1: MIDNIGHT
by Erin Hunter
Called by StarClan to fulfill a new prophecy, a group of young cats sets out on a long and dangerous journey, knowing only that trouble threatens the forest, as the adventures of the warrior clans continue.

THE PEOPLE OF SPARKS
by Jeanne DuPrau
Having escaped to the Unknown Regions, Lina and the others seek help from the village people of Sparks.

PHYSIK
by Angie Sage
Pulled through a glass that brings him back in time, Septimus Heap becomes the apprentice of an alchemist.

PLAYING FOR PIZZA
by John Grisham
A one-time American football star who moves to Italy to play for the Parma Panthers, and finds himself entangled in a series of cultural misadventures.

PRETTIES
by Scott Westerfeld
Tally's transformation to perfect and popular including her totally hot boyfriend is everything she always wanted. But beneath the fun and freedom something is wrong and now Tally has to fight for her life because what she knows has put her in danger with the authorities.

PENDRAGON BOOK 7: THE QUILLAN GAMES
by D.J. MacHale
With more questions than answers about Saint Dane, Bobby travels to the territory of Quillan and is forced to play games where only the winner survives.

SCORPIA: AN ALEX RIDER ADVENTURE
by Anthony Horowitz
After being told that his father was an assassin for a criminal organization, fourteen-year-old Alex goes to Italy to find out more and becomes involved in a plan to kill thousands of English schoolchildren.

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS BOOK 2: THE SEA OF MONSTERS
by Rick Riordan
Demi-god Percy Jackson and his friends must journey into the Sea of Monsters to save their camp. But first Percy will discover a secret that makes him wonder whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or a cruel joke.

SLEEPING FRESHMEN NEVER LIE
by David Lubar
While navigating his first year of high school and awaiting the birth of his new baby brother, Scott loses old friends and gains some unlikely new ones as he hones his skills as a writer.

SO B. IT: A NOVEL
by Sarah Weeks
After spending her life with her mentally retarded mother and agoraphobic neighbor, twelve-year-old Heidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to New York to find out who she is.

BEKA COOPER BOOK 1: TERRIER
by Tamora Pierce
When sixteen-year-old Beka becomes "Puppy" to a pair of "Dogs," as the Provost's Guards are called, she uses her police training, natural abilities, and a touch of magic to help them solve the case of a murdered baby in Tortall's Lower City.

WINTERSMITH: A TIFFANY ACHING ADVENTURE
by Terry Pratchett
When witch-in-training Tiffany Aching accidentally interrupts the Dance of the Seasons and awakens the interest of the elemental spirit of Winter, she requires the help of the six-inch-high, sword-wielding, sheep-stealing Wee Free Men to put the seasons aright.

2008 Winner and Nominees

For more information, please visit the Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award web site.