2008 Winner:

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
by J.K. Rowling
Though the war against Voldemort is not going well, life at Hogwarts goes on, with the sixth-year students continuing their wizardly studies and trying to survive teen romantic dramas, while Harry himself probes ever more deeply into Voldemort's complex history.

2008 Nominees:

CHASING VERMEER
by Blue Balliett
When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.

PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS
by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Soon after Peter, an orphan, sets sail from England on the ship Never Land, he befriends and assists Molly, a young Starcatcher, whose mission is to guard a trunk of magical stardust from a greedy pirate and the native inhabitants of a remote island.

ARTEMIS FOWL: THE LOST COLONY
by Eoin Colfer
Once again, Artemis will have to pair up with his old comrade, captain Holly Short, to track down the missing demon and rescue him before the time spell dissolves and the lost demon colony returns violently to Earth.

THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER
by Sarah Dessen
The summer following her father's death, Macy plans to work at the library and wait for her brainy boyfriend to return from camp, but instead she goes to work at a catering business where she makes new friends and finally faces her grief.

THE CITY OF EMBER
by Jeanne DuPrau
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

DRAGON RIDER
by Cornelia Funke
After learning that humans are headed toward his hidden home, Firedrake, a silver dragon, is joined by a brownie and an orphan boy in a quest to find the legendary valley known as the Rim of Heaven, encountering friendly and unfriendly creatures along the way, and struggling to evade the relentless pursuit of an old enemy.

MARLEY AND ME: LIFE AND LOVE WITH THE WORLD'S WORST DOG
by John Grogan
The story of a family in the making and the wondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life. Is it possible for humans to discover the key to happiness through a bigger-than-life, bad-boy dog? Just ask the Grogans.

HIGH RHULAIN
by Brian Jacques
Following a dream, the young ottermaid Tiria travels from Redwall to the Green Isle, where otters have long been enslaved by feral cats but fight back as they await the High Rhulain, a savior whose coming was foretold.

KNIFE OF DREAMS
by Robert Jordan
An eleventh installment in the best-selling series finds Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, preparing for a confrontation with the Dark One in order to save humanity, a feat that is challenged by the murderous Forsaken and Rand's need to acquire the remaining seals on the Dark One's prison.

PENDRAGON: JOURNAL OF AN ADVENTURE THROUGH TIME AND SPACE BOOK 6: THE RIVERS OF ZADAA
by D.J. MacHale
Taking advantage of a severe drought and the long-standing distrust between two tribes, the demonic Saint Dane attempts to take over Loor's home planet of Zadaa, opposed once again by the teenaged Pendragon and other Travelers.

NEW MOON
by Stephenie Meyer
When the Cullens, including her beloved Edward, leave Forks rather than risk revealing that they are vampires, it is almost too much for eighteen-year-old Bella to bear, but she finds solace in her friend Jacob until he is drawn into a "cult" and changes in terrible ways.

THE SILVERVILLE SWINDLE
by Kym O'Connell-Todd & Mark Todd
What happens when a town's local resident spots a UFO? Silverville sees nothing but dollar signs. First an amusement park and museum, then a celestial motif for the whole town. Con artists and embezzlers, tourists and kooks all get caught up in the frenzy. Ride along on this irreverent adventure that reveals Colorado mountain culture at its most outrageous.

MAXIMUM RIDE: THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT
by James Patterson
After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "birdkids," who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose.

DRAGONSPELL
by Donita K. Paul
Once a slave girl, Kale is given the unexpected opportunity to become a servant to Paladin. Yet this young girl has much to learn about the difference between slavery and service.

THE LIGHTNING THIEF
by Rick Riordan
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson learns he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea. His mother sends him to a summer camp for demigods where he and his new friends set out on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

FLYTE
by Angie Sage
When Princess Jenna is pursued by a dark wizard, it is the apprentice, Septimus Heap, who must save her while enduring such terrors as a night in the Forest with hungry wolverines and carnivorous trees.

THE END
by Lemony Snicket
Lost at sea, the Baudelaire orphans, along with the evil Count Olaf, wash up on the shore of an island populated by an oddly placid group of inhabitants, and they try to decide whether or not they are truly safe.

PTOLEMY'S GATE
by Jonathan Stroud
Dangerous adventures continue for the djinni Bartimaeus and his master, seventeen-year-old Nathaniel, a powerful magician who is serving as England's minister of information.

SUMMER OF THE APOCALYPSE
by James Van Pelt
Set in Denver, Colorado, and the western foothills, Van Pelt's first novel is both a coming-of-age tale as fifteen-year-old Eric searches for his father, and a story of Eric's search 60 years later for hope in the midst of disaster in a world of blood bandits, feral children, and an insane militia.

UGLIES
by Scott Westerfeld
Just before their sixteenth birthdays, when they will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all.

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