"This is the first year for the Green Mountain Book Award, a reader's choice award for students in grades 9-12. Co-sponsored by the Vermont Educational Media Association, Vermont Library Association and the Vermont Department of Libraries, this program is designed to introduce to high school students some excellent books for their pleasure reading.

These books, to be read during the 2005-2006 school year, comprise the master list for the award to be made in 2006. Voting forms will be made available to all Vermont schools and public libraries in the spring, so that young adults can vote for their favorite book. The master list titles have been selected to satisfy the reading interests of young adults, grades 9-12, and include both adult and young adult books. All books on the list were first published in 2000-2004 and are available in paperback."

Feed
by M.T. Anderson

"In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble."

A Northern Light
by Jennifer Donnelly

"In 1906, sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiancé, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest. Based on the true story that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy."

Battle Dress
by Amy Efaw

"As a newly arrived freshman at West Point, seventeen-year-old Andi finds herself gaining both confidence and self esteem as she struggles to get through the grueling six weeks of new cadet training known as the Beast."

Pattern Recognition
by William Gibson

"Haunted by the memory of her missing father, who disappeared in downtown Manhattan on the morning of September 11, 2001, Cayce is soon traveling through parallel universes of marketing, globalization, and terror, following the implications of a secret as disturbing and compelling as the twenty-first century promises to be."

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by Mark Haddon

"Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother."

Ultimate Spider-Man, Volume 1: Power and Responsibility
by Bill Jemas

"A timid high school student, Peter Parker, must learn to balance the pressures and responsibilities of school, work, and family with his secret life as the superhero, Spider-Man."

The First Part Last
by Angela Johnson

"Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter."

The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things
by Carolyn Mackler

"Feeling like she does not fit in with the other members of her family, who are all thin, brilliant, and good-looking, fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal with her self-image, her first physical relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her."

Life of Pi
by Yann Martel

"After a shipwreck, Pi finds himself alone on a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450 pound Bengal tiger."

Big Mouth and Ugly Girl
by Joyce Carol Oates

"When sixteen-year-old Matt is falsely accused of threatening to blow up his high school and his friends turn against him, an unlikely classmate comes to his aid."

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
by Nathaniel Philbrick

"In the middle of the South Pacific, the Essex was rammed by an angry sperm whale, leaving the crew to drift for more than 90 days, turning to drastic measures to survive."

Trickster's Choice
by Tamora Pierce

"Alianne must call forth her mother's courage and her father's wit in order to survive on the Copper Isles in a royal court rife with political intrigue and murderous conspiracy."

Wee Free Men
by Terry Pratchett

"A young witch-to-be named Tiffany teams up with the Wee Free Men, a clan of six-inch-high blue men, to rescue her baby brother and ward off a sinister invasion from Fairyland."

Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers
by Mary Roach

"From medicinal mummies to cadaver models for crash-test dummies, this is a well-researched, lively dissection of offbeat ways that the dead have served the living. It is informative and respectful as well as irreverent and witty."

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
by Marjane Satrapi

"In graphic novel format, Satrapi tells the story of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution."