"This is the fourth year of the Green Mountain Book Award, a reader's choice award for students in grades 9-12. Co-sponsored by the Vermont School Library 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 2008-2009 school year, comprise the master list for the award to be made in 2009. 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 in grades 9-12, and include both adult and young adult books. All books on the list were first published in 2003-2007 and are available in paperback."

All quotations on this web page are credited to the Green Mountain Book Award Committee, 2008-2009:

• Green Mountain Book Award Committee Chair: Hannah Peacock, Youth Services Librarian, Burnham Memorial Library
• VT Department of Libraries Contact: Grace W. Greene, Children's Services Consultant
• Past Committee Chair: Marsha Middleton, Library/Media Center Director, North Country Union HS
• Committee Members: Ellen Arapakos, Annie Brabazon, Judith Flint, Susan Hennessey, Mary Neville Hood, Kathy Johnson, Jessica Langlois, Dollinda Lund, Martha Walke, and Committee Administrative Assistant Philip Charles Crawford.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party
by M.T. Anderson

"Various diaries, letters, and other manuscripts chronicle the fictional experiences of Octavian, a young African American, from birth to age
sixteen, as he is brought up as part of a science experiment in the years leading up to and during the Revolutionary War."

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
by Alison Bechdel

"In this memoir in graphic novel format, Bechdel tells startling stories of her childhood growing up in a restored funeral home. The story focuses on her father, an angry and disturbed man, and how she came to terms with his secrets."

The Plain Janes
by Cecil Castellucci

"When Jane moves to the suburbs she thinks her life is over, but she meets three friends who form a club P.L.A.I.N., but can art really save a group of misfits from high school?"

Bucking the Sarge
by Christopher Paul Curtis

"Deeply involved in his cold and manipulative mother’s shady business dealings in Flint, Michigan, fourteen-year-old Luther keeps a sense of humor while running the Happy Neighbor Group Home for Men, all the while dreaming of going to college and becoming a philosopher."

Crank
by Ellen Hopkins

"Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, she is introduced to the monster: crank, and what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul and her life."

13 Little Blue Envelopes
by Maureen Johnson

"When seventeen-year-old Ginny receives a packet of mysterious envelopes from her favorite aunt, she leaves New Jersey to criss-cross Europe on a sort of scavenger hunt that transforms her life."

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl
by Barry Lyga

"A fifteen-year-old “geek” who keeps a list of the high school jocks and others who torment him, and pours his energy into creating a great graphic novel, encounters Kyra, Goth Girl, who helps change his outlook on almost everything, including himself."

Inexcusable
by Chris Lynch

"High school senior and football player Keir sets out to enjoy himself on graduation night, but when he attempts to comfort a friend whose date has left her stranded, things go terribly wrong."

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."

His Majesty's Dragon
by Joyce Carol Oates

"Plenty of Napoleonic swash is buckled in this alternative history (think Master and Commander or Jane Austen with dragons). After bonding with the dragon Tremaire, an elegant, intelligent creature once destined for Napoleon himself, Captain Will Laurence leaves the Royal Navy for the Aerial Corps and a new life as battle-filled as his old one."

Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home
by Nando Parrado & Vince Rause

"In 1972 a plane full of young Uruguayan rugby players crashed in the Andes Mountains. Thirty-four years later, after much reflection and soul- searching, crash survivor Nando Parrado shares his side of the story."

It's Kind of a Funny Story
by Ned Vizzini

"A humorous account of a New York City teenager's battle with depression and his time spent in a psychiatric hospital."

Black and White
by Paul Volponi

"Two star high school basketball players, one black and one white, experience the justice system differently after committing a crime together and getting caught."

Assassination Vacation
by Sarah Vowell

"Sarah Vowell travels across the United States, bringing into sharp focus the figures involved in the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley, as well as the social and political circumstances that led to each. She exposes some glorious conundrums of American history in a witty, sometimes irreverent manner."

The Book Thief
by Marcus 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 storytelling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors."