Category: William Morris Award

Children of Blood and Bone

4/11/2019

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi is a 2019 Morris Award Finalist. This fantasy is based on the Nigerian heritage of the the author, It is also an allegory of the experiences of young black Americans. Although fantasy is not my usual genre, I found this book very exciting and haunting in its exploration of hate and of hope.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.
But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.
Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.
Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.

Awards and Honors

Instant New York Times Bestseller
2019 YALSA William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist
2018 Time Magazine Top Ten Best YA and Children's Books
2018 Kirkus Prius Prize Finalist
Boston Globe's Best Children's Book of 2018
Publishers Weekly Best YA Books of 2018
School Library Journal Best Books of 2018

Book Trailer
Author interview on Good Morning America

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2018 William C. Morris Award

5/20/2018

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Titles in red are part of the Turner Ashby High School Library collection.

The William C. Morris Award is given for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens, The Hate U Give written by Angie Thomas, is the 2018 Morris Award winner.

The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas – Starr Carter has learned to live in two worlds, managing her life as a prep-school student by day while returning each night to the low-income neighborhood she calls home. After witnessing the murder of her unarmed friend Khalil by a police officer, these two worlds collide, and Starr must decide what risks she is willing to take to pursue justice.

2018 Finalist

Dear Martin – Nic Stone – Justyce McAllister is captain of the Braselton Prep debate team and an honor roll student. But after being profiled by the police and ending up in handcuffs, Justyce turns to the legacy of Dr. King, hoping King’s teachings can help him navigate today’s world. But when Justyce and his best friend are caught in the cross-hairs of a violent misunderstanding, Justyce is forced to deal with the media fallout that threatens to destroy his future.

Devils Within – S.F. Henson – After Nate Fuller kills his father in self-defense, he must find a way to redefine what’s right and wrong and learn to trust again. But when two followers of The Fort, his father’s white supremacist group, arrive in Nate’s new town, he knows blood is going to spill—he’s just not sure whose.

Saints and Misfits – S.K. Ali – Bookish 15-year-old Janna Yusufis an Arab American hijabi teen struggling with friendships, crushes, and reconciling her place in and loyalty to her Muslim community. After she is sexually assaulted by “the Monster,” the seemingly devout cousin of her best friend, she must find the strength to stand up for herself.

Starfish – Akemi Dawn Bowman – Kiko Himura knows the key to escaping her narcissistic mother is getting into her dream art school. When her rejection letter and abusive uncle both arrive at her home at nearly the same time, Kiko flees with her childhood crush to California, where she meets a famous artist and at last begins to find her own voice.

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2017 yalsa William c. Morris Award

8/29/2017

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The William C. Morris Award is given for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens. The Serpent King, written by Jeff Zentner, is the 2017 Morris Award winner

Dillard Early, Jr., Travis Bohannon and Lydia Blankenship are three friends from different walks of life who have one thing in common: none of them seem to fit the mold in rural Tennessee's Forrestville High. Dill has always been branded as an outsider due to his family heritage as snake handlers and poison drinkers, an essential part of their Pentecostal faith. But after his father is sent to prison for sexual abuse of a young parishioner, Dill and his mother become real pariahs. His only two friends are Travis, a gentle giant who works at his family's lumberyard and is obsessed with a Game of Thrones-like fantasy series (much to his alcoholic father's chagrin); and Lydia, who runs a popular fashion blog that's part Tavi Gevinson and part Angela Chase, and is actively plotting her escape from Redneckville, Tennessee. Book Trailer

Four other books were finalists for the Morris Award.

Girl Mans Up – M-E Girard – All Pen wants is to be the kind of girl she’s always been. So why does everyone have a problem with it? They think the way she looks and acts means she’s trying to be a boy—that she should quit trying to be something she’s not. If she dresses like a girl, and does what her folks want, it will show respect. If she takes orders and does what her friend Colby wants, it will show her loyalty.

Rani Patel in Full Effect – Sonia Patel – Almost seventeen, Rani Patel appears to be a kick-ass Indian girl breaking cultural norms as a hip-hop performer in full effect. But in truth, she's a nerdy flat-chested nobody who lives with her Gujarati immigrant parents on the remote Hawaiian island of Moloka'i, isolated from her high school peers by the unsettling norms of Indian culture where "husband is God." Author Interview

The Smell of Other People’s Houses – Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock – Ruth has a secret that she can’t hide forever. Dora wonders if she can ever truly escape where she comes from, even when good luck strikes. Alyce is trying to reconcile her desire to dance, with the life she’s always known on her family’s fishing boat. Hank and his brothers decide it’s safer to run away than to stay home—until one of them ends up in terrible danger. Book Trailer

Tell Me Something Real – Calla Devlin – There are three beautiful blond Babcock sisters: gorgeous and foul-mouthed Adrienne, observant and shy Vanessa, and the youngest and best-loved, Marie. Their mother is ill with leukemia and the girls spend a lot of time with her at a Mexican clinic across the border from their San Diego home so she can receive alternative treatments.

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Children of Blood and Bone

2018 William C. Morris Award

2017 yalsa William c. Morris Award

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