Who or what is Eliot Rosewater and why should you care?

Eliot Rosewater is the title character in Indiana-born Kurt Vonnegut’s book, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.  The “Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award” is your chance to vote for your favorite book.  Each year a committee of high school students, media specialists, classroom teachers and public librarians compiles a list of books that will appeal to students in grades 9-12.  Students who read five or more of the books on the current list may vote for their favorite, thus selecting the award recipient.

2007-2008 

• 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
  
• Birdwing by Rafe Martin
  
• Can’t Get There From Here by Todd Strasser
  
• Chandra’s Secrets by Allan Stratton
  
• Crunch Time by Mariah Fredericks
  
• Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi by Davie Chotjewitz
  
• Dark Angel by David Klass
  
• Every Man for Himself: Ten Short Stories about Being a Guy by Nancy Mercado, ed.
  
• The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancey
  
• Fade to Black by Alex Flinn
  
• Fall of a Kingdom (Farsala Trilogy Book 1) by Hilari Bell
  
• Geography Club by Brent Hartinger
  
• I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
  
• Jesus Land: A Memoir by Julia Scheeres
  
• Restless: A Ghost’s Story by Rich Wallace
  
• Runner by Carl Dueker
  
• Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
  
• Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar
  
• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
  
• True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet by Lola Douglas
  
• Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
  
• Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon
  
• A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson

2006-2007

• The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream by Sampson Davis
  
• The Blue Girl by Charles DeLint
  
• The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
  
• High Heat by Carl Deuker
  
• 1632 by Eric Flint
  
• Shattering Glass by Gail Giles
  
• Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood by Julie Gregory
  
• Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
  
• Green Angel by Alice Hoffman
  
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  
• Daddy’s Girl by Colette L. Huxford
  
• The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
  
• Acceleration by Graham McNamee
  
• Zazoo by Richard Mosher
  
• Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
  
• One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones
  
• The Afterlife by Gary Soto
  
• Devil in the Details: Scenes From an Obsessive Girlhood by Jennifer Traig
  
• No Shame, No Fear by Ann Turnbull
  
• Working Fire: The Making of an Accidental Fireman by Zac Unger
  
• Shopaholic by Judy Waite
  
• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
  
• Emako Blue by Brenda Woods

2005-2006

• Aimee by Mary Beth Miller
  
• Alice, I Think by Susan Juby
  
• Atonement Child by Francine Rivers
  
• Battle of Jericho by Sharon M. Draper
  
• Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
  
• Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters by Gail Giles
  
• Double Helix by Nancy Werlin
  
• The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
  
• Eragon by Christopher Paolini
  
• Feed by Matthew T. Anderson
  
• First Part Last by Angela Johnson
  
• Forgotten Fire by Adam Bagdasarian
  
• Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos
  
• The House of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
  
• Keesha’s House by Helen Frost
  
• Left for Dead: A Young Man’s Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis by Pete Nelson
  
• A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
  
• Of Sound Mind by Jean Ferris
  
• The Pact by Jodi Picoult
  
• Persepolis : Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
  
• Pirates! By Celis Rees
  
• Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
  
• Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

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2004- 2005

• Armageddon Summer by Jane Yolen & Bruce Coville
  
• Breathing Under Water by Alex Flinn
  
• Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser
  
• Finding Fish: A Memoir by Antwone Quenton Fisher
  
• Flying Colors: The Story of a Remarkable Group of Artists and the Transcendant Power of Art by Tim Leffens
  
• A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana by Haven Kimmel
  
• Hanging on to Max by Margaret Bechard
  
• The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
  
• The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
  
• My Losing Season by Pat Conroy
  
• Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
  
• Please Stop Laughing at Me: One Woman's Inspirational Story by Jodee Blanco
  
• Razzle by Ellen Wittlinger
  
• The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
  
• Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
  
• The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
  
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
  
• Seek by Paul Fleischman
  
• Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
  
• Sterkarm Handshake by Susan Price
  
• The Wind Singer by William Nicholson

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2003– 2004

• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
  
• Christmas After All : The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift by Kathryn Lasky
  
• Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy
  
• Counterfeit Son by Elaine Marie Alphin
  
• The Cowboy and His Elephant by Malcolm MacPherson
  
• The Cure by Sonia Levitin
  
• Doing Time : Notes from the Undergrad by Rob Thomas
  
• Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
  
• Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty
  
• The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian
  
• The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Karr
  
• The Honk and Holler Opening Soon by Billie Letts
  
• It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong
  
• Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
  
• Learning to Swim by Ann Warren Turner
  
• The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde
  
• Silent to the Bone by E.L. Konigsburg
  
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
  
• Turnabout by Margaret Peterson Haddix
  
• Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
  
• When Dad Killed Mom by Julius Lester
  
• Big Mouth, and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
  

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2002– 2003

• The Beet Fields : Memories of a Sixteenth Summer by Gary Paulsen
  
• Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
  
• A Face in Every Window by Han Nolan
  
• First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung
  
• Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
  
• The Good Fight: How WWII Was Won by Stephen Ambrose
  
• Heroes by Robert Cormier
  
• Name Dropping by Jane Heller
  
• The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
  
• Romiette and Julio by Sharon Mills Draper
  
• Sabriel by Garth Nix
  
• Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
  
• Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self by Lori Gottliev
  
• Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman
  
• Timeline by Michael Crichton
  
• Trapped: Cages of Mind and Body by Lois Duncan
  
• Water Witches by Chris Bohjalian
  
• When Jeff Comes Home by Catherine Atkins
  
• You Don't Know Me by David Klass
  
• Zach by William Bell
  

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2001 – 2002

• Behind the Wheel: Poems About Driving by Janet S. Wong
  
• Boy’s Life by Robert R. McCammon
  
• Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah
  
• A Door Near Here by Heather Quarles
  
• Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger
  
• High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places by David Breashears and Jon Krakauer
  
• Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  
• Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League by Ron Suskind
  
• Imani All Mine by Connie Rose Porter
  
• King of Shadows by Susan Cooper
  
• Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser
  
• A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
  
• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
  
• Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde
  
• Pedro and Me: Friendship, Love, and What I Learned by Judd Winick
  
• Plague Year by Stephanie S. Tolan
  
• Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer
  
• Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
  
• Smack by Melvin Burgess
  
• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
  
• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
  
• Tenderness by Robert Cormier

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• All Over But The Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg
  
• Bull Run by Paul Fleischman
  
• The Chosen by Chaim Potok
  
• The Color of Water by James McBride
  
• Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress
  
• Dancing on the Edge by Han Nolan
  
• The Dark Side of Nowhere by Neal Shusterman
  
• The Green Mile by Stephen King
  
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
  
• The Killer’s Cousin by Nancy Werlin
  
• Monster by Walter Dean Myers
  
• October Sky (previously titled Rocket Boys: A Memoir) by Homer Hickam
  
• One Child  by Torey L. Hayden
  
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
  
• Owl in Love by Patrice Kindl
  
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
  
• Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean P. Sasson
  
• The Starlite Drive-In by Marjorie Reynolds
  
• Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones
  
• The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
  
• Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
  
• A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
  

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1999 – 2000

• Binge by Charles Ferry
  
• Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
  
• Buried Onions by Gary Soto
  
• Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
  
• Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
  
• Crosses by Shelley Stoehr
  
• Deliver Us From Evie by M. E. Kerr
  
• Holes by Louis Sachar
  
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
  
• Leaving Home: Stories by Hazel Rochman and Darlene A. McCampbell, eds.
  
• Necessary Roughness by Marie G. Lee
  
• No Easy Answers: Short Stories About Teenagers Making Tough Choices by Donald R. Gallo, ed.
  
• Once and Future King by T. H. White
  
• One Bird by Kyoko Mori
  
• Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger
  
• Postcards From France by Megan McNeill Libby
  
• Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving
  
• Remembering Mog by Colby Rodowsky
  
• Snow Falling On Cedars by David Guterson
  
• Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
  
• Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block
  
• Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
  
• Whirligig by Paul Fleischman

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1998 - 1999

• Blue Skin of Sea by Graham Salisbury
  
• Deadly Feasts by Richard Rhodes
  
• Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey by Margaret Peterson Haddix
  
• Driver’s Ed by Caroline B. Cooney
  
• Dune by Frank Herbert
  
• Follow the River by James A. Thom
  
• Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
  
• Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman
  
• Mighty (original title Freak the Mighty) by Rodman Philbrick
  
• One Fat Summer by Robert Lipsyte
  
• Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
  
• Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers by Gary Paulsen
  
• Ramsay Scallop by Frances Temple
  
• She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
  
• Spite Fences by Trudy Krisher
  
• Stranded in Harmony by Barbara Shoup
  
• Stranger is Watching by Mary Higgins Clark
  
• Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?: A Mystery in Poems by Mel Glenn
  
• Wrestling Sturbridge by Rich Wallace
  

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1997 – 1998

• Acceptable Risk by Robin Cook
  
• Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories by Chris Crutcher
  
• The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
  
• Calling Home by Michael Cadnum
  
• The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer
  
• Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America by Geoffrey Canada
  
• Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years by Sarah Louise and A. Elizabeth Delany
  
• The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
  
• It Happened to Nancy by Beatrice Sparks, ed.
  
• Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
  
• Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog
  
• Like Sisters on the Homefront by Rita Williams-Garcia
  
• Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman
  
• Night by Elie Wiesel
  
• The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
  
• Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel
  
• Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg
  
• Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas

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1996 – 1997

• Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
  
• Beauty by Robin McKinley
  
• A Break With Charity by Ann Rinaldi
  
• Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield, ed.
  
• Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean
  
• Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
  
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
  
• Go Ask Alice by anonymous
  
• Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen
  
• I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This by Jacqueline Woodson
  
• The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams by Darcy Frey
  
• Life on the Color Line by Gregory Howard Williams
  
• The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
  
• Montana 1948 by Larry Watson
  
• Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen
  
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
  
• She Walks These Hills by Sharyn McCrumb
  
• Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher
  
• Vision Quest by Terry Davis
  
• Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen
  

For a list of the current nominees, click here.

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Last updated Friday, August 22, 2008