I’m thrilled to be back on Round 1 of Young Adult Speculative Fiction this year for the Cybils Awards. Speculative fiction is deliberately broad – it encompasses traditional science fiction and fantasy, but also encompasses more nebulous genres like alternate history, horror, and dsytopias. Check out the full category description here.
Nominations officially opened October 1, and so far, we’ve got a great selection of books to read and discuss. But there are still a lot of worthy titles that haven’t been nominated, and that’s where you, dear readers, come in. Each person is allowed to nominate one title per category, so I’ve created the list below as suggestions – these are all books I think we round 1 panelists should consider for the shortlist. Won’t you help us out by nominating one of them? Be sure to check your nomination against the existing nominations first. Titles published for the YA market between October 16, 2016 and October 15, 2017 are eligible.
Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh
Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Tool of War by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust
Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza
The Wood by Chelsea Bobulski
Merrow by Ananda Braxton-Smith
Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst
Waste of Space by Gina Damico
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao
The Exo Project by Andrew DeYoung
Bull by David Elliott
Invictus by Ryan Graudin
Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig
Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E. K. Johnston
Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The Diabolic by S. J. Kincaid
Dark Breaks the Dawn by Sara B. Larson
Exo by Fonda Lee
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Mars One by Jonathan Maberry
The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell
Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis
Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean edited by Kirsty Murray, Payal Dhar, and Anita Roy
Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor
Shadowhouse Fall by Daniel Jose Older
Wicked Like a Wildfire by Lana Popovic
Zero Repeat Forever by G. S. Prendergast
Nyxia by Scott Reintgen
Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds
Blood Red Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick
Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts
A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith
Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser
The Beast is an Animal by Peternelle Van Arsdale
The Takedown by Corrie Wang
The Adjustment by Suzanne Young