For kids and young adults. I’ve read some of these. Of those that made the nomination lists and that I’ve read, The Big Splash by Jack Ferraiolo was really, really cute –if you have a high tolerance for some adolescent-type humor. Here’s my short review of the book. The Postcard (Reading Zone review) and Eleven (Semicolon review) were both OK, but not my favorites. I’m reading Paper Towns now.

Adult title nominees. I haven’t read any of the titles nominated. Have you?

Best Novel Nominees
Missing by Karin Alvtegen (Felony & Mayhem Press)
Blue Heaven by C.J. Box (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
Sins of the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)
The Price of Blood by Declan Hughes (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
The Night Following by Morag Joss (Random House – Delacorte Press)
Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster) Jocelyn reviewed this one at Teen Book Review.

Best Paperback Original
The Prince of Bagram Prison by Alex Carr (Random House Trade)
Money Shot by Christa Faust (Hard Case Crime)
Enemy Combatant by Ed Gaffney (Random House – Dell)
China Lake by Meg Gardiner (New American Library – Obsidian Mysteries)
The Cold Spot by Tom Piccirilli (Random House – Bantam)

Best Young Adult
Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd (Random House Children’s Books – David Fickling Books) Becky didn’t like it much.
The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferraiolo (Harry N. Abrams Books – Amulet Books)
Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin Young Readers Group – Dutton Children’s Books)
Getting the Girl by Susan Juby (HarperCollins Children’s Books – HarperTeen) Becky’s ambivalent.
Torn to Pieces by Margot McDonnell (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Books for Young Readers)

Best Juvenile
The Postcard by Tony Abbott (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Enigma: A Magical Mystery by Graeme Base (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff (Random House Children’s Books – Wendy Lamb Books)
The Witches of Dredmoore Hollow by Riford McKenzie (Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books)
Cemetery Street by Brenda Seabrooke (Holiday House)

I think the Newbery Award ought have a short list of nominees. Don’t you think it would encourage reading and add to the fun?

The 63rd Annual Edgar® Awards Banquet will be held on Thursday April 30, 2009 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.