2009 Edgar Award Nominations pt. 7

by Greg "The Undead Rat" on April 28, 2009

This is the seventh installment of the 2009 Edgar Award Nominations, brought to you by the RATS of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.

You can view the entire list of Edgar Award Nomination on the Mystery Writers of American website.

Click the mouse on the book covers to order these books from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.

Edgar Award for Best Young Adult

Bog Child	Bog Child Author: Dowd, Siobhan Format: Hardcover Type: Novel Page Count: 320pp. Pub. Date: September 2008 Publisher: Random House Children’s Books/David Fickling Books
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Digging for peat in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds the body of a child, and it looks like she’s been murdered. As Fergus tries to make sense of the mad world around him — his brother on hunger — strike in prison, his growing feelings for Cora, his parents arguing over the Troubles, and him in it up to the neck, blackmailed into acting as courier to God knows what — a little voice comes to him in his dreams, and the mystery of the bog child unfurls. Bog Child is an astonishing novel exploring the sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the unflinching strength of the human spirit.



The Big Splash	The Big Splash Author: Ferraiolo, Jack D. Format: Hardcover Type: Novel Page Count: 288pp. Pub. Date: September 2008 Publisher: Harry N. Abrams Books/Amulet Books
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult The treacherous, hormone-soaked hallways of Franklin Middle School are the setting for this sharp, funny noir novel about tough guys and even tougher girls. “The Frank” is in the clutches of a crime syndicate run by seventh-grader Vinny “Mr. Biggs” Biggio, who deals in forged hall passes and black-market candy. Double-cross him and your number is punched by one of his deadly water-gun-toting assassins. One hit in the pants and you are in “the Outs” forever. Matt Stevens is a proud loner with his own code of justice. He’s avoided being pulled into Vinny’s organization until now: Mr. Biggs has offered him a job he can’t resist, one that leads to the surprising downfall of Vinny’s top assassin, the beautiful and deadly Nikki “Fingers” Finnegan, at the hands of an unknown assailant. Matt thinks he was used, and he becomes determined to find the trigger-guy or -girl, even if it means bringing down one of his oldest friends.



Paper Towns	Paper Towns Author: Green, John Format: Hardcover Type: Novel Page Count: 320pp. Pub. Date: September 2008 Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group/Dutton Children’s Books
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night-dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge — he follows her. Margo’s always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she’s always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they’re for Q. Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers.



Getting the Girl	Getting the Girl: A Guide to Private Investigation, Surveillance, and Cookery Author: Susan Juby, Susan Juby Format: Hardcover Type: Novel Page Count: 320pp. Pub. Date: September 2008 Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books/HarperTeen
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Meet Sherman Mack. Short. Nerdy. Amateur P.I. and prepared to do anything for Dini Trioli. Nobody knows who began it or when it became a tradition, but every girl at Harewood Tech fears being D-listed, a ritual that wipes her off the social map forever. When Sherman believes Dini is in danger of being D-listed, he snatches up his surveillance gear and launches a full-scale investigation to uncover who is responsible. Could it be the captain of the lacrosse team? The hottest girls in school, the Trophy Wives? Or maybe their boyfriends? One thing is for sure: Sherman Mack is on the case. And he’s not giving up. Part comedy, part mystery, and with all of Juby’s trademark tongue-in-cheek humor, Getting the Girl takes on one of the cruelest aspects of high school: how easy it is for an entire school to turn on someone, and how hard it can be to be the only one willing to fight back.



Torn to Pieces	Torn to Pieces Author: McDonnell, Margot Format: Hardcover Type: Novel Page Count: 272pp. Pub. Date: September 2008 Publisher: Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Seventeen-year-old Anne always thought her mother was kind of quirky. In fact, her mom’s taste in 70s-esque furniture and mysterious frequent business trips were just the tip of the quirky iceberg. When her mom doesn’t come home on time from one of her long jaunts, Anne isn’t too surprised. But when a day late turns into a few days late, Anne knows something is very wrong. She tries the hotel number that her mother left her, but it has been disconnected. Then a strange man keeps leaving messages on their answering machine, looking for a woman who doesn’t even live there. However, when Anne discovers a lengthy letter from her mother explaining why she has disappeared, the fabric of Anne’s relatively normal life is torn to pieces. Despite her shock, Anne must pull herself together and protect herself — from people who want to find and hurt her mother, and the strange new boy who may change everything.