Millikin Medal: 2019

After her mother dies by suicide Leigh Chen Sanders is convinced that her spirit has returned as a bird. Seeking answers, Leigh travels with her father to Taiwan, where he leaves her with her mother's parents, whom she has never met, and who do not speak English. Feeling left behind, disconnected, and, as a mixed race girl, an object of curiosity to the Taiwanese locals, she struggles to process her feelings about her mother's death and her changing relationship with her father and her best friend back home (whom she feels guilty about kissing the night her mother died). When a mysterious family friend steps in to act as a translator and guide, and Leigh finds a box of magical incense that immerses her in memories of key moments in her family's past, will she finally understand what the bird wants from her? A vivid, lyrical, and magical exploration of grief, family, and friendship.

Will's brother has just died in a shooting and Will is sure he knows who did it. He grabs a gun and heads for the elevator of his building to follow through on the rules of his neighborhood: no crying, no snitching, get revenge. Over the course of a minute, as the elevator stops at each floor, a new person enters, causing Will to re-evaluate his initial decision. Told in verse, this novel is an intense, fast, and gut-wrenching story of how a life can change in an instant, and how the choices we make reverberate into the future.

Olga was the perfect Mexican daughter, but Olga is dead after a traffic accident, leaving her younger sister Julia behind to face the weight of her parents' expectations while struggling with her own depression. Julia is spiky, funny, and smart, but also sometimes mean and self-centered. She has dreams of becoming a writer and artist, and wants to try dating the cute boy she meets at her favorite bookstore. After a few odd discoveries in her sister's room, Julia isn't so sure Olga was perfect after all. Should she seek the truth? Or, leave well-enough alone? A compelling and fully-realized coming-of-age story of a young, second-generation American Latinx woman.

Shortlist

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Shortlist

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