2026 Nutmeg Book Award Nominees Grades 9-12 by Sara Coelho

The 9:09 Project by Mark H. Parsons

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 15:22:13 UTC

Jamison Deever is stuck. Every night at 9:09 p.m. he takes a photo as a way to capture moments he might otherwise miss- and to find some sense of control and meaning after the loss of his mother. As his project deepens, his lens reveals more than just images- it uncovers unexpected friendships, unspoken grief, and a glimpse of love, showing that what matters most is often unseen.

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 15:27:14 UTC

For Lamb by Lesa Cline-Ransome

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 15:38:35 UTC

In 1930s Mississippi, Lamb, a sheltered African American teen, hesitantly befriends a white girl, with tragic repercussions for Lamb and her family.

Excerpt Read Aloud: Author Lesa-Cline Ransome Shares FOR LAMB

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 16:56:26 UTC

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 17:00:22 UTC

An interracial friendship between two teenaged girls goes tragically wrong in this powerful historical novel set in the Jim Crow South.

For Lamb follows a family striving to better their lives in the late 1930s Jackson, Mississippi. Lamb’s mother is a hard-working, creative seamstress who cannot reveal she is a lesbian. Lamb’s brother has a brilliant mind and has even earned a college scholarship for a black college up north-- if only he could curb his impulsiveness and rebellious nature.

Lamb herself is a quiet and studious girl. She is also naive. As she tentatively accepts the friendly overtures of a white girl who loans her a book she loves, she sets a off a calamitous series of events that pulls in her mother, charming hustler uncle, estranged father, and brother, and ends in a lynching.

Told with nuance and subtlety, avoiding sensationalism and unnecessary brutality, this young adult novel from celebrated author Lesa Cline-Ransome pays homage to the female victims of white supremacy.

Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 17:04:25 UTC

When Ian finds a dog in the woods he thinks life is finally getting better. He has his dog, his mom is recovering from addiction, and he has a steady income. Then tragedy strikes- pushing Ian to leave home and live in the wild with his loyal dog. Now, he must decide to stay lost or

face his past.

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 17:05:44 UTC

A resourceful teenager in rural Vermont struggles to hold on to the family home while his mom recovers from addiction in this striking debut novel.

Ian Gray isn’t supposed to have a dog, but a lot of things that shouldn’t happen end up happening anyway. And Gather, Ian’s adopted pup, is good company now that Ian has to quit the basketball team, find a job, and take care of his mom as she tries to overcome her opioid addiction. Despite the obstacles thrown their way, Ian is determined to keep his family afloat no matter what it takes. And for a little while, things are looking Ian makes friends, and his fondness for the outdoors and for fixing things lands him work helping neighbors. But an unforeseen tragedy results in Ian and his dog taking off on the run, trying to evade a future that would mean leaving their house and their land. Even if the community comes together to help him, would Ian and Gather have a home to return to?

Told in a wry, cautious first-person voice that meanders like a dog circling to be sure it’s safe to lie down, Kenneth M. Cadow’s resonant debut brings an emotional and ultimately hopeful story of one teen’s resilience in the face of unthinkable hardships.

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 17:14:10 UTC

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 17:18:10 UTC

The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 17:22:35 UTC

Raised by a con artist mother, Nora O’Malley developed an unusual set of skills for a teenage girl. When violent bank robbers take her and her friends hostage, Nora has to draw on all her past experiences–including her dramatic getaway from her mom’s clutches–to pull off the ultimate con: escape.

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 17:24:56 UTC

Nora O’Malley’s been a lot of girls. As the daughter of a con-artist who targets criminal men, she grew up as her mother’s protégé. But when mom fell for the mark instead of conning him, Nora pulled the ultimate con: escape.

For five years Nora’s been playing at normal. But she needs to dust off the skills she ditched because she has three problems:

#1: Her ex walked in on her with her girlfriend. Even though they’re all friends, Wes didn’t know about her and Iris.

#2: The morning after Wes finds them kissing, they all have to meet to deposit the fundraiser money they raised at the bank. It’s a nightmare that goes from awkward to deadly, because:

#3: Right after they enter bank, two guys start robbing it.

The bank robbers may be trouble, but Nora’s something else entirely. They have no idea who they’re really holding hostage…

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 17:28:49 UTC

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 17:31:06 UTC

The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 18:44:02 UTC

Yamilet is a queer 16-year-old Mexican American girl navigating her new Catholic school while hiding her sexuality. She’s tackling family expectations, self-acceptance, and cultural identity, all while finding new friendships and love. Will she have the courage to embrace and share her authentic self with the world?

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 18:44:49 UTC

Sixteen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers to be known for her killer eyeliner, not for being one of the only Mexican kids at her new, mostly white, very rich Catholic school. But at least here no one knows she's gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way.

After being outed by her crush and ex-best friend before transferring to Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: keep her brother out of trouble, make her mom proud, and, most importantly, don't fall in love. Granted, she's never been great at any of those things, but that's a problem for Future Yami.

The thing is, it's hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. And smart. And talented. And cute. So cute. Either way, Yami isn't going to make the same mistake again. If word got back to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. So she'll have to start asking, WWSGD: What would a straight girl do?

Told in a captivating voice that is by turns hilarious, vulnerable, and searingly honest, The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School explores the joys and heartaches of living your full truth out loud.

saracoelho — 2025-03-27 18:54:36 UTC

Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang & LeUyen Pham

saracoelho — 2025-03-28 15:13:41 UTC

After discovering a painful family secret,

Valentina Tran loses faith in true love -

especially when Saint Valentine’s spirit reveals she’s cursed in romance. But at Lunar New Year, a lion dancer gives her a paper heart, sparking an undeniable connection with Jae, even as his charming cousin begins dating her.

saracoelho — 2025-03-28 15:15:49 UTC

Valentina Tran was named after Valentine's Day, which used to be her favorite holiday. But when Val learns the truth behind what happened with her parents and why she's being raised by a single father, she realizes true love is a lie. This is reinforced when she meets the spirit of Saint Valentine, who tells her she and her family are cursed to always be unlucky in love. Val is ready to give into her fate, until one Lunar New Year festival, where a mysterious lion dancer hands her a paper heart, and ZING. Val becomes determined to change her destiny, prove Saint Valentine wrong, and give her heart to the right person.

Meanwhile, lion dancing is the only thing that has given Jae peace after his dad passed away. It's also what keeps him connected to his father's side of the family. Both Jae and his cousin Leslie notice Val at the Lunar New Year festival, and for some inexplicable reason, Jae hands Val a paper heart. But it's Leslie, with his K-Pop good looks, who starts to date Val. Jae still feels this connection with Val and feels it's somehow tied to how he feels about losing his father.

Both Val and Jae struggle with the spirits who haunt them as they are inextricably brought together in a love story that is satisfying, sweet, and moving.

NPR Book Review

saracoelho — 2025-03-28 15:23:00 UTC

NPR Podcast

saracoelho — 2025-03-28 15:30:18 UTC

The Silence That Binds Us by Joanna Ho

saracoelho — 2025-03-28 15:53:19 UTC

Timely themes of mental health, racism, and classism are explored with Maybelline Chen and her beloved and perfect brother, Danny. However, Danny secretly struggles with depression and dies by suicide. Racist

accusations are hurled against May's parents. May challenges these ugly stereotypes, but consequences of speaking out run much deeper than anyone could foresee.

saracoelho — 2025-03-28 15:53:54 UTC

Maybelline Chen isn't the Chinese Taiwanese American daughter her mother expects her to be. May prefers hoodies over dresses and wants to become a writer. When asked, her mom can't come up with one specific reason for why she's proud of her only daughter. May's beloved brother, Danny, on the other hand, has just been admitted to Princeton. But Danny secretly struggles with depression, and when he dies by suicide, May's world is shattered.

In the aftermath, racist accusations are hurled against May's parents for putting too much "pressure" on him. May's father tells her to keep her head down. Instead, May challenges these ugly stereotypes through her writing. Yet the consequences of speaking out run much deeper than anyone could foresee. Who gets to tell our stories, and who gets silenced? It's up to May to take back the narrative.

Audiobook Preview

saracoelho — 2025-03-28 15:57:14 UTC

Google Play Books

Spin by Rebecca Caprara

saracoelho — 2025-03-28 17:03:41 UTC

Arachne embarks on a powerful, poetic journey of ambition, creativity, and resistance in this vibrant retelling of the Greek myth. Ostracized and finding strength through her weaving, she

flees to Colophon after a tragic loss. Her talent attracts Athena, leading to a contest that exposes divine misdeeds and offers

redemption.

saracoelho — 2025-03-28 17:04:44 UTC

The Song of Achilles and Circe get a sapphic, young adult twist in this “exciting, richly textured, thought-provoking” ( Kirkus Reviews , starred review) retelling of the myth of Arachne spun in moving verse.

Arachne is a homely girl with no claims to divinity or fortune, ostracized by all but her family and closest friend, Celandine. Turning to her loom for solace, Arachne learns to weave, finding her voice and her strength through the craft. After a devastating loss, Arachne and Celandine flee to the city of Colophon, where Arachne’s skills are put to the test. Word of her talent spreads quickly, leading to a confrontation with the goddess Athena, who demands that Arachne repent for her insolence and pride.

But Arachne will not be silenced. She challenges Athena, and a fateful weaving contest ensues, resulting in an exposé of divine misdeeds, a shocking transformation, and unexpected redemption.

A brilliant weaver of words, author Rebecca Caprara transforms an ancient myth into a sweeping novel in verse, unraveling the tales that frame Arachne as a villainess and deliver a timely story of long-awaited justice.

Meet Rebecca Caprara

saracoelho — 2025-03-28 17:17:53 UTC

saracoelho — 2025-03-28 18:56:00 UTC

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

saracoelho — 2025-03-31 17:12:42 UTC

A haunting tale of survival and identity set against a backdrop of supernatural intrigue, the story follows a young protagonist grappling with loss and the dark secrets of their community. As spirits awaken, truths emerge, challenging everything they believe.

saracoelho — 2025-03-31 17:14:33 UTC

Mors vincit omnia. Death conquers all.

London, 1883. The Veil between the living and dead has thinned. Violet-eyed mediums commune with spirits under the watchful eye of the Royal Speaker Society, and sixteen-year-old Silas Bell would rather rip out his violet eyes than become an obedient Speaker wife. According to Mother, he’ll be married by the end of the year. It doesn’t matter that he’s needed a decade of tutors to hide his autism; that he practices surgery on slaughtered pigs; that he is a boy, not the girl the world insists on seeing.

After a failed attempt to escape an arranged marriage, Silas is diagnosed with Veil sickness—a mysterious disease sending violet-eyed women into madness—and shipped away to Braxton’s Sanitorium and Finishing School. The facility is cold, the instructors merciless, and the students either bloom into eligible wives or disappear. So when the ghosts of missing students start begging Silas for help, he decides to reach into Braxton’s innards and expose its rotten guts to the world—as long as the school doesn’t break him first.

Audiobook Preview

saracoelho — 2025-03-31 17:46:28 UTC

Google Play Books

Throwback by Maurene Goo

saracoelho — 2025-03-31 17:57:22 UTC

Sam and her mother Pricilla, a first-generation Korean immigrant, struggle to connect. When her grandmother falls ill, Sam is sent back to 1995, meeting her mother as a teen. With time running out, can she mend their relationship before her phone battery dies?

saracoelho — 2025-03-31 18:00:03 UTC

Back to the Future meets The Joy Luck Club in this YA contemporary romance about a Korean American girl sent back to the ’90s to (reluctantly) help her teenage mom win Homecoming Queen.

Being a first-generation Asian American immigrant is hard. You know what’s harder? Being the daughter of one. Samantha Kang has never gotten along with her mother, Priscilla—and has never understood her bougie-nightmare, John Hughes high school expectations. After a huge fight between them, Sam is desperate to move forward—but instead, finds herself thrown back. Way back.

To her shock, Sam finds herself back in high school . . . in the ’90s . . . with a 17-year-old Priscilla. Now this Gen Z girl must try to fit into an analog world. She’s got the fashion down, but everything else is baffling. What is “microfiche”? What’s with the casual racism and misogyny? And why does it feel like Priscilla is someone she could actually be . . . friends with?

Sam's blast to the past has her finding the right romance in the wrong time while questioning everything she thought she knew about her mom . . . and herself. Will Sam figure out what she needs to do to fix things for her mom so that she can go back to a time she understands? Brimming with heart and humor, Maurene Goo’s time-travel romance asks big questions about what exactly one inherits and loses in the immigrant experience.

Throwback by Maurene Goo | Book Trailer - Zando Young Readers

saracoelho — 2025-03-31 18:06:34 UTC