Highlights of the top ten BBYAs include: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson (Candlewick); The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (HarperCollins)(excerpt); and The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin (Dial). Read a recommendation of The King of Attolia and an interview with Nancy on The Rules of Survival.

Moving on to the rest of the list, highlights included: Tyrell by Coe Booth (Scholastic); Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos (Simon & Schuster)(author interview); Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (Knopf)(author interview); Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (Viking)(author interview); What Happened to Cass McBride? by Gail Giles (Little Brown)(author interview)(recommendation); St. Iggy by K.L. Going (Harcourt)(author interview); An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (Dutton)(author interview); Side Effects by Amy Goldman Koss (Deborah Brodie/Roaring Brook)(author interview); Wait for Me by An Na (Putnam)(author interview)(recommendation); Blind Faith by Ellen Wittlinger (Simon & Schuster)(author interview); Up Before Daybreak: Cotten and People in America by Deborah Hopkinson (Scholastic); and One Kingdom: Our Lives with Animals by Deborah Noyes (Houghton Mifflin)(author interview). See the complete list.

Cynsational Notes

Two authors were interviewed about previous titles–Deborah Hopkinson was interviewed about Fannie in the Kitchen (Atheneum, 2001) and M.T. Anderson was interviewed about Whales on Stilts (Harcourt, 2005).