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RITBA 2023: Previous Winners

Contains information about the RI Teen Book Award Nominees for 2023...

Previous Winners

Cover Art

2021 Winner - The Cheerleaders
by Kara Thomas

There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook.  There was a car accident, murders, and a suicide - no one wants to be reminded of the girls they lost.  But Monica is starting to unravel with her need to know more.

2020 Winner - One of Us is Lying
by Karen M. McManus

When the creator of a high school gossip app mysteriously dies in front of four high-profile students, all four become suspects. It's up to them to solve the case.

2019 Winner - The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas

After witnessing her friend's death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter's life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died. 

2018 Winner - Scythe
by Neal Shusterman

In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed (gleaned) by professional reapers (scythes). Two teens must compete with each other to become a scythe--a position neither of them wants. The one who becomes a scythe must kill the one who doesn't.

2017 Winner - Everything, Everything
 by Nicola Yoon

Maddy is allergic to the outside word. When a new family moves in next door, she finds her insular world becoming stifling and complicated.

2016 Winner - Dogs of War
by Sheila Keenan

Based on true stories, these fictional graphic novel vignettes showcase soldiers in World Wars 1 & 2, and the Vietnam War who were aided by combat dogs.

2015 Winner (tie) - Eleanor & Park
by Rainbow Rowell

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

2015 Winner (tie) - Steelheart
by Brandon Sanderson

At age eight, David watched as his father was killed by an Epic, a human with superhuman powers, and now, ten years later, he joins the Reckoners--the only people who are trying to kill the Epics and end their tyranny.

2014 Winner - The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green

Hazel has been living her life as a terminal cancer patient until she meets Augustus at the dreaded "Cancer Kid Support Group" and her life changes in unexpected ways.

2013 Winner - Divergent
by Veronica Roth

Beatrice lives in a future where she must choose between five factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she learns she doesn't belong in any one faction in a society that is far from perfect.

2012 Winner - Matched
by Allie Condie

Cassia always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her, but she begins to question just how perfect her world really is when she notices things are not what they seem.

2011 Winner - Graceling
by Kristin Cashore

​Born with the Grace of strength and speed, Katsa is an assassin. Her uncle, King Randa, exploits her for his own purposes, but she wants to use her skills for nobler pursuits.

2010 Winner - The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

Welcome to the Hunger Games, a Capitol-endorsed reality TV show in which Katniss can only prevail by killing the other players … even Peeta, who once saved her from starvation.

2009 Winner - The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
by Michael Scott

Twins Sophi and Josh are caught in a battle between two alchemists over an ancient book containing the secret of eternal life.

2008 Winner - Lush
by Natasha Friend

Sam decides to get a new friend to help her cope with her alcoholic father and a mother in denial by leaving a biographical letter in a library book.

2007 Winner - Twilight
by Stephenie Meyer

When Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who, she comes to realize, is not wholly human.

2006 Winner - One of those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies
by Sonja Sones

Ruby leaves her best friend, her boyfriend, her aunt, and her mother's grave in Boston and reluctantly flies to Los Angeles to live with her father, a famous movie star she barely knows.

2005 Winner - Eragon
by Christopher Paolini

In Alagaesia, a 15-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.

2004 Winner - House of the Scorpion
by Nancy Farmer

To most people around him, Matt is no better than an animal because he is a clone, but he could the only hope for the future of all humanity.

2002 Winner - Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
by Ann Brashares 

A "magical" pair of thrift store pants accompanies four friends on their separate summer vacations, altering their experiences, and changing their views about each other and life,

2001 Winner - Give a Boy a Gun
by Todd Strasser

Two students barricade their classmates and teachers in the gym and hold them at gunpoint. What events drove them to this desperate act.

Note - No award was given out in 2003 due to committee reorganization.