Borders announces 2006 Original Voices finalists.

The YA/Juv titles are:

Bass Ackwards & Belly Up by Elizabeth Craft
Dairy Queen written by Catherine Murdock
Endymion Spring by Mathew Skelton
The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Skinny by Ibi Kaslik
Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursu

I'd vote for Dairy Queen, but it's also the only title I've read in its entirety.  And for the last time (maybe), just because a book is about the Holocaust does NOT mean it's a good book.  Yeech.

The other categories/finalists are here.

Comments

[Colleen]

I was disappointed by this list. Striped Pajamas - my God. It's like everyone has Holocaust "blindness" or something. Also Bass Ackwards was a huge disappointment for me - riddled with cliches (one girl goes to Hollywood and ends up dating the new young hunk, another one pursues a crush on a former high school teacher, etc.) I couldn't stand it - just way too unbelievable for me. And I thought Endymion Spring was a weak title as well - again, too many cliches (I swear - why would you leave your little sister behind in a darkened hallway thinking she was more safe there than with you?????).

I'm with Dairy Queen also, but if I was betting I would go with Pajamas or Endymion. Not because they are better but because the idea of them is more acceptable as winners (Dairy will come off as a chick lit title, I bet.)

[Leila]

Yup. I remember reactions to Endymion were lukewarm at best, regardless of how hard the publisher (RH?) pushed it. Some people really seemed to love Bass Ack, but again, most of what I read was lukewarm.

I'm curious about Shadow Thieves, though.

[MotherReader]

It's interesting that Bass Ackwards would be listed as an Original Voices winner. It was like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants a few years later, not original at all.

[Laura Ruby]

Hmmm...I haven't read any of them except for SHADOW THIEVES, and it's amazing — smart, hilariously funny, and inventive. And I'm not saying this just because the author's a good friend, either. (Though she too is smart, hilariously funny, and inventive). A great book. First in a trilogy.

-- Laura Ruby

[jess]

I just read Dairy Queen so I'd vote for that (even though it's the only one on the list I've read) because it rocked. I hate football, but I could. not. put that book down. Read most of it in one sitting.