The 2011 Nebula nominees have been announced.

The YA titles are:

Chime, by Franny Billingsley:

It has romance. And it’s the best kind of romance, too, a romance between equals that’ll make you laugh and cry and swoon. But that’s not even close to all it’s got.

The characters, even the minor characters, are three-dimensional and fully realized. Billingsley’s prose is beautifully lyrical, musical and evocative, yet the story moves quickly and the dialogue snaps. Reinforcing that unusual dichotomy is Briony herself, who is savagely prickly—yet prone to humor and whimsy—and desperate to be loved.

Everybody Sees the Ants, by A.S. King:

Like the vast majority of books that appeal to me, Everybody Sees the Ants has a little bit of everything: Comedy, tragedy, sarcasm, frank truth, despair, joy, fantasy, realism, romance, violence, friendship and family. In it, King creates—though his voice is so believable that it feels like a capture, not a creation—a vivid, rich chronicle of a life-altering time for one guy: the internal, the external and his effect on other people.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns, by Rae Carson:

I picked it up on Friday morning, and I lost two hours. Like, I started reading, and then, what felt like five minutes later, Josh said something, and I realized that I'd read half of the book without even noticing the passage of time.

I WAS SO INTO IT THAT I FORGOT TO EAT BREAKFAST.

Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor.
Amazon | Indiebound. 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor.
Amazon | Indiebound. 

The Boy at the End of the World, by Greg van Eekhout.
Amazon | Indiebound. 

The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman.
Amazon | Indiebound. 

Ultraviolet, by R.J. Anderson.
Amazon | Indiebound. 

Clearly, I have some catching up to do.

See the rest at the SFWA website.

Comments

[Diana Peterfreund]

I also like that one of the film noms, "Attack the Block" -- is TOTALLY YA.

[Leila]

And TOTALLY AWESOME!

[Jenn]

I love that Chime is getting nominated for all of the awards, but it's also nice to see Everybody Sees the Ants getting a bit of recognition as well. I think it's one of those books that you kind of forget about, but when you see it again, you remember how awesome it was and how you need to read it again, just so you can see if you can understand it a bit more.

I think I'm the only person alive who hasn't read The Girl of Fire and Thorns, so maybe I need to get on that.

[Lisa]

If there's no blurb by Daughter of Smoke and Bone, does that mean you haven't read it yet? Because if ever there was a swoonworthy romance, that's it (going back to your romance post). Of course, it's not exactly realistic contemporary... In that vein, what about Shut Out or The Future of Us (which I think of as realistic despite the whole Facebook-in-the-future stuff)?

[Leila]

@Jenn: It's REALLY GOOD. (Fire and Thorns, I mean. But so is Chime. And Ants. But you already know that.)

@Lisa: Yep. Shocking, right? I ILLed it back when it came out, but never got to it because of my Cybils reading -- I'll have to order it again! I can't believe I haven't read it yet. I know I have copies of Shut Out and The Future of Us around here somewhere... I'll dig 'em out. Thanks for the recs!

[Michelle]

I'm seconding the request for you to read Daughter of Smoke and Bone. It's my current fav to suggest to anyone and everyone who will listen to me. Actually now that I've started thinking about it, I need to go read it again. I can't wait to hear what you think.

[Leila]

I just ILLed it, so I should have it in hand next week!