The Abraham Lincoln Book Award
What is it?
Students like you across the State of Illinois have nominated books throughout the year for this award. The Abe Selection Committee narrows the nominees to 22 finalists. Illionis students read and vote for their favorite one on the list.
Here are the past winners:
- 2009 Crank by Ellen Hopkins
- 2008 Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- 2007 Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
- 2006 My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
- 2005 A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer
How can I participate?
Vote for an Abe
Read 4 or more books and you are eligible to cast your vote for the next Abe Award. Just register in the LRC to participate. Copies of all of the books are available in the LRC.
Nominate Books
Know of a book that should be on the nominating list for next year?
To get on the list, the book has to meet certain criteria:
- First published within the past five years
- Currently in print in paperback
- Author living at time of selection for the Master List
- Fiction, non-fiction, or poetry
- May not be a textbook, a translation, or an anthology by more than one author
- May not be a previous Rebecca Caudill Award winner/current Caudill contender
- May not have appeared on a previous ALIHSBA Master List
- If part of a series, must be the first volume unless it can stand by itself without reading the previous titles in the series
Source: http://www.islma.org/lincoln.htm
Sound complicated? Ask our library staff for help if you're not sure if your book qualifies.
Select the List
Dive in head first and join the selection committee. The committee is made up of high school librarians and students. Students serve for one term. This involves reading at least 10 of the 75 semi-finalist nominees and evaluating them.
What happens next?
Voting for the best book on the list will take place in Feburary 2010. WEGO votes will be processed with all the other participating high schools in Illinois. In March the statewide results will be tallied and the 2010 winner will be announced. You can be proud to have participated with your peers at West Chicago and across the State in selecting the Abe Award Winner for the 2009-2010 school year.
Last Updated: September 23, 2009