CHS Black-Eyed Susan Book Club Looks Forward to Another Year of Great Reads

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Angelina Nunez, Contributor

The CHS Black-Eyed Susan book club is preparing for another exciting season of young adult fiction reads with the goal of helping the Maryland Library Association (MASL) to choose this year’s Black-Eyed Susan award winner. The Black-Eyed Susan award is a student choice award hosted by the MASL. Each year, members of the MASL meet to select books which will be nominated and placed on student lists. The CHS Black-Eyed Susan Book Club selects and reads books from the High School list. 

The nominees for the 2021-2022 school year were, 

 Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo 

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram 

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender 

A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson 

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune 

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell; Illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks; Contributed by Sarah Stern 

A Song of Wraths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown 

We Are Not Free by Tracie Chee 

What I Carry by Jennifer Longo 

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson 

Students who had read at least three of the selections were able to vote for their favorite. When voting closed the winner of the 2021-2022 High School book award was A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson 

A Good Girls Guide to Murder is a murder mystery that follows Pippa as she investigates a “solved” murder case that never sat right with her. The murder involved Andie Bell and Sal Singh, Pippa’s old classmates. Andie suddenly died and Sal was said to be her murderer even though he was not alive to defend himself. Pippa goes through many twists and turns when investigating this case and the reader follows her as her list of suspects climbs and her confusion grows. Considering the CHS Book March Madness winner (One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus) last year was a good year for the mystery genre. 

Though the 21-22 winner was a mystery novel, it should be noted that the nominated texts represent many genres. In addition, all the nominated texts are high interest works for young adults. 

Below is a list of the of the 2022-2023 Black-Eyed Susan nominated books that the club will be reading this year. Be sure to keep an eye out for this year’s meeting times and locations so that you can be a part of choosing the 2022-2023 winner. Please contact Ms. Costello ([email protected]) Or Ms. Mignardi ([email protected]) for more information. 

Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton; Tiffany D. Jackson; Angie Thomas; Ashley Woodfolk; and Nicola Yoon 

Firekeepers Daughter by Angeline Boulley 

The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe 

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 

Last Girls by Demetra Brodsky 

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn 

Long Way Down: the graphic novel by Jason Reynolds; Illustrated by Danica Novgorodoff 

Pumpkin by Julie Murphy 

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko 

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson