Vlahos, Len. The Scar Boys. 2014.
Harry Jones was horribly disfigured in a childhood accident and despite years of therapy, he has never been able to move beyond his scarred appearance until he plays with The Scar Boys, a punk rock band.
2015 William C. Morris Award finalist
Waid, Mark, and Paul Azaceta. Potter’s Field. 2011.
A mysterious man sets out on a mission to name the unnamed dead in New York City’s Potter’s Field cemetery.
Weeks, Sarah. As Simple As It Seems. 2010.
Eleven-year-old Verbena Polter gets through a difficult summer of turbulent emotions and the revelation of a disturbing family secret with an odd new friend she meets in her small Catskill town, who believes she is the ghost of a girl who drowned many years before.
Weil, Cynthia. I’m Glad I Did. 2015.
It’s 1963 in New York City and sixteen-year-old JJ Green defies her parents by getting a summer job at the Brill Building, the musical epicenter for rock and roll. While writing music and trying to get one of her songs recorded, JJ must content with a murder and a romance.
Wilson, Daniel H. Robopocalypse: a novel. 2011.
Two decades into the future, humans are battling for their very survival when a powerful AI computer goes rogue, and all the machines on earth rebel against their human controllers.
2012 Alex Award
Wiseman, Eva. The World Outside. 2014.
Chanie Altman, an Orthodox Jew in Brooklyn, is expected to live by many rules, but she dreams of becoming an opera singer (a forbidden profession). When a tragedy disrupts the life she has always known, she has to make a choice.
Wood, Brian and Riccardo Burchielli. DMZ. 2006.
DMZ presents the adventures of aspiring photojournalist Matty Roth. Roth lands his dream job following a veteran war correspondent who is covering the second American civil war, and the two journey into Manhattan, the heart of the DMZ.
Wood, Brian and Ryan Kelly. Local. 2008.
Local is a collection of twelve interconnected short stories, each featuring Megan McKeenan, a young woman who sets out from Portland, Oregon, with a rucksack and a bad case of wanderlust. This graphic novel is set in twelve real life cities, including New York.
Wood, Brian, Ryan Kelly, and Jared K. Fletcher. The New York Four. 2008.
Just starting her freshman year at NYU, Riley is about to find out what an adventure – and a mystery – living in New York City can be. The ultimate insider’s guide to NYC is seen through the eyes of Brooklyn-born Riley.
Woodson, Jacqueline. After Tupac & D Foster. 2010.
In 1996 Queens, two girls become friends through the music of Tupac Shakur; the music continues to touch their lives as they deal with their families and their futures.
2009 Newbery Honor
Wright, Bil. Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy. 2011.
Sixteen-year-old Carlos Duarte is on the verge of realizing his dream of becoming a famous make-up artist, but first he must face his jealous boss at a Macy’s cosmetics counter, his sister’s abusive boyfriend, and his crush on a punk-rocker classmate.
2012 Stonewall Book Award
Yolen, Jane. Briar Rose. 1992.
A deathbed promise to her grandmother takes Rebecca on a journey to discover the truth behind the woman’s claim that she is Briar Rose. A chilling variation on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale set in multiple locations, including Oswego, New York, which once served as a haven for Holocaust survivors.
Ziegelman, Jane. 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement. 2010.
Writing about food, Ziegelman relates the stories of five immigrant families who lived at 97 Orchard between 1863 and 1935. The book includes 40 recipes. 97 Orchard currently houses the Tenement Museum in New York City.