The Abraham Lincoln Award: Illinois’ Grades 9-12 Readers’ Choice Award

The Abraham Lincoln Readers’ Choice Award winner is awarded to the book from that year’s master list that earns the highest number of student votes.

For a book to reach the master list, adult and young adult fiction and non-fiction titles must be nominated by teachers or librarians and vetted by the nominations committee. While the popularity of a particular title is important, the overall quality of the work is of primary importance. Each year, a panel of high school librarians, teachers, public librarians, and students determines the final master list of twenty titles. For more information on this award, visit the AISLE website.

Click on the titles below to view the primary source pairings:

All We Have Left, Written by Wendy Mills

American Street, Written by Ibi Zoboi

Beartown, Written by Fredrik Backman

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, Written by Trevor Noah

Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders/Gabe Johnson Takes Over, Written by Geoff Herbach

Girl in Pieces, Written by Kathleen Glasgow

Goodbye Days, Written by Jeff Zentner

The Hate U Give, Written by Angie Thomas

Illuminae, Written by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

A List of Cages, Written by Robin Roe

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal., Written by Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona

One of Us is Lying, Written by Karen M. McManus

Paper Girls, Vol. 1, Written by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, Written by Kate Moore

Scythe, Written by Neal Shusterman

The Thousandth Floor, Written by Katharine McGee

Three Dark Crowns, Written by Kendare Blake

We Are Okay, Written by Nina LaCour

When Dimple Met Rishi, Written by Sandhya Menon

Wolf by Wolf, Written by Ryan Graudin