2027 Nutmeg Award High School Nominees

Rez Ball
by Byron Graves
Tre Brun lives on the Red Lake Nation
Reservation in Minnesota. He misses his late
brother Jaxon, and is trying to live up to
Jaxon’s basketball legacy. When Tre gets a
spot on the Red Lake Warriors varsity team,
the pressure is on. Can his team be the first
Ojibwe team to win Minnesota’s State
Championship?
Swarm 
by Jennifer D. Lyle
Shur’s anxiety disorder should have helped her
prepare for the apocalypse, but even she never
could have envisioned the giant butterflies
attacking her town. Using her basement as a
bunker, Shur, her siblings, and two best friends
try their best to create a sanctuary, hoping for a
day when they can again see the outside world.
Under This Red Rock
by Mindy McGinnis
Neely, a teenage girl struggling with her mental
health, takes a job as a cavern tour guide to
keep herself distracted and gain independence.
When her coworker and crush is found
murdered, Neely must decide whether her
hallucinations made her forget her involvement
or if something altogether more sinister is at
play.
Youth Group
by Jordan Morris, art by Bowen McCurdy
Kay has been forced to attend the Underground
Youth Group after her parents’ divorce. Instead
of singing about Jesus or learning to avoid
temptation, she discovers the stereotypical
youth pastors are actually demon hunters, and
Kay is exactly who they need to continue the
battle.
Ariel Crashes a Train
by Olivia A. Cole
Ariel is a sweet, caring, and artistic young
woman, but the disturbing intrusive thoughts
caused by her OCD have convinced her she is
a danger to the people around her. She wants
to work, make friends, and be happy, but first
she must break free of the worries that hold her
back.
Fitting Indian
by Jyoti Chand, art by Tara Anand
Nitasha, a South Asian teenager, doesn’t feel
“Indian enough” for her family or “American
enough” for her friends. Follow Nitasha as she
navigates the pressure to be a "perfect Indian
daughter" while she learns about identity,
belonging, and what a real, supportive
community can look like in this graphic novel.
The Color of a Lie
by Kim Johnson
Despite escaping a horrible tragedy in Chicago,
Calvin doesn’t want to leave his Black
community for an all-white neighborhood in
Pennsylvania. It’s 1955, and Calvin and his
family are all Black, but they “pass” for white,
leaving them all in a tense and potentially
dangerous situation. 
Dungeons and Drama
by Kristy Boyce
Riley Morris is in trouble. Now she’ll be working
at her father's game store for the foreseeable
future, though she has no interest in Dungeons
& Dragons-type role-playing games. Soon Riley
finds herself in a fake dating scheme with her
coworker Nathan, in a race to save her school's
spring musical, and getting to know her Dad.
What does Riley truly want in life anyway?
2027  Nutmeg Book Award
High School Nominees
Grades 9-12
Looking for Smoke
by K. A. Cobell
Elements of identity, tradition and the Missing
and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)
crisis weave together as four teens scramble to
prove their innocence when a Blackfeet Nation
girl is found murdered after a traditional
ceremony on the reservation.
Sky's End
by Marc J. Gregson
In a world of floating sky-islands, Conrad is
exiled from nobility to the lowest rung, serving a
ruthless uncle while monsters prowl the clouds
below. When a deadly contest offers a chance
at freedom, he risks everything to rise above
betrayal, brutal trials, and the secrets that
destroyed his family to save his sister. In the
skies, survival isn't about how far you climb, it's
about how far you're willing to fall.
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