The Alex Awards, from the ALA's Young Adult Library Services Association, honor ten books written for adults each year that have special appeal to readers ages 12-18. Picks span literary and genre fiction, fantasy, memoir, and narrative nonfiction (e.g., Chain-Gang All-Stars, Fourth Wing, Maame). Best for older teens ready for adult content, and for adults who like crossover reads.
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Chain-Gang All-Stars | Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Fourth Wing | Rebecca Yarros | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Chlorine | Jade Song | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Starter Villain | John Scalzi | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Hard Parts: A Memoir of Courage and Triumph | Oksana Masters | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Whalefall | Daniel Kraus | Winner | Log In To Like |
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I Will Greet the Sun Again | Khashayar J. Khabushani | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Bad Cree | Jessica Johns | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Maame | Jessica George | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Talk | Darrin Bell | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Crossing the Line: A Fearless Team of Brothers and the Sport That Changed Their Lives Forever | Kareem Rosser | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Malice | Heather Walter | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Lore Olympus, Vol. 1 | Rachel Smythe | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Rose Code | Kate Quinn | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Winter's Orbit | Everina Maxwell | Winner | Log In To Like |
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How Lucky | Will Leitch | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Library of the Dead | T. L. Huchu | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Witch's Heart | Genevieve Gornichec | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot | Marianne Cronin | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Light from Uncommon Stars | Ryka Aoki | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Do You Dream of Terra-Two? | Temi Oh | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Swallows | Lisa Lutz | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Red, White & Royal Blue | Casey McQuiston | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Nickel Boys | Colson Whitehead | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Middlegame | Seanan McGuire | Winner | Log In To Like |
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In Waves | AJ Dungo | Winner | Log In To Like |
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High School | Tegan Quin | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Gender Queer: A Memoir | Maia Kobabe | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Dominicana | Angie Cruz | Winner | Log In To Like |
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A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World | C.A. Fletcher | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Circe | Madeline Miller | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Spinning Silver | Naomi Novik | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Lawn Boy | Jonathan Evison | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Black God's Drums | P. Djeli Clark | Winner | Log In To Like |
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How Long 'til Black Future Month? | N. K. Jemisin | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Home After Dark | David Small | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Green | Sam Graham-Felsen | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After | Clemantine Wamariya | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Educated: A Memoir | Tara Westover | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Book of Essie | Meghan MacLean Weir | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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A Hope More Powerful than the Sea | Melissa Fleming | Winner | Log In To Like |
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An Unkindness of Magicians | Kat Howard | Winner | Log In To Like |
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She Rides Shotgun | Jordan Harper | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Roughneck | Jeff Lemire | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Malagash | Joey Comeau | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Things We Have in Common | Tasha Kavanagh | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Electric Arches | Eve Ewing | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Down Among the Sticks and Bones | Seanan McGuire | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Clockwork Dynasty | Daniel H. Wilson | Winner | Log In To Like |
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All Systems Red | Martha Wells | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Wolf in White Van | John Darnielle | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Those Who Wish Me Dead | Michael Koryta | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Terrorist's Son: A Story of Choice | Zak Ebrahim | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Martian | Andy Weir | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Lock In | John Scalzi | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Everything I Never Told You | Celeste Ng | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Confessions | Kanae Minato | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Bingo's Run | James A. Levine | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Bellweather Rhapsody | Kate Racculia | Winner | Log In To Like |
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All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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The Universe Versus Alex Woods | Gavin Extence | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Sea of Tranquility | Katja Millay | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Relish: My Life in the Kitchen | Lucy Knisley | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Mother, Mother | Koren Zailckas | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Lives of Tao | Wesley Chu | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Lexicon | Max Barry | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Help for the Haunted | John Searles | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Golden Boy | Abigail Tarttelin | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Death of Bees | Lisa O'Donnell | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Brewster | Mark Slouka | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Where'd You Go, Bernadette? | Maria Semple | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Tell the Wolves I'm Home | Carol Rifka Brunt | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Round House | Louise Erdrich | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Pure | Julianna Baggott | Winner | Log In To Like |
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One Shot at Forever | Chris Ballard | Winner | Log In To Like |
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My Friend Dahmer | Derf Backderf | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore | Robin Sloan | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Juvenile in Justice | Richard Ross | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Girlchild | Tupelo Hassman | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Caring Is Creepy | David Zimmerman | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Three Girls and Their Brother | Theresa Rebeck | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Sharp Teeth | Toby Barlow | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Oxford Project | Stephen G. Bloom | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Over and Under | Todd Tucker | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Mudbound | Hillary Jordan | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Just After Sunset: Stories | Stephen King | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Good Thief | Hannah Tinti | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Finding Nouf | Zoë Ferraris | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Dragons of Babel | Michael Swanwick | Winner | Log In To Like |
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City of Thieves | David Benioff | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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The Glass Castle: A Memoir | Jeannette Walls | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Jesus Land: A Memoir | Julia Scheeres | Winner | Log In To Like |
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My Jim | Nancy Rawles | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Necessary Beggar | Susan Palwick | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Gil's All Fright Diner | A. Lee Martinez | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Never Let Me Go | Kazuo Ishiguro | Winner | Log In To Like |
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As Simple As Snow | Gregory Galloway | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Anansi Boys | Neil Gaiman | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Upstate | Kalisha Buckhanon | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Midnight at the Dragon Café | Judy Fong Bates | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Drinking Coffee Elsewhere | ZZ Packer | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Leave Myself Behind | Bart Yates | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Maisie Dobbs | Jacqueline Winspear | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Persepolis | Marjane Satrapi | Winner | Log In To Like |
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True Notebooks | Mark Salzman | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Stiff | Mary Roach | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Time Traveler's Wife | Audrey Niffenegger | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Kite Runner | Khaled Hosseini | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | Mark Haddon | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Wonder When You'll Miss Me | Amanda Davis | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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10th Grade | Joseph Weisberg | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Fall of Rome | Martha Southgate | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Dive from Clausen's Pier | Ann Packer | Winner | Log In To Like |
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When the Emperor Was Divine | Julie Otsuka | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Year of Ice | Brian Malloy | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Crow Lake | Mary Lawson | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Eyre Affair | Jasper Fforde | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary Peril | Timothy Ferris | Winner | Log In To Like |
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My Losing Season | Pat Conroy | Winner | Log In To Like |
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One! Hundred! Demons! | Lynda Barry | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Soldier: A Poet's Childhood | June Jordan | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Sand Reckoner | Gillian Bradshaw | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Man Who Ate the 747 | Ben Sherwood | Winner | Log In To Like |
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In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex | Nathaniel Philbrick | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Girl with a Pearl Earring | Tracy Chevalier | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Flags of Our Fathers | James Bradley | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Diamond Dogs | Alan Watt | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Daughter of the Forest | Juliet Marillier | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Counting Coup | Larry Colton | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Chang & Eng | Darin Strauss | Winner | Log In To Like |
| Book | Author | Award Level | Completed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Caucasia | Danzy Senna | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Almost a Woman | Esmeralda Santiago | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Antarctica | Kim Stanley Robinson | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Legends: Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy | Robert Silverberg | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Last Days of Summer | Steve Kluger | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Space | Jesse Lee Kercheval | Winner | Log In To Like |
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At All Costs | John Gilstrap | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Needles | Andie Dominick | Winner | Log In To Like |
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Getting In | James Finney Boylan | Winner | Log In To Like |
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The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition | Caroline Alexander | Winner | Log In To Like |