One of the most complex and broad of all the categories, Fantasy and Science Fiction received 87 nominations. Shiela Ruth headed the busy panel that winnowed them down to five:
Ptolemy’s Gate
by Jonathan Stroud
Hyperion: Miramax
Magician John Mandrake (a.k.a. Nathaniel), rebel commoner Kitty, and wise-cracking, sarcastic djinni Bartimaeus are drawn together in spite of their differences to battle a powerful evil. The three learn more about each other and try to come to terms with their past, in this stunning series conclusion that also stands well alone.
Silver City
by Cliff McNish
Carolrhoda Books
The second in an astonishingly original trilogy, Cliff McNish’s Silver City continues the story of six extraordinary and special children and how they are preparing to defend the world against an alien being, known only as the Roar, that is heading their way through space. A gripping sequel to The Silver Child, which nonetheless can be read as a stand-alone (though we recommend the entire series).
Beka Cooper: Terrier
by Tamora Pierce
Random House
Beka Cooper is one tough-but-vulnerable heroine who fights crime in a world of magic. Her passion to save the kidnapped children of the Lower Side, along with some action-packed scrapes with thieves and rogues, makes Beka Cooper a must read of 2006.
Last Dragon, The
by Silvana de Mari
Hyperion: Miramax
The Last Dragon is a clever, playful, and funny story with a lot of kid appeal. A very young elf, trying to stay alive in a world darkened by rain and oppression, finds life full of surprises as he tries to follow the destiny laid out for him in an ancient prophecy.
Pucker
by Melanie Gideon
Penguin: Razorbill
Pucker by Melanie Gideon is the story of seventeen-year-old Thomas Quicksilver who was disfigured in a fire when he was a child back before he and his mother were exiled to Earth from Isaura, a "pocket of a world," a parallel reality. His voice is both modestly wiseass and yet mature and sophisticated. Thomas sounds like a teenager, but one who is self-aware instead of self-obsessed.