And the Winner of NAME THAT LAME-DUCK NOVEL is ...

With such an overwhelming response to the contest, it was hard to figure out who should win, so I decided ALL THREE ENTRIES are winners!! (Yes, this could be considered diplomacy, but it's just me happy that there were three entries.)
The winners have been contacted with elaborate prize-winning plans and wishes for a happy new year. In the meantime, here are the answers to the books that I somewhat hack-described!

 

1. GOING BOVINE: A string theory novel about a kid with mad cow's disease.
2. THE ASTONISHING LIFE OF OCTAVIAN NOTHING: TRAITOR TO THE NATION: A Revolution era novel written in eighteen century language about a kid who's basically a living petri-dish for a bunch of radical philosophers.
3. A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT: A novel about a little girl whose father suffers from mental illness and mother is a work-aholic, enters  a wheeze-bag organ competition playing FOREVER IN BLUEJEANS.
4. THE BOOK THIEF: Death narrates his experiences in WWII Germany.
5. THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME: A kid's obsession to discover the truth behind the mysterious death of the neighbor's dog leads him on a perilous journey.
6. SKIPPY JON JONES: A Siamese cat dreams about being a Mexican Chihuahua superhero.
7. THE BIG SPLASH: A Sam Spade-style , hard-boiled detective novel about a middle school with an organized crime ring that deals in forgeries, stolen test papers, and more, where a kid is hired by the underworld boss to do a simple job.
8. THE CHOCOLATE WAR: A kid refuses to sell chocolates in the school's annual fundraiser.
9. GILEAD: An older father, who is a small town's preacher, writes a long letter to his son.
10. STUCK IN NEUTRAL:  A genius is stuck in a body that doesn't work for him, and he thinks his dad wants to kill him.