Recommended+Reading

=Young Adult Library Services Association Book Awards and Book Lists=

=Readers' Choice= YALSA’s Readers’ Choice list seeks to engage a wide audience of librarians, educators, teens and young adult literature enthusiasts in choosing the most popular teen titles in a given year, as organized by broad genres. The list will also provide librarians with a timely means of identifying popular teen titles on an ongoing basis. Nominations will be posted monthly, with a final vote taking place each November. Any individual, provided he/she is not the author or an employee of the publisher, or a current member of the Readers’ Choice List Committee may nominate a title via an online form, while only YALSA members are eligible to vote for the final ballot, which is sent in the November issue of YALSA E-News. http://www.ala.org/yalsa/readers-choice

[|2013 Nominations]

Horror/Thriller

 * Blake, Kendare.** //Anna Dressed in Blood.//
 * Gray, Claudia.**//Afterlife: an Evernight Novel.//
 * Maberry, Jonathan.**//Dust & Decay.//
 * Oppel, Kenneth.** //This Dark Endeavor.//
 * Yancey, Rick.** //The Isle of Blood.//

Mystery/Crime

 * Blundell, Judy.** //Strings Attached.//
 * Haines, Kathryn.**//The Girl is Murder.//
 * Hodkin, Michelle.** //The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.//
 * Wynne-Jones, Tim.**//Blink & Caution.//
 * Zevin, Gabrielle.**//All These Things I've Done.//

Nonfiction

 * Blumenthal, Karen.**//Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition.//
 * Dowsett, Elizabeth.** //LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World.//
 * Halls, Kelly Milner.** //In Search of Sasquatch.//
 * Scieszka, Casey.** //To Timbuktu.//
 * Sheinkin, Steve.**//The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery//

Realistic Fiction

 * Dessen, Sarah.**//What Happened to Goodbye.//
 * Forman, Gayle.** //Where She Went.//
 * Myracle, Lauren.** //Shine.//
 * Northrop, Michael.** //Trapped.//
 * Sepetys, Ruta.** //Between Shades of Gray.//

Romance

 * Han, Jenny.** //We'll Always Have Summer.//
 * Kagawa, Julie.** //The Iron Queen.//
 * Perkins, Stephanie.** //Anna and the French Kiss.//
 * Shecter. Vicky.**//Cleopatra's Moon.//
 * Young, Suzanne.** //A Need So Beautiful.//

Sci-Fi/Fantasy

 * Bray, Libba.**//Beauty Queens//
 * Condie, Ally.** //Matched//
 * Riggs, Ransom.** //Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children//
 * Roth, Veronica.** //Divergent//
 * Taylor, Laini.**//Daughter of Smoke and Bone//

Steampunk

 * Blackwood, Gary.**//Around the World in 100 Days//
 * Cross, Kady.**//The Girl in the Steel Corset: Steampunk Chronicles//
 * Kittredge, Caitlin.** //The Iron Thorn//
 * Westerfeld, Scott.** //Goliath//

=YALSA's Teens' Top Ten=

Applications are now being accepted to participate in Teens' Top Ten!
Be sure to read the [|Advisor Procedures] and [|Frequently Asked Questions] for Teens' Top Ten. If you would like to apply, simply fill out the [|application] and return it, along with 4 sample [|Teen Reviews,] by August 1, 2012.

About the Teens' Top Ten
The Teens' Top Ten is a "teen choice" list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year! Nominators are members of teen book groups in sixteen school and public libraries around the country. Nominations are posted on Support Teen Literature Day, the Thursday of National Library Week, and teens across the country vote on their favorite titles each year. Readers ages twelve to eighteen will vote online in August and September; the winners will be announced during Teen Read Week. Meet the 2010-2012 Teens' Top Ten book groups, who will choose the nominees for the next two years.

Nominations
View the 2012 list of [|nominated titles].

Previous Winners
See [|previous winners] dating back to 2003.

About the Alex Awards
The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing. The Alex Awards were first given annually beginning in 1998 and became an official ALA award in 2002. The award is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust. Edwards pioneered young adult library services and worked for many years at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore. Her work is described in her book Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts, and over the years she has served as an inspiration to many librarians who serve young adults. The Alex Awards are named after Edwards, who was called “Alex” by her friends.

[|Alex Award Winners and Nominations] [|Alex Award: Best of the Best]

=Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers= The Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list identifies titles aimed at encouraging reading among teens who dislike to read or whatever reason. The list selects both fiction and nonfiction. Select a link below to view the full annotated Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers lists.

[|Quick Picks for Reluctant YA Readers: Previous Lists and Nominations]

[|Quick Picks for Reluctant YA Readers: Best of the Best]

= = =Best Fiction for Young Adults=

About the Best Fiction List
YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee presents fiction titles published for young adults in the past 16 months that are recommended reading for ages 12 to 18. The purpose of the annual list it to provide librarians and library workers with a resource to use for collection development and reader’s advisory purposes. The committee evolved from a committee established under the School Libraries Section of ALA, which was charged with producing a list of 1930's "Best Books for Young People." The committee has undergone several changes of focus and names over the years, including the Book Selection Committee (1954), and later the Committee for the Selection of Significant Adult Books for Young People (1963). It became the Best Books for Young Adults Committee (BBYA) in 1966. As publishing for the young adult market grew exponentially (over 2,000 titles per year in 2008) and seven other YALSA selection and award lists for young adults were created since its inception, Best Books for Young Adults was restructured and named Best Fiction for Young Adults by the YALSA Board of Directors at the Midwinter Meeting in 2010.

[|Best Fiction for YA: Winners and Nominations] [|Best Fictions for YA: Best of the Best]

=Great Graphic Novels for Teens= Great Graphic Novels for Teens is a list of recommended graphic novels and illustrated nonfiction for those ages 12-18, prepared yearly by YALSA. The list is announced each year after the Midwinter Meeting.

[|Graphic Novels for Teens: Previous Lists, Top Ten Lists and Nominations] [|Graphic Novels for Teens: Best of the Best]

=YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults= The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a November 1 – October 31 publishing year. The award winner will be announced annually at the ALA Midwinter Meeting Youth Media Awards, with a shortlist of up to five titles named the first week of December. Seals for the winning titles, finalist titles, and nominated titles can be purchased from the ALA Online Store.

[|Winners and Nominations] [|Best of the Best]

=The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature= The Michael L. Printz Award annually honors the best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit, each year. In addition, the Printz Committee names up to four honor books, which also represent the best writing in young adult literature. The awards announcement is made at the ALA Midwinter Meeting as part of the Youth Media Awards and is celebrated with a program and reception each year at the ALA Annual Conference. The award's namesake was a school librarian in Topeka, Kansas, and a marketing consultant for Econo-Clad, as well an active member of YALSA. He had a passion for books and reading. He also appreciated the authors who wrote books for young adults and demonstrated this by initiating an author-in-residence program at his high school. The award is sponsored by [|Booklist], a publication of the American Library Association.

[|Winners and Honor Books] [|Best of the Best]