Book Listmania!

Award Winning Books!

Alex Awards
The Alex Awards are given annually to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults.

Margaret A. Edwards Award
The Edwards Award honors an author and a specific work for significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens.

William C. Morris Award
The Morris Award honors a book written for young adults by a first-time, previously unpublished author. The first award will be given in 2009.

Odyssey Award
This award honors the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States. Co-administered with ALSC.

Michael L. Printz Award
This award honors excellence in literature written for young adults.

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
YALSA’s newest award will honor the best nonfiction book for young adults; the first winner will be named in 2010.

Read speeches from the 2009 award winners.

ALA Booklists for Teens & Young Adults

Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
This list presents audiobooks released within the past two years that appeal to teens.

Best Books for Young Adults
Through 2010, this list compiles the current year’s best books with proven or potential appeal to teens. Beginning 2011, this list evolved into the Best Fiction for Young Adults list.

Best Fiction for Young Adults
This list compiles the best fiction written for teens in the previous sixteen months. The first list will be published in January 2011.

Fabulous Films for Young Adults
This list presents select films especially significant to young adults from those currently available for purchase based on a chosen theme.

Great Graphic Novels for Teens
This annual list offers recommended graphic novels that have teen appeal.

Outstanding Books for the College Bound
Updated every five years, this comprehensive list provides reading recommendations to students who plan to continue their education beyond high school. The most recent list was released in 2009.

Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
This list encourages young adults to read for pleasure by presenting them with popular or topical books with teen appeal, built around up to four themes.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
This list suggests items for recreational reading that have wide appeal to teens who, for whatever reason, do not like to read.

Teens’ Top Ten
This list allows teens to choose their ten favorite books from a list of current titles nominated by teen book groups. Nominations are listed in April. Teens vote for their favorite books each Teen Read Week. The votes are tallied and the list is available every October.

Read Alikes

Twilight

Harry Potter

Thirteen Reasons Why:

If you enjoyed Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, then try…

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Wintergirls, 2009.
Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit. This is a “must hear”; very powerful audio.

Giles, Gail. What Happened to Cass McBride? 2006.
Cass is that girl in high school who does whatever it takes to be popular-which means stomping all over everyone else. David is that awkward boy who painfully lurks on the outside of all of the social groups. When he commits suicide, his older brother is out for revenge against the girl whom he believes is responsible for David’s death.

Knowles, Johanna. Lessons from a Dead Girl. 2007.
After her former friend Leah dies in an automobile accident, Laine remembers their troubled relationship, dating back to elementary school when Leah convinced Laine to “practice” in the closet with her, and Leah controlled her every thought.

Mitchard, Jacqueline. All We Know of Heaven, 2008.
When Maureen and Bridget, two sixteen-year-old best friends who look like sisters, are in a terrible car accident and one of them dies, they are at first incorrectly identified at the hospital, and then, as Maureen achieves a remarkable recovery, she must deal with the repercussions of the accident, the mix-up, and some choices she made while she was getting better.

Picoult, Jodi. Nineteen Minutes, 2007.
The people of Sterling, New Hampshire, are forever changed after a shooting at the high school leaves ten people dead, and the judge presiding over the trial tries to remain unbiased, even though her daughter witnessed the events and was friends with the assailant.

–Compiled by Pam Lichty, Carroll County Public Schools