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2013 Award Winning Books

This morning the American Library Association’s Young Adult division, YALSA, announced this year’s award winning books and audiobooks. I was lucky to be at the Youth Media Awards ceremony, since I am in Seattle, WA, for the Midwinter Conference! Let me tell you the award ceremony was very exciting and a lot of fun! Check out a couple photos at the end of this post. Click here to get to official press release of the winners. Below is a list of the teen titles that won. Just click on the title to see if you can find it at the Library!

Prinz Award for Excellence in YA Literature  

Winner:  In Darkness by Nick Lake

Honor: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Honor: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Honor: Dodger by Terry Pratchett

Honor: The White Bicycle by Beverly Brenna

Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award (Honoring a significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature)

Awarded to: Tamora Pierce

Click here to learn more about Tamora Pierce. Pierce has written a few different book series, but to get started I suggest you check out her Song of the Lioness series or her Beka Cooper series at the Library!

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

Winner: Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

Finalist: Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal

Finalist: Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose

Finalist: Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson

Finalist: We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by Cynthia Levinson

William C. Morris Award (Honoring a work by a first time author)

Winner: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Finalist: Wonder Show by Hannah Barnaby

Finalist: Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo

Finalist: After the Snow by S.D. Crockett

Finalist: The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth

Alex Awards (Given to ten books written for adults that have teen appeal)

Caring is Creepy by David Zimmerman

Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman

Juvenile in Justice by Richard Ross

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf

One Shot at Forever by Chris Ballard

Pure by Julianna Baggott

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

The Odyssey Award (Awarded to the best audiobooks for children and/or young adults)

Winner: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, narrated by Kate Rudd

Honor: Artemis Fowl: the Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer, narrated by Nathaniel Parker

Honor:  Ghost Knight by Cornelia Funke, narrated by Elliot Hill

Honor: Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama, narrated by Katherine Kellgren

Mildred L. Batchelder Award (Awarded for an outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States)

Winner: My Family for the War by Anne C. Voorhoeve, translated by Tammi Reichel

Honor: A Game for Swallows: to die, to leave, to return by Zeina Abirached, translated by Edward Gauvin

Honor: Son of a Gun by Anne de Graaf, translated by Anne de Graaf

 Pura Beleré Award (Presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work celebrates the Latino cultural experience)

Winner: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Honor: The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano

Schneider Family Book Awards (Honoring a work that emphasizes children or teens with a disability)

Teen: Somebody Please Tell Me Who I Am by Harry Mazer and Peter Lerangis

 Stonewall Book Awards for Children and Young Adult Literature (This award is sponsored by ALA’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table)

Winner: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Honor: Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Honor: Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz

Honor: October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Lesléa Newman

Honor: Sparks: The Epic, Completely True Blue, (Almost) Holy Quest of Debbie by S.J. Adams

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award (This award recognizes an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults)

Winner: Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney

Honor: No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

By Colleen, Teen Services Librarian on January 28, 2013 Categories: Award Winning, Fiction, GLBTQ, Graphic Novel, Nonfiction

Book Trailer of the Week– Beta by Rachel Cohn

This week’s book trailer of the week is for Beta by Rachel Cohn. In this latest sci-fi novel, from the popular author Rachel Cohn, Elysia is one of the newest clone companions and one of the first teen clones. Elysia is only supposed to simulate human emotions and characteristics, however, she begins to experience different emotions and even has memories from the human girl she was cloned from. Worried about being marked a defective, Elysia must keep all this a secret or she could lose everything. Click here to find Beta in the Library!

By Colleen, Teen Services Librarian on January 25, 2013 Categories: Book Trailer, Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction

Book Trailer of the Week– Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum

This week’s book trailer of the week is for Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum. This novel was created already knowing that it would be made into a movie. So, you know it will be action packed and exciting! It is set in a dystopian future where robots are in control after a successful uprising. Humans still exist, but are under robot control. Three siblings, living in a free settlement, barely escape with their lives when robots find their home and destroy it. Together they vow to find their family and friends and fight for their freedom. Click here to find Revolution 19 in the Library!

By Colleen, Teen Services Librarian on January 18, 2013 Categories: Action/Adventure, Book Trailer, Dystopian, Fiction, Science Fiction

Book Trailer of the Week– The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth Laban

This week’s book trailer of the week is for The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth Laban. If you liked the book 13 Reasons Why, then you’ll also like The Tragedy Paper. It is set in an elite boarding school where current senior Duncan moves into former senior Tim’s old room. As is tradition, Duncan inherits “a treasure” from the previous senior who occupied the room. What has Tim left for Duncan? A set of CD’s recordings that Tim has created telling his story. Told in alternating chapters, you learn both senior’s stories of the drama of senior year. Click here to find The Tragedy Paper in the Library!

By Colleen, Teen Services Librarian on January 12, 2013 Categories: Book Trailer, Fiction, Realistic Fiction

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Embrace

by Jessica Shirvington

Violet is just like every other girl about to turn seventeen years old. At least she thought she was. As her birthday approaches, Violet starts having some pretty disturbing dreams. Then her dad gives her a gift that was promised to her on her seventeenth birthday by her mother that has passed away. This gift is the start of Violet uncovering her true nature and why her mother died. Violet is a Grigori: a protector of humanity who is half human and half angel. However, Violet can give up her Grigori nature and go on being a normal teen. She has to choose whether or not she wants to embrace her powers. If she embraces her Grigori power, she becomes a warrior in an epic battle between the protectors of humanity (the Grigori) and the angels who have been exiled from heaven and who want to overtake the human race (the Exiles). Making her choice a difficult one is her good friend, crush, and training partner Lincoln. Violet discovers that he is also a Grigori and would be her Grigori partner if she chooses to embrace. What will Violet choose? And does she really even have a choice?

Embrace is a fast past and exciting read for anyone who likes epic supernatural books. And don’t be turned off by the whole angel story line–the angels in Embrace range to truly evil to truly kick-butt. What I really liked about this book, though, was the character of Violet. It is hard to believe that a character who has to choose between being normal and being a powerful angel of protection would be easy to relate to, but Violet is! The supporting characters are all pretty interesting too. As Violet learns more and more about the Grigori world, she meets a whole range of Grigori, some who have been living for hundreds of years. Also, to add another level of interesting to this book–it was originally published in Australia and while it doesn’t necessarily take place in a specific area of Australia, there is that feel of the Australian way of life throughout the novel.

By Colleen, Teen Services Librarian on January 10, 2013 Categories: Action/Adventure, Fiction, Staff Pics, Supernatural/Paranormal

Book Trailer of the Week– The Diviners by Libba Bray

This week’s book trailer of the week is for The Diviners by Libba Bray. The Diviners is set in Manhattan during the 1920′s. Evie has the unique ability to uncover details about someone by holding any object that belongs to them. When she uses her power to embarrass an important man in her Ohio hometown, she is exiled to her uncle’s car in Manhattan. Her uncle is a curator for the museum of the occult, so when a demon spirit is on a killing spree, Evie’s uncle taps her special skills to solve the mystery. Click here to find The Diviners in the Library!

By Colleen, Teen Services Librarian on January 5, 2013 Categories: Book Trailer, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Supernatural/Paranormal

Book Trailer of the Week– Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

This week’s book trailer of the week is for Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry. Echo cannot remember the night that has left her scarred, but she wants to. Now in counseling, Echo is asked to to tutor one of her classmates, a guy with a bad reputation of using girls and being a stoner. Desperate to find answers about what happened to her that forgotten night, Echo teams up with Noah to try and get access to their closed files in the school counselor’s office. Echo knows she needs to be careful around Noah, but as they get closer and closer, she cannot deny the strong feelings she has for him. Click here to find Pushing the Limits in the Library today!

By Colleen, Teen Services Librarian on December 28, 2012 Categories: Book Trailer, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Romance

Book Trailer of the Week– Adaptation by Malinda Lo

This week’s book trailer of the week is for Adaptation by Malinda Lo. In Adaptation, birds are suddenly falling dead from the sky causing airplanes to crash. During the mayhem that has grounded all airplanes, two teens are forced to drive home after a national debate championship. However, the rental car crashes near Area 51, and the teens awake a month later to find that they are being treated in a secret medical facility in Nevada. After they return home, the two teens struggle with strange memories and soon discover that they may have new “abilities”. Click here to find Adaptation in the Library!

By Colleen, Teen Services Librarian on December 21, 2012 Categories: Book Trailer, Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction

Book Trailer of the Week– Eve & Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate

This week’s book trailer of the week is for Eve & Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate. In this action packed sci-fi novel, Evening finds herself recuperating in her mother’s hi tech pharmaceutical lab after a devastating bus accident. As she heals, her mother asks her to participate in one of her projects by using an advanced computer software program to create the perfect guy. There is more going on than just computer simulations, though, as Evening gets wrapped up in discovering the truth behind her mother’s “research”. Click here to find Eve & Adam in the Library!

By Colleen, Teen Services Librarian on December 15, 2012 Categories: Action/Adventure, Book Trailer, Fiction, Science Fiction

Book Trailer of the Week– A Wrinkle in Time: the graphic novel

This week’s book trailer of the week is for the recent graphic novel adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time. The original novel was first published by Madeline L’Engle in 1962. After 50 years this novel has become a classic sci fi fantasy book for readers of all ages. Hope Larson adapted this novel into the graphic format, and some of her other works include Chiggers and Mercury. Check out the book trailer below and then click here to find the graphic novel in the Library!

By Colleen, Teen Services Librarian on December 7, 2012 Categories: Book Trailer, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novel, Science Fiction