2014 Teens Top Ten Booklist!

Looking for a great book that other teens have loved?  Look no further than YALSA's 2014 Teens Top Ten list, a list of the 10 best books written in 2013, nominated and voted for by Teens!  Most of these books are available in the Youth Room at the Wellesley Free Library, and many are available as downloadable ebooks.

1. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
2. Splintered by A.G. Howard
3. The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
4. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
5. Monument 14: Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne
6. Earth Girl by Janet Edwards
7. The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
8. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
9. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
10. The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2014/04/17/yalsas-2014-teens-top-ten-nominations-announced/

YALSA’s 2014 Teens’ Top Ten Nominations Announced!

2014 April 17

tags: Teens Top Ten

by Allison Tran

Put your party hats on– it’s Celebrate Teen Literature Day!
This is a great day for YA lit fans, because not only is it an opportunity for us to spread the word about how much much we love books for teens, it also brings the announcement of this year’s Teens’ Top Ten nominations!
The Teens’ Top Ten is a “teen choice” list where every title is nominated and voted on by teens. Voting will start on August 15 and run until Teen Read Week, during which the winners will be announced. For YA lit gifs, info, and fun all year long, be sure to follow the Teens’ Top Ten tumblr.
And now… the nominated titles for the 2014 Teens’ Top Ten list! 

• Arnett, Mindee. The Nightmare Affair. Tor Teen. (9780765333339).
  Dusty Everhart a Nightmare, (literally!), has been trying to escape the shadow of her mother’s reputation, and one night, while dream-feeding, she sees the crime scene of a murder victim who attends her high school, a school for supernatural children. When she arrives back on campus, she finds, to her horror, that the dream had come true. Now she must use dreams to find the killer and save victims-to-be in order to stop an ancient darkness from returning.
• Banks, Anna. Of Triton. Macmillan/Feiwel and Friends. (9781250003331).
  After Emma’s mother, the long lost Poseidon princess returns to the sea, the Syrena begin to bring her identity into question. When all hope seems lost, and appears the Royals have a revolution on their hands, Emma has the opportunity to use her Gift to save those that she loves. But at what cost will her choices bring to not only her, but also to those she considers her family.
• Bardugo, Leigh. Siege and Storm. Macmillan/Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. (9780805094602).
  Alina, a sun summoner on the run from the evil Darkling, is searching for a way to increase her power and save the ones she loves. But as her power grows she falls deeper in the Darkling’s grasp and farther away from her best friend and love, Mal. When the time comes Alina must choose between her love, her power, or her lust for the Darkling and all of his power.
• Block, Francesca Lia. Love In The Time Of Global Warming. Macmillan/Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. (9780805096279).
  Penelope believes she is the last person alive in the city of Los Angeles after a massive earthquake destroyed the majority of the earth. After encountering a group of survivors, however, she begins to have hope in whatever may be left of the world, whether it be love, trust, and, just maybe, her family. Modeled after Homer’s Odyssey, Pen goes on a post-apocalyptic journey filled with Giants and butterflies in an attempt to find her way home.
• Charbonneau, Joelle. The Testing. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ( 9780547959108).
  Cia is chosen to participate in The Testing, a government program that will select the brightest graduates who show potential for becoming future leaders in this post-apocalyptic world. Cia’s excitement of being chosen soon dies when her father warns her of the experiences he faced when he was chosen. Cia must trust no one if she hopes to come back alive. However, will she be able to face the dark, unholy truth about the testing? One kept whether you leave… Or don’t?
• Dashner, James. The Eye of Minds. Random House/Delacorte Press. (9780385741392).
  Michael is an average kid who plays video games, but this video game, the Virtnet, is different than others. You can die in it physically and mentally, and that happens to a girl named Tanya who rips out her core and commits suicide. Suddenly, Michael is whisked away by the designers of the VirtNet and is given a mission by them to find a cyber terrorist, named Kaine, who is suspected of killing gamers.
• Edwards, Janet . Earth Girl. Prometheus Books /Pyr . (9780007443499).
  In 2788 humanity has developed technology that allows them to portal between many habitable worlds except for those are deemed “the handicapped”, those who are born with a one in a thousand chance of having  an immune system that cannot tolerate other planets. Jarra, a handicapped 18-year old student with a passion for history, creates a false identity for herself and enrolls in a college course for students from other planets in an attempt to get revenge for the way the handicapped are looked down upon.
• Gleason, Colleen. The Clockwork Scarab. Chronicle Books. (9781452134680).
  The niece of Sherlock Holmes, the world’s first consulting detective, and the half-sister of Bram, the vampire slayer, are thrown together to find out why high society girls are being murdered and what a mechanical scarab beetle has to do with it.
• Gray, Laurie. Maybe I Will. Luminis Books. (9781935462712).
  One life-altering, life-changing event which dramatically effected Sandy, and not in the good sort of life-changing events like winning the lottery or having a kid, will leave you thinking. Finding true friends and activities that allow Sandy to really be free and let off steam is all that keeps Sandy sane and is an important factor in putting Sandy’s life back together once again.
• Henry, April. The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die. Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. (9780805095418).
  Cady wakes up in a up in a dark, torn apart cottage hearing someone tell another man to “finish her off.” To make things worse, not only does she not know why she’s in the cabin or why the men are trying to kill her, she also doesn’t remember who she is. Eventually, she escapes and meets up with Ty, a boy who is willing to help her even at the risk of losing his own life. Together they attempt to figure out what happened to make her lose her memory.
• Howard, A. G. Splintered. ABRAMS/Amulet Books. (9781419704284).
  Alyssa, a girl already struggling with life in general, is pulled into something dark and mysterious. She follows in the footsteps of her ancestor, Alice, and goes down the rabbit hole to right the wrongs that Alice caused to cure her family of their “curse”. Instead of finding Lewis Carroll’s Beautiful wonderland she finds a dark and twisted version with monstrous creatures that aren’t as nice as the ones in the novel or as pretty.
• Kate, Lauren. Teardrop. Random House. (9780375990694).
  Eureka has only ever cried once in her life and the one time she did, her mother told her to never cry again. Ever since then, she has never shed a tear; not even when her mother was killed in a tragic freak accident. Unbeknownst to Eureka, she was also supposed to die, but Ander couldn’t bring himself to let her die despite the threats that Eureka possesses because of her tears.
• Konigsberg, Bill . Openly Straight. Scholastic. (9780545509893).
  Rafe has been out of the closet for years.  After transferring to an all-boys boarding school, however, he decides to keep his sexual orientation to himself.  But when he meets Ben, a teammate on his soccer team, he wonders if their friendship-turned-more is worth outing himself for.
• Laybourne, Emmy. Monument 14: Sky On Fire. Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends. (9780312569044).
  When disaster strikes in the city of Monument, 14 kids are huddled in a Greenway store for shelter and survival. They decide their only chance of living through this nationwide disaster is to make their way to Denver International Airport where the military is evacuating people to safety. Will they make it alive or will they meet their doom like others have?
• Richards, Natalie D. Six Months Later. Sourcebooks/Fire. (9781402285516).
  Chloe Spinnaker is an average student just barely making the grade. But one day spring day, after falling asleep in study hall, she wakes up to snow and an empty classroom. Six months of her life has passed and she has no clue what happened except that now she is popular and has lots of friends that is, except Maggie, the one true friend she had before everything changed. Bewildered by the sudden time lapse in her life, Chloe decides to embark on a mission where she stops at nothing to figure out what happened to her and to get her memories back.
• Rowell, Rainbow. Eleanor & Park. Macmillan/St. Martin’s Griffin. (9781250031211).
  The year is 1986 when Eleanor arrives in town to live with her family and abusive step-father. It’s been a year since the last time she lived with them, and she doesn’t expect life to be any better. Park’s life, on the other hand, is going steady. He’s got a spot in the popular crowd and he’s about to get his driver’s license. But when the two meet on the bus, things change drastically. Even though they both know high school romances never last, they’re going to try everything they’ve got to make it work. But in end, will everything they have be enough?
• Sales, Leila. This Song Will Save Your Life. Macmillan/Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (9780374351380).
  Elise Dembowski is a high school loser. After reaching the tip of the iceberg and facing suicidal thoughts just months before, Elise is searching desperately for a way out of her nearly friendless life. When she accidentally finds a dance club called Start, Elise’s life finally takes off as she meets new people, makes new memories, finds a new passion, and discovers herself.
• Sanderson, Brandon. Steelheart. Random House/Delacorte Press.  (9780385743563).
  Ten years ago, Calamity came; a light in the sky that appeared one day and many believe that somehow it was connected to the rise of the Epics. These beings, once human, now have all kinds of amazing and dangerous powers that have enabled them to take over the world, and one could argue the most dangerous one is Steelheart. Able to bend the elements to his will and turn any non-living substance to steel, many say he’s invincible because they’ve never seen him bleed — except for David, who will stop at nothing to get his vengeance and see Steelheart bleed again.
• Sanderson, Brandon. The Rithmatist. Tor Teen. (9780765320322).
  Joel wants to be a Rithmatist more than anything. Rithmatists have the power to bring two dimensional beings called Chalklings to life and defend against the wild chalkings that threaten to overcome the Rithmatists. Joel is student at Armedius Academy, a prestigious school where Rithmatists and wealthy children go to learn. When a string of kidnappings begin to occur Joel must gain assistance from the Rithmatists at Armedius Academy in order to bring order back to the academy.
• Smith, Jennifer E. This is What Happy Looks Like. Little, Brown & Company. (9780316212823).
  Ellie is the girl from Middle-of-Nowhere, Maine, and Graham Larkin is the hot superstar sensation from Middle-of-Everything, California. While Ellie hides from the media, Graham is constantly being watched by the paparazzi. However, an email mistake from Graham to Ellie starts an online relationship between these two teens, marking the start of a friendship and something more. Can Ellie accept Graham despite all the publicity? Or will the media be the demise of this couple’s happiness?
• Smith, Andrew. Winger. Simon and Schuster. (9781442444928).
  Ryan Dean West is a fourteen year old junior trying to make everyone else blind to the one thing that makes him different than everyone else, his young age. This is not easy though, as he must prove himself to everyone – the girl of his dreams, his scary roommate, his friends, and the rugby team. As Ryan Dean tries to survive his junior year, he encounters horrifying injuries, moments of ecstasy, and shattering heartbreak.
• Stine, R.L. A Midsummer Night’s Scream. Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends.  (9781250024343).
  Claire, a girl with a dream to become an actress, finally gets her chance when her parents decide to remake Mayhem Manor, a movie that was never finished because of 3 real deaths. As the camera starts rolling on the remake, strange things begin to happen. Like the little hairy man Claire meets by the makeup trailer one day. Who or what could be the cause of these actors’ deaths?
• Tucholke, April. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Penguin/Dial. (9780803738898).
  Violet, a sassy, independent, and sharp-tongued young lady, rents out the side cottage on her parent’s estate in the hopes of making a little extra money to pay the bills. Her easygoing customer is as dangerous as he is mysterious, and murders and madness soon sweep her little home town. She takes it upon herself to understand him and the events, but only finds a darkness she can only hope to escape with her sanity and safety.
• Winters, Cat. In The Shadow of Blackbirds. ABRAMS/Amulet Books. (9781419705304).
  It’s the fall of 1918: The Spanish Influenza and the horrors of World War I grip the world with terror, and spiritualist photography, as the face of death seems to greet every household in America, has become increasingly popular.  After her father is arrested as a suspected traitor, Mary Shelley Black travels to San Diego, hoping to escape the flu while living with her Aunt Eva.  Only a few days after arriving, Mary Shelley is told that Stephen, her sweetheart who recently became a soldier, has been killed in France.  But Stephen’s spirit hasn’t left yet, and he desperately needs Mary Shelley’s help.
• Yancey, Rick. The 5th Wave. Penguin/Putnam Juvenile. (9780399162411).
  Present day – the aliens have invaded the planet, or as Cassie likes to call them, the Others.Almost everyone has been killed off by the 4th Wave, and now, Cassie one of the few survivors living now during the 5^th wave, roams the country while trying to stay alive to find her brother – that is, if he’s still alive. When she’s taken in by a boy named Evan, she realizes that he’s different. He’s not like her, but he’s all she’s got. Cassie has to overcome her doubts and trust issues if she wishes to survive the 5th wave.

American Library Association announces 2013 youth media award winners

 

http://www.ala.org/news/pr?id=12298

SEATTLE — The American Library Association (ALA) today announced the top books, video and audiobooks for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Seattle.
A list of all the 2013 award winners follows:

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature:
“The One and Only Ivan,” written by Katherine Applegate, is the 2013 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers.
Three Newbery Honor Books also were named: “Splendors and Glooms” by Laura Amy Schlitz and published by Candlewick Press; “Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon” by Steve Sheinkin and published by Flash Point, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press; and “Three Times Lucky” by Sheila Turnage and published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group.
 
Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:
“This Is Not My Hat,” illustrated and written by Jon Klassen, is the 2013 Caldecott Medal winner. The book is published by Candlewick Press.
Five Caldecott Honor Books also were named: “Creepy Carrots!” illustrated by Peter Brown, written by Aaron Reynolds and published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division; “Extra Yarn,” illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett and published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of
HarperCollins Publishers; “Green,” illustrated and written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger and published by Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press; “One Cool Friend,” illustrated by David Small, written by Toni Buzzeo and published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group; “Sleep Like a Tiger,” illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Mary Logue and published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
 
Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults:
“Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America,” written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney is the King Author Book winner. The book is published by Disney/Jump at the Sun Books, an imprint of Disney Book Group.
Two King Author Honor Books were selected: “Each Kindness” by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis and published by Nancy Paulsen Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group; and “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 and published by Carolrhoda Lab, an imprint of Carolrhoda Books, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
 
Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award:
“I, Too, Am America,” illustrated by Bryan Collier, is the King Illustrator Book winner. The book is written by Langston Hughes and published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.
Three King Illustrator Honor Books were selected: “H. O. R. S. E.,” illustrated and written by Christopher Myers, and published by Egmont USA; “Ellen’s Broom,” illustrated by Daniel Minter, written by Kelly Starling Lyons and published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group; and “I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr.” illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Martin Luther King, Jr. and published by Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
 
Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
“In Darkness,” written by Nick Lake, is the 2013 Printz Award winner. The book is published by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers.
Four Printz Honor Books also were named: “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division; “Code Name Verity” by Elizabeth Wein, published by Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group; “Dodger” by Terry Pratchett, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers; “The White Bicycle” by Beverley Brenna, published by Red Deer Press.
 
Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:
“Back to Front and Upside Down!” written and illustrated by Claire Alexander and published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., wins the award for children ages 0 to 10.
“A Dog Called Homeless” written by Sarah Lean and published by Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, is the winner of the middle-school (ages 11-13) award.
The teen (ages 13-18) award winner is “Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am,” written by Harry Mazer and Peter Lerangis and published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.
 
Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences:
“Caring is Creepy,” by David Zimmerman, published by Soho Press, Inc.
“Girlchild,” by Tupelo Hassman, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
“Juvenile in Justice,” by Richard Ross, published by Richard Ross
“Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore,” by Robin Sloan, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
“My Friend Dahmer,” by Derf Backderf, published by Abrams ComicArts, an imprint of Abrams
“One Shot at Forever,” by Chris Ballard, published by Hyperion
“Pure,” by Julianna Baggott, published by Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
“The Round House,” by Louise Erdrich, published by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
“Tell the Wolves I’m Home,” by Carol Rifka Brunt, published by Dial Press, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
“Where’d You Go, Bernadette?,” by Maria Semple, published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
 
Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's video:
Katja Torneman, producer of “Anna, Emma and the Condors,” is the Carnegie Medal winner.
 
Laura Ingalls Wilder Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children. The 2013 winner is Katherine Paterson. Paterson was born in China in 1932 to missionary parents and grew up in the American South, moving eighteen times before she was 18. After graduating from King College in Bristol, Tennessee, she herself became a missionary in Japan. She returned to the U.S. to attend the Union Theological Seminary in New York, where she met and married John Paterson, a Presbyterian minister. Her first book, “The Sign of the Chrysanthemum,” was published in 1973. Katherine Paterson currently lives in Barre, Vermont.
 
Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement: Demetria Tucker is the 2013 recipient. Tucker has served as youth services coordinator within the Roanoke (Va.) Public Library System and library media specialist at the Forest Park Elementary School, where she was selected 2007 Teacher of the Year. As family and youth services librarian for the Pearl Bailey Library, a branch of the Newport News (Va.) Public Library System, Tucker now coordinates a youth leadership program, a teen urban literature club and many other programs that support the youth of her community.
 
Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults:
Tamora Pierce is the 2013 Edwards Award winner. Pierce was born in rural Western Pennsylvania in 1954. She knew from a young age she liked stories and writing, and in 1983, she published her first book, Song of the Lioness. She continues to write and even record her own audiobooks. She currently lives with her husband (spouse-creature) and a myriad of animals in Syracuse, New York.
 
May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children's literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site.

Andrea Davis Pinkney will deliver the 2014 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. Andrea Davis Pinkney is a New York Times best-selling writer of more than 20 books for children and young adults including picture books, novels and nonfiction. During the course of her career, Pinkney has launched many high-profile publishing and entertainment entities, including Hyperion Books for Children/Disney Publishing’s Jump at the Sun imprint, the first African American children’s book imprint at a major publishing company.

 
Mildred L. Batchelder Award 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:
“My Family for the War” is the 2013 Batchelder Award winner. Originally published in Germany in 2007 as “Liverpool Street,” the book was written by Anne C. Voorhoeve, translated by Tammi Reichel and published by Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Two Batchelder Honor Books also were selected: “A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return,” written and illustrated by Zeina Abirached, translated by Edward Gauvin and published by Graphic Universe, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.; and “Son of a Gun,” written and translated by Anne de Graaf, and published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
 
Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States:
“The Fault in Our Stars,” produced by Brilliance Audio, is the 2013 Odyssey Award winner. The book is written by John Green and narrated by Kate Rudd.
Three Odyssey Honor Audiobooks also were selected: “Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian,” produced by Listening Library, written by Eoin Colfer and narrated by Nathaniel Parker; “Ghost Knight,” produced by Listening Library, written by Cornelia Funke and narrated by Elliot Hill; and “Monstrous Beauty,” produced by Macmillian Audio, written by Elizabeth Fama and narrated by Katherine Kellgren.
 
Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award honoring a Latino writer and illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience:
“Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert,” illustrated by David Diaz, is the Belpré Illustrator Award winner. The book was written by Gary D. Schmidt and published by Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

No Belpré Illustrator Honor Books were selected this year.

 
Pura Belpré (Author) Award:
“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” written by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, is the Belpré Author Award winner. The book is published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.
One Belpré Author Honor Book was named: “The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano” by Sonia Manzano, published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.
 
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children:
“Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon,” written by Steve Sheinkin, is the Sibert Award winner. The book is published by Flash Point, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press.
Three Sibert Honor Books were named: “Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin,” written and illustrated by Robert Byrd and published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group; “Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95,” written by Phillip M. Hoose and published by Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers; and “Titanic: Voices from the Disaster,” written by Deborah Hopkinson and published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.
 
Stonewall Book Award - Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award given annually to English-language children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience:
“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” written by Benjamin Alire Sáenz and published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, is the Stonewall Award winner.
Four Stonewall Honor Books were selected: “Drama,” written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier and published by Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.; “Gone, Gone, Gone,” written by Hannah Moskowitz and published by Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division; “October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard,” written by Lesléa Newman and published by Candlewick Press; and “Sparks: The Epic, Completely True Blue, (Almost) Holy Quest of Debbie,” written by S. J. Adams and published by Flux, an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.
 
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book:
“Up, Tall and High!” written and illustrated by Ethan Long is the Seuss Award winner. The book is published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group.
Three Geisel Honor Books were named: “Let’s Go for a Drive!” written and illustrated by Mo Willems, and published by Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book Group; “Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons” by Eric Litwin, created and illustrated by James Dean and published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers; and “Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover,” written and illustrated by Cece Bell and published by Candlewick Press.
 
William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens:
“Seraphina,” written by Rachel Hartman, is the 2013 Morris Award winner. The book is published by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

Four other books were finalists for the award: “Wonder Show,” written by Hannah Barnaby, published by Houghton Mifflin, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers; “Love and Other Perishable Items,” written by Laura Buzo, published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.; “After the Snow,” written by S. D. Crockett, published by Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group; and “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” written by emily m. danforth, published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

 
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults:

“Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon,” written by Steve Sheinkin, is the 2013 Excellence winner. The book is published by Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.

Four other books were finalists for the award: “Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different,” written by Karen Blumenthal, published by Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group; “Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95,” written by Phillip Hoose, published by Farrar Straus Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group; “Titanic: Voices from the Disaster,” written by Deborah Hopkinson, published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic; and “We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March,” written by Cynthia Levinson, published by Peachtree Publishers.
Recognized worldwide for the high quality they represent, ALA awards guide parents, educators, librarians and others in selecting the best materials for youth. Selected by judging committees of librarians and other children’s literature experts, the awards encourage original and creative work.  For more information on the ALA youth media awards and notables, please visit www.ala.org/yma .

New free app for teen book reccommendations

From the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA):

Teen lit fans, library staff, educators, parents and teen readers with Apple devices can now visit the Apple App Store and download the free Teen Book Finder, the first app created by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association. The app is available for download at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yalsas-teen-book-finder/id527674308?mt=8.

The free app, which highlights books and media from YALSA’s awards and selected book and media lists, can be run on an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad. YALSA’s Teen Book Finder is available thanks to generous funding by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

The Teen Book Finder’s features include:

• books and media from all of YALSA’s awards, including the Alex, Edwards, Morris, Nonfiction, Odyssey and Printz;
• the past three years of YALSA’s selected book and media lists;
• all books selected for the Teens’ Top Ten;
• three Hot Picks, featuring different titles from the database, refreshed each day;
• the ability to search for books by author, title, award or list year, genre, by award and by book list;
• a Find It! button, powered by the OCLC WorldCat Search API, that will show users where to find the book in a nearby library and a book’s available format, including audiobook and e-book;
• a Favorites button, to create an individualized reading list;
• the ability to share books from the Teen Book Finder on Twitter and Facebook.

An Android version is planned for later in 2012.

Learn more about the app at http://www.ala.org/yalsa/products/teenbookfinder.