2009 Teen's Top Ten Books

More than 11,000 teen readers across the country chose "Paper Towns" by John Green as their favorite book in the annual Teens' Top Ten. The online poll took place from Aug. 24 to Sept. 18, with the winners announced during Teen Read Week 2009.
The 2009 Teens' Top Ten list is:

  1. Paper Towns by John Green
  2. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
  3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  4. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
  5. Identical by Ellen Hopkins
  6. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  7. Wake by Lisa McMann
  8. Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast
  9. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
  10. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

About the Teens' Top Ten

Teens' Top Ten is a "teen choice" list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year! 2008 Nominators are members of teen book groups in fifteen school and public libraries around the country.

Click here for the complete list of nominees for the 2008 Teens' Top Ten.
Click here for the complete list of nominees for the 2007 Teens' Top Ten.

Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature

The Printz award is for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association.

2010 Winner:
  • Going Bovine by Libba Bray
2010 Honor Books:
  • Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
  • The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
  • Punkzilla by Adam Rapp
  • Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973 by John Barnes

Visit YALSA for synopses and publication info on current and past winners and honor books.

Alex Awards

The Alex Awards (named for Margaret Alexander Edwards) are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, and are selected from the previous year's publishing. The 2010 winners are (in alphabetical order):

  • The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
  • The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff
  • Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr.
  • The Good Soldiers by David Finkel
  • The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch and Liz Welch with Amanda Welch and Dan Welch
  • The Magicians by Lev Grossman
  • My Abandonment by Peter Rock
  • Soulless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carriger
  • Stitches: A Memoir by David Small
  • Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson

View more information on this year's winners, as well as previous winners, at YALSA.

YA Dept. Recommended Reading

We've put together a few lists of highly recommended books, all available in pdf format:

Mysteries - a favorite genre of many.

Fantasies - for those with a flexible opinion of reality.

Realistic Fiction - whether these books describe normal or highly unusual happenings, they're completely believable.

Historical Fiction - stories set in more-or-less authentic historical settings.

Recommended for Older Teens - these books also appear on local high school required/recommended reading lists.

Books with Multiple Copies - these items have numerous copies and are often classics and/or required reading at school.

Banned and Challenged Books - ALA's list of 2008-2009 Banned and Challenged Books. (This is a very large file.)

Video Book Previews

Librarians have the unbridled joy of reading through catalogs with flowery descriptions of new book releases. You, however, have an alternative!

Much like movie trailers, Video Book Previews/Reviews introduce you to a book or author. View “Catching Fire” at right, or choose one of the titles below to watch that video on a new page.

These (and many more) videos are available at Expanded Books.

  

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - Sequel to Hunger Games
Release date: September 1, 2009

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