The LA Times has announced the finalists for their annual book prizes. The prizes span genres, including audiobooks, nonfiction categories, graphic novels, fiction, fiction genres, and YA literature. Here are the finalists for the Young Adult Literature category:
FINALISTS
Angelica and the Bear Prince by Tung Le Nguyen
The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum
King of the Neuro Verse by Idris Goodwin
My Mother, the Mermaid Chaser by Jamie Jo Hoang
Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr
The Young Adult Library Services Association has selected their list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens. The list includes nonfiction and fiction graphic literature. A top ten was selected; here are those titles:
TOP TEN
Eden of Witches by Yumeji (Volumes 1-5)
Halfway There: A Graphic Memoir of Self-Discovery by Christine Mari
Hunger’s Bite by Taylor Robin
Kindergarten Wars by You Chiba
Love, Misha by Askel Aden
Meat Eaters by Meredith McClaren
Monster Locker, Volume 1 by Jorge Aguirre
Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout
Spacewalking with You, Volume 1 by Inuhiko Doronoda
You and Me on Repeat by Mary Shyne
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has selected over 60 titles for its Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers list. This is one of my favorite lists every year, since it often includes books that did not gather attention during the previous year but that teens will check out and use in our library. The books are selected for ages 12-18. A top ten list is part of the selection. Here are those titles:
TOP TEN
All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson
The Assassin’s Guide to Babysitting by Natalie C. Parker
Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel
Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson
The Factory by Catherine Egan
Family Force V: Book One by Matt Braly, illustrated by Ainsworth Lin
Out of Air by Rachel Reiss
The Story of My Anger by Jasmine Mendez
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now… by Jason Reynolds
When We Ride by Rex Ogle
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has announced their list of the best fiction for teens. The list covers books written for 12-18 year-olds that “incorporate outstanding literary quality and effectiveness of presentation, as well as appeal to the personal reading tastes of the teens.” The list includes over 60 titles with a top ten list. Here are the top ten titles:
TOP TEN
All the Noise at Once by DeAndra Davis
Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel
Cope Field by T. L. Simpson
The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum
His Face Is the Sun by Michelle Jabes Corpora
Kill Creatures by Rory Power
They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran
Top Heavy by Rhonda DeChambeau
Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr
The Unexpected Consequence of Bleeding on a Tuesday by Kelsey B. Toney
Red Star Rebels by Amie Kaufman
Brace yourself for a wild science fiction ride in this latest from the bestselling Kaufman. Cleo is a stowaway on Mars, trying to find a way to escape legal issues on Earth and forge a new life for herself. She has made it to Pax base but has been stuck there for months. Hunter is a member of the Graves family who were the first to populate Mars. No one knows that he is on Mars since he wanted to surprise his ultra-wealthy mother and sister. When a disaster hits the Pax complex, Cleo and Hunter are the only ones left onsite after mercenaries evacuate the base. The countdown is ticking, only 8 hours to stop them and manage to survive, perhaps together.
Kaufman has such a feel for pacing. In this novel, it is the smarts and ingenuity of the two main characters that save the day. Through clever use of the base’s infrastructure and software, the two of them manage to prank and isolate mercs as the clock winds down. The pacing is relentless, the setting wonderfully vivid, and the book reads like a movie. Add in the building connection and romance between the two characters, and you will root for them for a lot longer than the 8 hours they have.
A riotously good book on the red planet. Appropriate for ages 13+.
Steam by Shaenon K. Garrity, illustrated by Emily Holden
When Ruby, a super genius raised in a university lab, escapes captivity, she must find a way to live among normal humans. She gets a job at a coffee shop near the university as a barista. She attempts to fulfill her function by helping the regulars at the coffee shop find love while still not giving her true identity away. As she starts pairing staff and customers the love takes off, and Ruby herself may have found her match too. But the lab hasn’t given up trying to get Ruby back for themselves, insisting that she isn’t human after all.
This graphic novel for teens is a delightful mix of lighthearted romance, caffeine and technology. There is just enough action to keep the book from being too frothy and compelling romantic pairings that are intelligent and embrace queerness and all ages. The illustrations echo the feel of the story with a lightness and an underlying love of the characters. Filled with found family and a built community, Ruby’s own humanness is the key to her survival in the end.
Grab a coffee and fall in love. Appropriate for ages 13+.
From the American Library Association, this award is given to the top YA book of the year.
WINNER
Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith
HONOR BOOKS
Cope Field by T. L. Simpson
The House No One Sees by Adina King
Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley
Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout
Sundown Girls by L. S. Stratton
Naomi has been returned to her biological family after living until recently with the woman she thought was her mother but who actually abducted her. Her family calls her by a different name and adjustment has been rocky. That’s why they decide to take a long summer vacation together in the Shenandoah Valley. However, the town they are near used to be a Sundown town and still holds some of the same beliefs about Black people living there. Naomi starts seeing a young Black girl outside her window who suddenly bursts into flames. As Naomi learns more about the history of the region, she realizes that it may not just be girls from the past who are in danger there.
Incredibly gripping and tense, this is a layered thriller for teens that speaks directly to the Black experience in sundown towns across the country. It also looks at how girls are exploited and ignored on multiple levels, becoming missing girls. Naomi is a great protagonist, strong and resilient while still struggling with her past and her current situation. Her messy relationship with her family is shown with empathy and honesty, adding to the questions of what is due to previous trauma and what is real.
A dark thriller full of personal trauma, history and ghosts.
Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet
When Beth is found dead near the March family home in Concord, Massachusetts, her family is devastated. Their father is gone, having left the country months earlier due to the negative reaction to his book about his daughters. In that same book, Beth dies at the end. As the sisters grieve and start to work out the mystery of her death, there are many suspects and suspicious situations that led up to the night of her death. Each of the sisters have times when they think that their own actions caused Beth’s death, but the truth is far more sinister.
This modern mystery takes the Little Women cast and manages with great skill to maintain their unique characters. Readers who love the original book will enjoy seeing Jo navigate social media fame, Amy struggle to find attention for her artistic talent, and Meg make choices about how to keep up with her more wealthy friends at Harvard. Bernet never loses sight of the original book while still creating something new and fresh, even allowing Beth’s voice to be heard through flashbacks. Readers who don’t know the original characters will find a great mystery here filled with sisters you never want to leave.
A grand mystery done with great skill and a real fondness for the original.
Waking Brain Cells 