Krahnke will use the grant to purchase books to give away as library card registration incentives and for the library’s monthly teen book club, while Rérat’s goal is to partner with the Jasper County (MO) Juvenile Detention Center and update the center’s library.

Funds raised through Books for Teens will be distributed to institutions in communities with a high level of poverty, where librarians and library workers will purchase and distribute new books, encourage teens to get library cards and provide teens with reading-focused events and activities. Visit the Books for Teens website for complete information on grant requirements.

Teen Read Week is an national literacy initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association. It’s aimed at teens, their parents, librarians, educators, booksellers and other concerned adults.

“The Teen Book Finder is a great resource for library workers, educators, parents, and teens to utilize to find award-winning books and recommended reading,” says Shannon Peterson, YALSA president. “We’re really happy it has received such a great response since our members work so hard and enthusiastically to identify the best in young adult literature.”

The app, available as a free download through iTunes, is currently compatible on the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, with an Android version in the works for 2014, according to YALSA, the young adult division of the American Library Association. It has already been downloaded approximately 6,000 times in 2013. The organization plans to update the app again in January, 2014, following ALA’s Midwinter Meeting and Youth Media Awards.

The Teen Book Finder enables users to search for books by title, author, award or list, award or list year, or genre, and its “Find It!” button, powered by the OCLC WorldCat Search API, shows users where to locate a book in a nearby library. Each day, “Three Hot Picks” are featured from the database. The “Favorites” button allows users to create individualized reading lists; users are also able to share titles found via Twitter and Facebook.

The development and launch of YALSA’s Teen Book Finder was made possible through a grant funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

The Printz Award committee flanks honoree (front row, from left to right) Beverly Brenna, winner Nick Lake, honoree Benjamin Alire Sáenz and honoree Elizabeth Wein. Photo courtesy of YALSA.

The event is a chance for honorees to celebrate and speak about their books, then mingle with fans over drinks and dessert. This year’s author speeches, like the books recognized, ranged in topic from the personal to the intellectual—but one central theme emerged: the power of storytelling and its ability to connect kids to larger truths about the world.

The Young Adult Library Services Association gives the Michael L. Printz Award each year to the “best book written for teens,” and the award committee can also name up to four honor titles. In January 2013, five books published in 2012 were recognized: winner In Darkness, by Nick Lake; and honor books Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz; Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein; Dodger by Terry Pratchett; and The White Bicycle by Beverly Brenna.

Sáenz opened the evening, and he could have closed it as well. His incredibly touching speech left the audience sobbing. His book is a coming-of-age tale about two Latino boys in Texas. He shared with the audience his own painful journey to coming out at age 54, “a wounded man—but what are wounds to a writer?” He spoke about how he nearly abandoned Aristotle and Dante because it was “too close to home,” and explained that he ultimately, accidentally, came back to the novel. “There should be roadmaps for boys who were born to play by different rules…born gay. I suppose I became a cartographer.” His speech was personal, painful, and passionate, much like Ari and Dante’s journeys, and in the end, he thanked the committee and the audience, saying “today I feel like a boy again.”

He was greeted by a spontaneous standing ovation, prompting Elizabeth Wein to start her own speech with a good-natured grumble about the agony of following him. Fortunately for her—and for audience, still sobbing—she moved away from deeply personal topics (which she had previously covered in her USBBY speech the day before) and started with history. Her own history, yes—but even Wein’s journal, which she read from, is a crafted, precise piece of accomplished writing, laced with literary references, sly humor, and an astounding wealth of detail.

In the reading, it became clear just how deeply Wein poured her own self into the creation of Julie, the narrator of Code Name Verity. “Like me,” Wein said, “she’s writing because it transports her.” As she spoke, it became clear that in fact this speech was just as personal and Sáenz’s, but focused on the act of writing. Code Name Verity is “about voices being silenced and found,” Wein said, and while it’s easy to see that it’s a story of friendship and World War II, it’s also about “the power of words.”

The theme of words as power—and literature as a means to a deeper truth—echoed throughout the evening; Sáenz brought it to life and Wein made it explicit. Terry Pratchett’s speech (given by his US editor Anne Hoppe) touched on the same ideas, in different form.

Dodger was written as a testament to the real Henry Mayhew, a man whose words, in the form of a comprehensive study of the poor of Victorian London, changed the world. But because it was written by Terry Pratchett, who admits that his “mind packs more rats than Hamelin,” the testament to Mayhew might have morphed a bit; Victorian London, after all, “is cut in the mold of fantasy.” Pratchett’s speech was laced with his customary wry humor, clear even when voiced by someone else, and, while he was missed, appreciative chuckles sounded throughout the audience, along with a murmur of agreement at a piece of truth: “you don’t have to invent that much if you have a good grasp of social history.”

Next up was Beverly Brenna, who started by thanking the audience for being there—because she’s actually shown up a night early, only to be greeted by empty chairs! Following up on the thematic scope of the evening (leading a few listeners to speculate that there might be a secret online forum for Printz winners and honorees where they had planned this perfectly aligned set of remarks), Brenna said “stories are important. Stories can change the world.”

And as she recounted a story her own mother told her, it became clear that Brenna is a consummate storyteller; she had the rhythm down perfectly, changing inflections and intonations for different moments. It’s no surprise that the aspect of The White Bicycle the committee and readers always reference is the voice. And indeed, Brenna admitted that she wrote her book with purpose: to give voice to those on the Autism spectrum, whose voices are still too rarely heard.

Speaking of the voiceless, Brenna was followed by Nick Lake, whose In Darkness gives voice to the poor of Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the terrible earthquake of 2010. Lake’s speech was laced with philosophy—Nietzsche, Campbell’s hero’s journey, and the idea of magical truths: “the shaman and the geneticist both would say, ‘My ancestors live inside me.’”

Above all, Lake spoke about circles and connections, within his book and within the world. “Something small can contain eternity,” and a book can contain a universal truth, he said. He spoke about how hard it is to grow up, and—winning the hearts of every listener, said “reading is an incredibly important part of young adults becoming functional adults.” He also managed, remarkably, to work in references to The Hunger Games, Daniel Kraus, John Green, and—of all things—“poo.” Because nothing puts life in perspective like winning an award and immediately having to deal with a 2-year-old’s diaper: the circle of life made all too real and much less intellectual in one fell swoop.

The speeches should be available on YALSA’s website in the near future.

Youth services division presidents Gail Dickinson (AASL), Shannon Peterson (YALSA), and Starr LaTronica (ALSC) pose with the ALA’s new Declaration for the Right to Libraries.

Right out of the gate, Barbara Stripling, ALA’s incoming president, drew upon the theme “Libraries Change Lives” in kicking off the organization’s “America’s Right to Libraries” campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the variety of services that libraries provide throughout the country. As part of her presentation, Stripling unveiled the Declaration for the Right to Libraries and reminded attendees that ALA is hoping librarians from all types of libraries will gather hundreds of thousands of patron signatures in the coming months. ALA plans to structure a one- or two-week window later this year when school libraries in particular across the country can host signing ceremonies, creating opportunities for ALA to leverage strong national media coverage and public support for the cause.

In the meantime, the initial promotion of the declaration is proceeding as planned. “At Board III, I signed [the declaration] flanked by immediate past-president Susan Ballard and President-elect Terri Grief,” AASL President Gail Dickinson tells School LibraryJournal.  “It was also  presented at Affiliate Assembly, so that our state affiliates are also aware. I am sure that both the legislation and the advocacy committees are working to publicize it.”

As promised by ALA last month, a new implementation task force has already been formed to continue the work of the School Library Task Force. The new committee will be co-chaired by Gina J. Millsap, CEO of Topeka Shawnee County Public Library (KS) and Terry Kirk Grief, AASL president-elect.

“The increased emphasis on preparing all students to be college and career ready and the widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards and integration of technology have opened an unprecedented door to school library leadership,” the ALA leadership says.

Adds Margaux DelGuidice, a 2013 Movers & Shaker, “Meeting with fellow members of the AASL/YALSA/ALSC Joint Task Force on the Common Core in person and making out the work we will do together,” was one of the key moments in her conference experience this year.

Technology was also front-and-center, with recommended lists for apps and websites creating lots of buzz, attendees say. For the first time ever, AASL announced its list of Best Apps for Teaching and Learning; the committee’s selections were made using the AASL’s Standard’s for 21^st Century Learning as a guide. And for the fifth year, the organization announced its Best Websites for Teaching and Learning in six categories, including media sharing, curriculum collaboration, and social networking.

Additional AASL business included updates from Dickerson on the search for a new AASL executive director. “Conducting a search for this position, which is so important to school libraries, is a thoughtful and reflective process, with a lot of discussion to ensure that the person selected is our best candidate from a pool of highly qualified applicants,” she tells SLJ.

In addition, ALSC announced three Summer Reading Lists for kindergarten through eighth grade. Each of the lists has 25 titles selected by the organization’s Quicklists Consulting Committee and its School-Age Programs and Services Committee.

Generating a stir during the conference was Chris Harris, coordinator of the school library system for the Genesee Valley (NY) Educational Partnership, who introduced the new “Here Be Fiction” program during the “Maintaining Teen E-Collections” presentation. The program makes fiction available in ebook format to school librarians. August House, Bancroft Press, Picture Window Books, Lerner, and Stone Arch Books are the first publishers to be involved. With the program, librarians will be able to download such titles as Kate McMullan’s Nice Shot Cupid (Stone Arch, 2011) to a mobile device or reader. The program will go live on July 15, when selected school librarians around the country will have free access during their summer vacations to read and review ebook fiction.

ALA also spotlighted a number of authors are helping libraries have access to digital media through its new “Authors for Library Ebooks” campaign, which aims to assist ALA in its negotiations with publishers on reaching a sustainable solution for library ebook lending. Cory Doctorow, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Jodi Picoult are just some of the participating authors who have sign on in support of great access to ebooks through libraries.

Says Le Guin, “So, dear reader, if your library doesn’t have the e-book you’d like to read, please don’t complain to your librarian. Complain to your publisher. Tell him to wake up and get real.”

Adds Picoult, “Whether it’s a digital file or a paper copy, I want readers to find my books—and all books—in their libraries. I stand with libraries—and I invite other authors to join me in the campaign for library e-books for all.”

Inaugural brunch attendees build with blocks to illustrate Stripling’s collaboration theme.

A highlight of the conference, youth librarians tell SLJ, was the programming centered around STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education, which was presented by the ALA Public Programming Office in conjunction with NASA and the Space Science Institute. Two sessions introduced new resources now available to libraries to introduce students and patrons to STEM topics: a traveling exhibit, Discover Tech: Engineering Make a World of Difference, and a new STEM online community, STARnetLibraries. The exhibit will be traveling around the country for the next year, while the site’s goal is connect libraries with STEM professionals.

Some conference attendees also enjoyed last Tuesday’s inaugural brunch to welcome Stripling and the new division presidents, with tables were decorated with Legos and building blocks to illustrate Stripling’s call for collaboration and building connections.

The close of the conference also marked the retirement of Julie Walker, AASL executive director.  The association is in the process of selecting her successor.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Margaret A. Edwards Award, given annually by the Young Adult Library Services Association to an author in honor of work that makes a “significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.” The award, which is sponsored by SLJ, was presented Saturday during the American Library Association’s annual conference in Chicago to Tamora Pierce for her “Song of the Lioness” and “The Protector of the Small” series.

As is tradition, the winning author is the featured speaker at the event―and this year, the feisty and mischievous Pierce did not disappoint. After introductory remarks from Jack Martin, YALSA president, and Jamie Watson, chair of the 2013 Edwards committee, Pierce took to the microphone. She spoke in a soft monotone about how honored she was, mentioned her experience of attending conferences and listening to librarians and readers, and paused frequently to cough.

The audience was initially confused; where was the feminist personality they had come to see? Where was the warm, outsized writer whose online persona so many knew? There was a hush in the room, an almost palpable sense of disappointment. This was Tamora Pierce? This was the woman whose books had, for many attendees, been transformative reading in their own teen years?

And then Pierce dropped her punchline: she’s not that dull, robot-voiced speaker―but she likes to see the discomfort. “The thought of your pain and suffering makes me happy,” she said gleefully. The audience laughed appreciatively, thoroughly warmed up, and Pierce’s real speech began.

Readers familiar with Pierce’s work will know that she focuses on strong, spunky female heroes in well-realized fantasy worlds, a theme she discussed at length. Pierce spoke passionately about her own childhood reading of heroic tales and a few bright, bold girl books, and the tensions at home that tore her in two directions and at one point almost made her give up writing.She described discovering fantasy novels, where “women could be warriors. Except, well…”

In the fantasy of Pierce’s childhood, women were sword fodder or “over-sexed trollops.” So Pierce set out to write real fantasy: books in which chainmail bikinis would never make an appearance, featuring women “who would not surrender who they had fought to become. Even if they fell in love.”

Heads nodded. This was the speech people had come to hear!

Tamora Pierce addresses librarians at the Edwards Award luncheon. Photo by Jean-Marc Giboux.

Pierce wrote realistic fantasy―with bathrooms, contraception, and consequences―because she wanted to live in it. Her books reflect her whole self: Alanna comes from Pierce’s adolescence, but Kel comes from a deeper, adult understanding of the complications and challenges that face women in the military and other typically male-dominated, physically challenging jobs. The verisimilitude of Kel’s experiences reflects research and dedication: martial arts, interviews and conversations with women in the military, and a reflection on 9/11 which occurred as the final book in the Kel quartet was being written―all played a part in making the series ring true.

It’s this dedication to reality that makes Pierce’s books so enduring, and guarantees that she has “the coolest fans of anybody,” a statement in evidence at the end of the luncheon when several librarians who had come of age on Pierce’s books approached her, crying, to finally meet in person the hero who had taught them all about female heroes.

For those who missed the Edwards luncheon, there is another opportunity to hear from Pierce coming up: she will be keynoting SLJ’s free SummerTeen online event.

The American Library Association (ALA) annual conference is upon us, and I’m vexed with both Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) and Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). As I tool around the country helping folks engage with nonfiction and the Common Core, I keep seeing evidence of deeply-seated and unexamined prejudice against nonfiction in those two divisions.

I followed with real interest the discussion of the Caldecott Award at 75 on the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) listserv. The first posts were about identity: the overwhelming number of winners that were both male and Caucasian. I asked about nonfiction in terms of genre and format. How many nonfiction winners have there been? And, how frequently has photography (often used in nonfiction books) been honored?

Though there were moving and passionate posts about Tanya Hoban and Nic Bishop, (I’d add Susan Kuklin and Charles Smith, to begin), no committee has seen fit to honor them. Indeed the only exceptions I’ve heard mentioned emphasize my point: Jacqueline Briggs Martin’s medal winner Snowflake Bently (Houghton Mifflin, 1998), illustrated by  Mary Azarian, is about a photographer, without his photographs, while Patrick McDonnell’s honor book Me…Jane (Little, Brown, 2011) has, drumroll, a single photo. Why, one might ask.

The answer rests in a rule that gets to the heart of the issue I am raising: Caldecott criteria require original artwork that has not been previously published. That means that a picture book that incorporates archival photography or images from a research institute can’t win. At a stroke, the medal eliminates from consideration any book that uses, say, NASA images. The award can go to a deceased artist, but I was told by an expert that the medal was initially designed to support living artists, thus the focus on new work.

The problem is that Caldecott criteria state that the award is presented in honor of “the most distinguished American picture book for children,” and defines distinguished as: “Marked by eminence and distinction; noted for significant achievement. Marked by excellence in quality. Marked by conspicuous excellence or eminence. Individually distinct.”

If the Caldecott is an award to encourage living artists, then (contra what I argued in The Horn Book years ago) we should have awards designed to encourage every brand of living artist. Affirmative action is affirmative action–let’s identify deserving sets of artists and make sure they get their due. But, if the Caldecott honors the most distinguished picture book, it cannot exclude a title that requires the primary use of archival images. When I read through the list of medalists, I see marvelous books and a line-up of wonderful artists deserving of their honors. But the members of that all-star team, no matter how luminary, are solely masters of ink and brush, paint, and pixel.

The Caldecott does not honor the most distinguished picture book; it honors the most distinguished rendered picture book. That is a crucial distinction because it signifies that great artistry can’t be found in the selection, layout, design, and display of images that have survived from the past. Indeed, one person who posted on the CCBC listserv intimated that she, and she assumed most others, believe photography is not an art form in the same manner as drawing, painting, or collage.

Another person pointed to the Robert F. Sibert medal as meeting the need for a nonfiction award. But that is not fair given that the Caldecott criteria state that the award selects and honors distinction. The Caldecott is the ne plus ultra, the cynosure, of awards–it cannot both assert its primacy, and–implicitly–disqualify whole categories of books. Moreover, Caldecott is an ALSC award–a division that stretches up to 8th grade, as once again the award rules stress. Surely those older readers of picture books–and we all know they are legion–often prefer photographs over drawings they see as childish. And yet this ALSC award inherently excludes those older books from consideration.

That brings me to YALSA. I’ve been furious ever since that ALA division decided to remove nonfiction from its Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) list. BBYA is now best fiction. While YALSA has made efforts to improve its nonfiction prize, it has never recognized a key flaw in its plan: the BBYA meetings were a public forum where future librarians, authors, and editors, and could listen and learn, and its nomination list was often used by teens as a reading/discussion list. There is no longer an up-to-date list of young adult nonfiction titles for reading groups to consider, or a public venue where stakeholders can discuss teen nonfiction. It’s ironic that this has happened just when librarians, authors, and editors are asking for guidance in how to select and craft quality nonfiction.

So there we have it. Sure, individual books are honored, as Steve Sheinkin’s Bomb (Macmillan, 2012) was this year. But nonfiction remains marginal–so marginal that neither ALSC nor YALSA seems to notice their abiding bias. The question is, why?

“Brother Mike” Hawkins (at left) and YOUmedia’s Spoken Word team at the
“Louder Than a Bomb” poetry competition in Chicago, March 2013.
Photo courtesy of “Brother Mike” Hawkins.

Taylor Bayless, a librarian with the Chicago Public Library’s YOUmedia youth learning space, runs a podcasting program for teens. Since Bayless had no previous experience with podcasts, she was “muddling through” the learning process along with the kids, teaching herself as she was teaching them. “Someone working with youth has to have the capacity and desire to learn new technology,” says Bayless.

That was one message that came out of an hour-long chat on using social media in libraries, part of a month-long discussion series focusing on teens and the future of school and public libraries.

Sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and Connected Learning, an online learning network, the five programs that ran in May were all about how to engage that most fickle of consumers: teens. During the online discussions, media specialists and librarians who work with young people in new media offered their insight and best practices on how to successfully engage teens and tweens.

Participants were encouraged to comment using the #futureoflibraries Twitter hashtag, watch through Connected Learning’s Google+ Page, and chat over Livestream, where the conversations were archived. Speakers included “Brother Mike” Hawkins, associate director and lead mentor at YOUmedia’s Digital Youth Network.

Getting involved with students early on—and supporting their creative efforts while providing guidance about privacy and fair use—is good policy, says YALSA president-elect Chris Shoemaker, the incoming director of the Rye (NY) Free Reading Room. He recommends talking with teens about the content they produce, such as who may view their posts, the identity they’re projecting online, and what information can be traced back to them. Shoemaker works with students to revise their material before they publish. “I would never want a teenager to pull down content after it’s posted,” he says.

At DYN, Hawkins monitors teens’ social media use rather than polices. That strategy has motivated his young patrons to take ownership and think critically about what they post. When the content is inappropriate, Hawkins and other DYN staff are careful to express their concern in such a way that encourages kids and keeps them engaged—and helps them make good decisions. “I won’t say, ‘Take that down,’” says Hawkins. “But I may say, ‘You want to play this on the radio—but I can’t share this with anyone.’ So you can shape things.”

Ultimately it’s the teens themselves who determine how successfully libraries integrate social media. The real acid test? Whether or not they invite their friends into the branches.

Hawkins says, “We have students coming to the [YOUmedia] studio and taking pictures” who then share the images, attracting the attention of other kids, who ask, “Where you at?” The teens’ own posts can be very effective in promoting the library as a cool place, he adds.

Particularly for libraries lacking a marketing budget, this kind of public relations can work wonders. “If [students] see something cool, and they see a place where adults care about them,” says Hawkins, “they’re going to promote it more than we ever could.”

Photo by Michael J. Okoniewski /Getty Images for SLJ.

When Tamora Pierce found out that she had won the 2013 Margaret A. Edwards Award, she was initially speechless. Murmuring too softly for Jamie Watson and the rest of the award committee to hear, Pierce wondered, “Has anybody

mentioned I have a bit of a problem with potty mouth?” Fortunately, nobody on the committee heard this remark, and the secret has been safe until now. While choosing a person “with a bit of a potty mouth” might make for an entertaining Edwards speech, Pierce’s selection as the 2013 Edwards winner honors several decades of writing feminist fantasy featuring kick-butt female protagonists who appeal widely to both male and female readers.

Pierce’s writing, however, has never won the Printz or Newbery awards. In fact, her “Song of the Lioness” series, honored by the Edwards committee, was initially conceived of as an adult novel. Fortunately, she says, that much different (and horrible) version does not exist today. She credits her transformation to beloved teen author to the time she spent telling stories as a house-mother in a group home for teen girls. Since her first book, Alanna the Lioness, came out in 1983, Pierce has been quietly writing exceptional and thoughtful fantasy that serves as a beacon for young readers who want to see themselves as heroes. This year, the Margaret A. Edwards Award, sponsored by SLJ and administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association, honors her lasting and significant contribution to readers of all ages and both genders with a tribute that many claim is 10 years overdue.

In Pierce’s shoes, I might be tempted, in the face of all the attention showered upon Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games) or Veronica Roth (Divergent) and other wildly popular authors of fiction featuring strong female characters to scream, “BUT I HAVE BEEN WRITING ABOUT WEAPON-WIELDING FEMALE HEROES FOR YEARS!” Pierce, however, welcomes the company.

“Actually I’m just glad it ain’t so lonesome out there anymore,” she says. “I like to read it, too, you know. Some of them are like guys in drag, but not Suzanne Collins and Kristin Cashore. When Graceling and Hunger Games came out in the same year, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. It made me so very happy.”

As for the current meme lamenting the lack of action-packed boy books? Even over the phone I can see Pierce’s eyes roll as she instantly names authors and titles, only stopping because her website lists many such titles for those who mistakenly insist that somehow boys are not served by recently published books, to say nothing of the fact that her fans include many boys, including this one.

Pierce lives with her “Spouse-Creature” in Syracuse, New York. This interview was conducted on International Women’s Day—I’d love to say that it was intentional, but it was just serendipity. On that cold, winter day we enjoyed a warm discussion of her writing and the issues and themes she regularly addresses in her fiction. She even offered men the absolute best advice for how to nurture the innate hero in their daughters.

A person with a misspelled name is obviously destined to become the winner of the Margaret Edwards Award for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature, right?

What you said about me not having won any previous big awards, like a Newbery or a Printz? That sort of piles up. So when you do win a big one, you’re sitting there going, “I could have sworn he just said I got the Edwards Award.” It’s sort of not sinking through. It’s just too unbelievable.

My mother wanted to name me “Tamara,” but the nurse who filled out my birth certificate had never heard of such a fancy name (we are talking Pennsylvania coal country in the 1950s), so she misspelled it, and I legitimately became Tamora (pronounced like “camera”). I actually like it better than Tamara, which means “graceful” and “a palm tree,” and is the name of a Russian saint. I am none of these things.

I had started my fantasy-writing career in college. I had written a lot as a teenager, but my adult career didn’t really begin until college. I broke through the short-story-to-novel barrier in June of 1976. Five months later I had a dream. I woke up, and by the time I got to the typewriter and sat down and started to write, I actually only had a fragment left. I don’t retain dreams very well. And I only had an image left from that dream, and I never included it in the finished book.

But somehow that dream or that fragment unlocked something in my head, that same story that I’d been attempting to tell all along of a girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to become a knight. I wrote the first scene in which the father tells his twins that he’s arranged their lives for the next eight years or so, and I wrote the next scene and the scene after that and the scene after that. I sometimes call it my string-of-pearls novel because for the first and only time, I just kept writing the next scene until five months and 732 manuscript pages later I had a finished novel. I got the title from my boyfriend. He said, “How about The Song of the Lioness?” And I said, “Sounds good to me.”

Then you split that one book into the four books?

I was sending it around to adult publishers, and my life was sort of going up and down. I was out of college, living with my dad and stepmother in Idaho. I had gotten the only job that I ever was educated for. I became a housemother in a group home for teenaged girls. The girls wanted to read my book, and I wanted them to read it because I didn’t want them to think I was shining them on when I said I was a writer. When the director found out it was an adult novel with sex and violence and drug and alcohol use in it—and since those were the things that had gotten the girls into the home in the first place—he didn’t want them reading about them in a book by an authority figure, which is what I was passing for at the time.

So every afternoon, when I was on shift, the girls would come home from school or before bedtime and literally drag me to the dining room table and give me the binder I had the manuscript in, and they would say, “Pierce, tell us more about Alanna.” And I would sit there with the binder in my lap and I would retell the story to them, suitably edited. Well, apparently not as suitably as the director of the home would have liked, but if he wanted it more suitably edited he should have been there.

I moved to New York after I left the home and went to work for a literary agency. The agent took a look at my manuscript and said I should turn it into four books for teenagers. I knew it would work because I already had the girls’ reaction. So I had to rewrite it. We tried it on three publishers, and Jean Karl at the third said, “No,” because of the number of pages, so Claire Smith, my agent, talked her into meeting with me, and we talked about the changes she felt the manuscript needed. I rewrote it again, and Atheneum took me on as a writer.

“Protector of the Small ” is a very different series!

Yes. Well, I’d sort of done Alanna a disservice by making her a mage, a wizard, and a knight, and I’d been thinking that I really wanted to try the idea of a girl knight. And these books just caught fire.

Alanna is such a hothead and Kel is so grounded—I always feel like I am reading about real people.

I try to do that. I try very hard to make it so that people can feel they can turn a corner and find my characters there and hang out with them. I base a lot of characters on either people I know or actors or characters they play, but the important thing is they have to feel as real as humanly possible.

Your early books are all around 200 pages and then we get to Trickster’s Choice and the page count doubles and almost triples with “Beka Cooper.”

Ever since they took us off that cursed 200-manuscript-page limit, I just spread out a little, and I don’t have to do four books anymore.

When you think back to “Song of the Lioness” or “Protector of the Small,” now that you have a little more word freedom, what changes would you make?

Well, Song of the Lioness in particular, I look back on it now and I think, “Oh, I wish I hadn’t jammed so much plot into every book. I wish I’d spread out a bit.” But I couldn’t do that to my fans. They’ve fallen in love with those books as they are, each and every word, so I would not touch them. I would not dare to touch them. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Mark Reads. He will record himself reading and reacting. He’d just finished the Alanna books, and it was through his reactions and his audience’s reactions that I discovered that, even though I could see all I would improve, I actually had some good stuff in there.

Do you have a writing routine, an average day?

I have multiple book contracts. So these days by the time I sit down to actually work on a book, I’ve been generally thinking about it at a minimum for four to six years. I’ve been turning the material over in my head. I’ve chosen whoever I’m going to base the characters on. I always try to start—it may not end up that way in the final version, but I try to start—with us meeting the main character, and he’s doing or she’s doing something that tells us something about them. In my first chapters I introduce the main characters, the secondary characters, the main plot, the overarching themes for the book. And if you know me at all, you know my endings are fairly simple. There’s a forest fire, an epidemic, a war, the ground opens up, the palace collapses inside, and the rats reign supreme over all. Then I get to writing, and I’m toggling along, and I hit chapter four or five, and all of a sudden I hit that vast wasteland that I have not outlined for because I don’t outline really. And I realize I have no idea what’s going to happen then. I’ve got to line up my ducks to fetch up the earthquakes, forest fires, ground opens up, palace, rats.

That’s when I scream for my husband.

You and your husband created Sheroes, an online hang out for young women. How did this evolve?

I had fallen into conversation online with a very new to YA writer named Meg Cabot. We were talking about how hard it was for us to find female heroes when we were growing up, real women in the real world. We basically wanted to cover anything that would get girls and young women to talk about female heroes and real-life ones and Meg’s books and my books and anything else that came along. I left in about 2006, because my life sort of exploded, too, but I think it’s still running.

Sex, GBLTQ issues, racism, class warfare, social justice. Have you had any backlash about any of these elements in your work?

Not really. Once or twice in person, usually on the sexual aspects. Twice—once in a county in Oregon and once apparently in North Carolina—Alanna got challenged for sexual material. That’s it.

Is it because it is fantasy writing?

I have no clue. I think it was in SLJ, in an article on YA romance writers getting challenged, someone said, “I don’t get it. Tammy Pierce writes every bit as much sexuality as I do, and nobody ever says anything about her.” I laughed, but it’s true. All that stuff about Harry Potter and witchcraft, and I have been writing plain old paganism ever since 1983 and nobody has said diddly-squat.

What new words may readers expect from Tamora Pierce this year and in 2014?

Well, right now it’s Battle Magic, which is the “Circle Universe.” I’m crunching every day finishing the second draft. Briar, Rose-thorn, and Evvy are caught up in a tiny country fighting off a very much larger and bigger China-like country. I’m almost done with the second draft. My poor editor is working away, and I’m just sending her chapters. It’s very dark, but there’s a lot of really crazy stuff. I don’t know what happened to me, but somewhere along the line when I was writing it, parts of the landscape started to come to life. That’s unusual for me. I usually like to keep the organic stuff organic and the inorganic stuff dead. But it had its own opinions.

Tell us about problems young women face today.

There are just so many traps out there for girls and women. There is the domesticity trap, there is the sexuality trap, there is the intellect trap. If you say too much, you could get called this; if you do too much, you could get called that; girls don’t do this; it’s rude if you do that; if you talk about this, you’re weird; if you talk about that, you’re a slut. I talked too loud and was hushed up. I was interested in boy things and was told to be quiet. I wrote to the FBI to see about becoming an agent and was told that the only option for me was secretarial work. And then I got to college and went to work with a feminist, and got told that because I had a sense of humor it was wrong, and because I was straight I was wrong….

You just can’t be right!

Yeah. It just seemed like judgmentalism is something that women and girls smash into all the time. Writing ways to deal with that and writing ways to say, “Well, here’s who I am”—that seems to be the thing that people take away from what I do. And it doesn’t matter what sex they are, they seem to take away that you do what you want to do with your life, you become who you want to be. It’s going to be a lot of work, it’s going to be really hard, but you can do it if you want it badly enough. But you have to want it badly because the world sets up so many barriers for young people in general. I mean, even for boys.

What advice would you give me and other men to nurture that inner hero of the young women we know?

Be determined and dare to be stupid!

Ed Spicer (edspicer@me.com) teaches first grade at North Ward Elementary School in Allegan, MI. He was a member of the 2013 Margaret Edwards Award committee, as well as the 2005 Printz Award committee. He reviews teen literature for the Michigan Reading Association.

Part of YALSA’s year-long National Forum on Libraries & Teens project, the virtual chat was the first of three planned to broaden the conversation among librarians and educators across the country.

The participants—who hailed from 24 states and all facets of the library community—joined YALSA past president and Linda W. Braun as she tossed out several questions during the hour-long chat, such as whether an off-site event, like a park or community space, can make a library seem less vital. Responses spilled from attendees proclaiming that a library can be both a place and a service.

One participant shared that by having programs out of school, teens are surprised to find their librarian even more cool than they thought. “What I like about off-campus programming is seeing teens back in the library,” noted April Witteveen of the Deschutes Public Library in Bend, OR. “That’s when they really figure out, ‘hey, this nice friendly person works in a library.”

As budgets tighten across the country for both school and public libraries, librarians are seeking new ways to fund programming for their teen patrons—often with fewer resources. Partners can share both the cost and time commitment needed for many events and projects, although as attendees pointed out, librarians sometimes need to adjust their own expectations to make things work, and even “…do things differently than you were planning,” noted Maureen Hartman.

Others agreed, adding that flexibility is crucial when working with outside groups. As Shawna Sherman noted, librarians can also “…learn from partners, see the techniques they use to work with teens.”

Teens can sometimes point the way to better partnerships, added Cherry Hill Public Library’s teen librarian Melissa Brinn, who stated that involving them through teen activity boards or groups, and allowing them to choose partners can be effective. Some popular partnerships highlighted by those at the event included blogging about books on a library’s site for volunteer credit, and even partnering with a college radio station for a podcasting program—one idea Brinn is currently pursuing.

All agreed that it’s critical for libraries and staff to be active and continuously engaged in how to reach teens and provide services, but the chat also focused on what librarians can provide through their own resources versus what can be enhanced through potential partnerships. Braun pushed participants to consider out-of-the-box ideas as well, with those in room sharing programs they do with various film festivals, nonprofit groups like Keep America Beautiful, and local museums.

Ultimately, though, as one attendee shared, as libraries focus on what they believe their young patrons need, they shouldn’t lose sight of what they may truly prefer.

“Teens are always amused at what adults think they’re supposed to want,” said Barbara, a youth service librarian from Albuquerque, NM. “We have a running joke in my teen council about someone who told me once that ‘teens feel threatened by good furniture.’”

YALSA’s second town hall, slated for April 16, will take a look at teen learning environments, so-called maker spaces, and how kids engage with digital tools.  In the meantime, YALSA is encouraging library staff and stakeholders to join the conversation via Twitter (#yalsaforum) and Facebook.

The third virtual meet-up is set for May 21 will a focus on the future of library services.

ALSC Notable Children’s Books

Younger Readers

Drop down to YA Fiction

BARNETT, Mac. Extra Yarn . illus. by Jon Klassen. HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-195338-5.

BELL, Cece. Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover. illus. by author. Candlewick. Tr $14.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5475-7.

BINGHAM , Kelly. Z Is for Moose. illus. by Paul O. Zelinsky. HarperCollins/Greenwillow. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-079984-7; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-06-079985-4.

BUZZEO, Toni. One Cool Friend. illus. by David Small. Dial. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8037-3413-5.

COAT, Janik. Hippopposites. illus. by author. Abrams/Appleseed. BD $14.95. ISBN 978-1-4197-0151-1.

DACOSTA , Barbara. Nighttime Ninja. illus. by Ed Young. Little, Brown. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-316-20384-5.

DAVIES, Nicola. Just Ducks! illus. by Salvatore Rubbino. Candlewick. RTE $15.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5936-3.

FLEMING, Candace. Oh, No! illus. by Eric Rohmann. Random/Schwartz & Wade Bks. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-375-84271-9; PLB $20.99. ISBN 978-0-375-94557-1.

FOGLIANO, Julie. and then it’s spring. illus. by Erin E. Stead. Roaring Brook/A Neal Porter Bk. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-624-4.

HALE, Christy. Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building. illus. by author. Lee & Low. RTE $18.95. ISBN 978-1-60060-651-9.

HENKES, Kevin. Penny and Her Doll. illus. by author. HarperCollins/Greenwillow. Tr $12.99. ISBN 978-0-06-208199-5; PLB $14.89. ISBN 978-0-06-208200-8.

HEST, Amy. Charley’s First Night. illus. by Helen Oxenbury. Candlewick. RTE $15.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-4055-2.

HOSFORD, Kate. Infinity and Me. illus. by Gabi Swiatkowska. Carolrhoda. RTE $16.95. ISBN 978-0-7613-6726-0; ebook $12.95. ISBN 978-1-58013-997-7.

JEFFERS, Oliver. This Moose Belongs to Me. illus. by author. Philomel. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-399-16103-2.

JOHNSON, D. B. Magritte’s Marvelous Hat. illus. by author. Houghton Harcourt. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-55864-6.

KHAN, Hena. Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors. illus. by Mehrdokht Amini. Chronicle. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-08118-7905-7.

KLASSEN, Jon. This Is Not My Hat. illus. by author. Candlewick. RTE $15.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5599-0.

LITWIN, Eric. Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. illus. by James Dean. HarperCollins/Harper. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-211058-9; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-06-211059-6; ebook $11.99. ISBN 978-0-06-211061-9.

LOGUE, Mary. Sleep Like a Tiger. illus. by Pamela Zagarenski. Houghton Harcourt. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-64102-7.

LONG, Ethan. Up, Tall and High! illus. by author. Putnam. RTE $15.99. ISBN 978-0-399-25611-0.

LOW, William. Machines Go to Work in the City. illus. by author. Holt. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8050-9050-5.

PATENT, Dorothy Hinshaw. Dogs on Duty: Soldiers’ Best Friends on the Battlefield and Beyond. Walker. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-80272-845-6; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-80272-846-3.

PINFOLD, Levi. Black Dog. illus. by author. Candlewick/Templar. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-6097-0 .

REYNOLDS, Aaron. Creepy Carrots! illus. by Peter Brown. S & S. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-0297-3; ebook $12.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-5309-8.

SCHAEFER, Lola M. One Special Day: A Story for Big Brothers & Sisters. illus. by Jessica Meserve. Hyperion/Disney. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-1-4231-3760-3.

SCHMIDT, Gary D. Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert. illus. by David Diaz. Clarion. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-61218-8.

SEEGER, Laura Vaccaro. Green. illus. by author. Roaring Brook/A Neal Porter Bk. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-397-7.

SPRINGMAN, I. C. More. illus. by Brian Lies. Houghton Harcourt. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-61083-2.

STEAD, Philip C. Bear Has a Story to Tell. illus. by Erin E. Stead. Roaring Brook/Neal Porter. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-745-6.

SUTTON, Sally. Demolition. illus. by Brian Lovelock. Candlewick. RTE $15.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5830-4 .

WILLEMS, Mo. Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs: As Retold by Mo Willems. illus. by reteller. HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-210418-2.

WILLEMS, Mo. Let’s Go for a Drive! illus. by author. (Elephant and Piggie Series). Hyperion/Disney. RTE $8.99. ISBN 978-142316482-1.

Middle Readers

APPLEGATE, Katherine. The One and Only Ivan. illus. by Patricia Castelao. HarperCollins/Harper. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-199225-4; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-210198-3.

BURLEIGH, Robert. George Bellows: Painter with a Punch! Abrams. RTE $18.95. ISBN 9781419701665.

BYRD, Robert. Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin. illus. by author. Dial. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-8037-3749-5.

CHIN, Jason. Island: A Story of the Galápagos. illus. by author. Roaring Brook/Neal Porter. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-716-6.

CLOSE, Chuck. Chuck Close: Face Book. Abrams. RTE $18.95. ISBN 978-1-4197-0163-4.

COLE, Henry. Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad. illus. by author. Scholastic. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-545-39997-5.

DECRISTOFANO, Carolyn Cinami. A Black Hole Is NOT a Hole. illus. by Michael Carroll. Charlesbridge. RTE $18.95. ISBN 978-1-57091-783-7; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-60734-073-7.

FREEDMAN, Russell. Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship. Clarion. Tr $18.99. ISBN 978-0-547-38562-4.

GIDWITZ, Adam. In a Glass Grimmly. Dutton. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-525-42581-6.

HOOSE, Phillip. Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95. Farrar. Tr $21.99. ISBN 978-0-374-30468-3.

HOPKINSON, Deborah. Titanic: Voices from the Disaster. Scholastic. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-11674-9.

JENKINS, Steve. The Beetle Book. illus. by author. Houghton Harcourt. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-68084-2.

JOHNSON, Rebecca L. Zombie Makers: True Stories of Nature’s Undead. Millbrook. RTE $30.60. ISBN 978-0-7613-8633-9; ebook $22.95. ISBN 978-1-4677-0125-9.

KNOWLES, Jo. See You at Harry’s. Candlewick. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5407-8.

LIN, Grace. Starry River of the Sky. illus. by author. Little, Brown. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-316-12595-6; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-316-21553-4.

MCKAY, Hilary. Lulu and the Duck in the Park.
Bk. 1. illus. by Priscilla Lamont. Albert Whitman. Tr $13.99. ISBN 978-0-8075-4808-0.

MCPHERSON, Stephanie Sammartino. Iceberg, Right Ahead!: The Tragedy of the Titanic. 21st Century Bks. PLB $33.26. ISBN 978-0-7613-6756-7; ebook $24.95. ISBN 978-0-7613-8048-1.

OBED, Ellen Bryan. Twelve Kinds of Ice. illus. by Barbara McClintock. Houghton Harcourt. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-618-89129-0.

PALACIO, R. J. Wonder. Knopf. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86902-0; PLB $18.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96902-7; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-89988-1.

RAPPAPORT, Doreen. Helen’s Big World: The Life of Helen Keller. illus. by Matt Tavares. Hyperion/Disney. RTE $17.99. ISBN 978-0-7868-0890-8.

ROSE, Caroline Starr. May B: A Novel . Random/Schwartz & Wade Bks. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-58246-393-3; PLB $18.99. ISBN 978-0-58246-412-1; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-58246-437-4.

RUSCH, Elizabeth. The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity. (Scientists in the Field Series). Houghton Harcourt. RTE $18.99. ISBN 978-0-547-47881-4.

SCHLITZ, Laura Amy. Splendors and Glooms . Candlewick . Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5380-4; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-6246-2.

SHEINKIN, Steve. Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon. Roaring Brook/Flash Point. Tr $19.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-487-5; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-861-3.

STEAD, Rebecca. Liar & Spy. Random/Wendy Lamb. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-385-73743-2; PLB $18.99. ISBN 978-0-385-90665-4; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-89953-9.

TURNAGE, Sheila. Three Times Lucky. Dial. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8037-3670-2.

VERNICK, Audrey. Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team. illus. by Steven Salerno. Clarion. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-38557-0.

WOODSON, Jacqueline. Each Kindness. illus. by E. B. Lewis. Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Bks. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-399-24652-4.

Older Readers

ABIRACHED, Zeina. A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return. tr. from French by Edward Gauvin. illus. by author. Lerner/Graphic Universe. PLB $29.27. ISBN 978-0-7613-8568-4; pap. $9.95. ISBN 978-1-57505-941-9; ebook $21.95. ISBN 978-1-4677-0047-4.

BLUMENTHAL, Karen. Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different. Feiwel & Friends. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-250-01557-0; pap. $8.99. ISBN 978-1-250-01445-0; ebook $8.99. ISBN 978-1-250-01461-0.

DE GRAAF, Anne. Son of a Gun. tr. from Dutch. Eerdmans. pap. $8. ISBN 978-0-8028-5406-3.

HARTMAN, Rachel. Seraphina. Random. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86656-2; PLB $20.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96656-9; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-89658-3.

LEVINSON, Cynthia. We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March. Peachtree. Tr $19.95. ISBN 978-1-56145-627-7.

LOWRY, Lois. Son. Houghton Harcourt. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-547-88720-3; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-0-547-92851-7.

MANZANO, Sonia. The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano. Scholastic. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-32505-9; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-46958-6.

MONTGOMERY, Sy. Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World. Houghton Harcourt. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-547-44315-7.

MURPHY, Jim & Alison Blank. Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure. Clarion . Tr $18.99. ISBN 978-0-618-53574-3; ebook $18.99. ISBN 978-0-547-82268-6 .

PITCHER, Annabel. My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece. Little, Brown . Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-316-17690-3; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-316-20185-8.

RAPPAPORT , Doreen. Beyond Courage : The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust. Candlewick . Tr $22.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-2976-2.

SÁENZ, Benjamin Alire. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. S & S. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-0892-0; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-0894-4.

TELGEMEIER, Raina. Drama. illus. by author. Scholastic/Graphix. Tr $23.99. ISBN 978-0-545-32698-8; pap. $10.99. ISBN 978-0-545-32699-5.

VOORHOEVE, Anne C. My Family for the War. tr. from German by Tammi Reichel. Dial. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-8037-3360-2; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-1-1015-7521-5.

All Ages

COOMBS, Kate. Water Sings Blue. illus. by Meilo So. Chronicle. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8118-7284-3.

FARRAR, Sid. The Year Comes Round: Haiku Through the Seasons. illus. by Ilse Plume. Albert Whitman. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8075-8129-2.

FROST, Helen. Step Gently Out. photos by Rick Lieder. Candlewick. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5601-0.

LEWIS, J. Patrick, ed. National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs That Squeak, Soar, and Roar! National Geographic. Tr $24.95. ISBN 978-1-4263-1009-6; PLB $28.90. ISBN 978-1-4263-1054-6.

ZULLO, Germano. Little Bird. tr. from French by Claudia Zoe Bedrick. illus. by Albertine. Enchanted Lion. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-1-59270-118-6. YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults

YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults

(Starred items represent the ‘top ten’ picks in the category)

ANDERSON, Jodi Lynn. Tiger Lily. HarperCollins/HarperTeen. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-200325-6; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-211461-7.

ANDREWS, Jesse. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Abrams/Amulet. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-1-4197-0176-4; ebook $16.95. ISBN 978-1-6131-2306-5.

BACIGALUPI, Paolo. The Drowned Cities. Little, Brown. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-316-05624-3.

BARDUGO, Leigh. Shadow and Bone. Bk.1.(The Grisha Trilogy). Holt. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-8050-9459-6; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-8050-9710-8.

BARNABY, Hannah. Wonder Show. Houghton Harcourt. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-59980-9; ebook $15.99. ISBN 978-0-547-59981-6.

BARNES, Jennifer Lynn. Every Other Day. Egmont USA. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-1-60684-169-3; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-1-60684-267-6.

BARRACLOUGH, Lindsey. Long Lankin. Candlewick. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5808-3; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-6108-3.

BRAY, Libba. The Diviners. Bk. 1. Little, Brown. Tr $19.99. ISBN 978-0-316-12611-3; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-316-21464-3.

BRENNAN, Sarah Rees. Unspoken. Bk. 1. (The Lynburn Legacy Series). Random. Tr $18.99. ISBN 978-0-375-87041-5; PLB $21.99. ISBN 978-0-375-97041-2; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-98918-6.

CALAME , Don. Call the Shots. Candlewick. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5556-3; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-6185-4.

CAMERON, Sharon. The Dark Unwinding. Scholastic. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-32786-2; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-46964-7.

CAREY, Janet Lee. Dragonswood. Dial. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-8037-3504-0.

CARLTON, Susan. Love & Haight. Holt. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8050-8097-1.

CASHORE, Kristin. Bitterblue. Dial. Tr $19.99. ISBN 978-0-8037-3473-9.

COATS, J. Anderson. The Wicked and the Just. Houghton Harcourt. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-68837-4; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-68883-1.

CRONN-MILLS, Kirstin. Beautiful Music for Ugly Children. Flux. pap. $9.99. ISBN 978-0-7387-3251-0.

CROSS, Sarah. Kill Me Softly. Egmont USA. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-1-60684-323-9; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-1-60684-324-6.

CROWLEY, Cath. Graffiti Moon. Knopf. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86953-2; PLB $19.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96953-9; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-98365-8.

DAMICO, Gina. Croak. Houghton/Graphia. pap. $8.99. ISBN 978-0-547-60832-7; ebook $8.99. ISBN 978-0-547-82256-3.

DANFORTH, Emily M. The Miseducation of Cameron Post. HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-202056-7; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-210196-9.

DERTING, Kimberly. The Pledge. S & S. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-2201-8; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-2203-2.

DOLLER, Trish. Something Like Normal. Bloomsbury. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-59990-844-1.

ELLISON, Kate. The Butterfly Clues. Egmont USA. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-1-60684-263-8; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-1-60684-268-3.

FAMA, Elizabeth. Monstrous Beauty. Farrar. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-374-37366-5; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-429-95546-1.

FARISH, Terry. The Good Braider. Amazon. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-7614-6267-5; ebook $7.99. ISBN 978-0-7614-6268-2.

FFORDE, Jasper. The Last Dragonslayer. Bk. 1. (Chronicles of Kazam Series). Houghton Harcourt. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-73847-5; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-93542-3.

FITZPATRICK, Huntley . My Life Next Door. Dial. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8037-3699-3.

GAGNON, Michelle. Don’t Turn Around. HarperCollins/Harper. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-210290-4; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-210292-8.

GAUGHEN, A. C. Scarlet. Walker. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-8027-2346-8.

GRANT, Michael. BZRK. Bk. 1. Egmont USA. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-1-60684-312-3; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-1-60684-313-0.

GRANT, Michael & Katherine Applegate. Eve & Adam. Feiwel & Friends. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-312-58351-4; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-250-02648-4.

GREEN, John. The Fault in Our Stars. Dutton. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-525-47881-2.

HALPERN, Julie. Have a Nice Day. Feiwel & Friends. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-312-60660-2; ebook ISBN 978-1-466-82753-0.

HAND, Elizabeth. Radiant Days. Viking. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-670-01135-3; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-1-101-56704-3 .

HARRINGTON, Hannah. Speechless. Harlequin Teen. pap. $9.99. ISBN 978-0-373-21052-7.

HARTMAN, Rachel. Seraphina. Random. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86656-2; PLB $20.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96656-9; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-89658-3.

HIAASEN, Carl. Chomp. Knopf. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86842-9; PLB $19.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96842-6; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-89895-2.

JOHNSON, Angela. A Certain October. S & S. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-689-86505-3; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-1726-7.

JORDAN, Dream. Bad Boy . St. Martin’s/Griffin. pap. $9.99. ISBN 978-0-312-54997-8.

KAGAWA , Julie. The Immortal Rules. Bk. 1. (The Blood of Eden Series). Harlequin Teen. Tr $18.99. ISBN 978-0-373-21051-0; ebook $14.99. ISBN 978-1-459-22704-0.

KINCAID, S. J. Insignia . HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Bks. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-209299-1; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-209301-1.

KINDL, Patrice. Keeping the Castle. Viking. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-670-01438-5.

KING , A. S. Ask the Passengers. Little, Brown. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-316-19468-6; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-316-21453-7.

KNOWLES, Jo. See You at Harry’s. Candlewick. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5407-8.

KOKIE , E. M. Personal Effects. Candlewick. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5527-3; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-6203-5.

KONTIS, Alethea. Enchanted. Houghton Harcourt. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-64570-4; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-82235-8.

LACEY, Josh. Island of Thieves. Houghton Harcourt. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-547-76327-9; ebook $15.99. ISBN 978-0-547-82232-7.

LACOUR , Nina. The Disenchantments. Dutton. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-525-42219-8.

LAFEVERS, R. L. Grave Mercy. Bk. 1. (His Fair Assassin Series). Houghton Harcourt. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-62834-9; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-82241-9.

LAKE, Nick. In Darkness. Bloomsbury. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-1-59990-743-7; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-59990-820-5.

LANAGAN, Margo. The Brides of Rollrock Island. Knopf. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86919-8; PLB $20.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96919-5; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-98930-8.

LARBALESTIER, Justine & Sarah Rees Brennan. Team Human. HarperCollins/HarperTeen. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-208964-9; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-208966-3.

LEAVITT, Martine. My Book of Life by Angel. Farrar/Margaret Ferguson. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-374-35123-6; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-374-35124-3.

LEE, Y.S. The Traitor in the Tunnel: A Mary Quinn Mystery. Bk. 3. (The Agency Series). Candlewick . Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5316-3; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-763-65959-2.

LEVEEN, Tom. Zero. Random. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86921-1; RTE $19.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96921-8; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-98932-2.

LEVINE, Kristin. The Lions of Little Rock. Putnam. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-399-25644-8.

LEVITHAN, David. Every Day. Knopf. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-307-93188-7; PLB $19.99. ISBN 978-0-375-97111-2; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-307-97563-8.

LYGA, Barry. I Hunt Killers. Little, Brown. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-316-12584-0; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-316-20174-2.

MAAS, Sarah J. Throne of Glass. Bloomsbury. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-1-59990-695-9; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-1-59990-939-4.

MACCOLL, Michaela. Promise the Night. Chronicle. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8118-7625-4.

MCCORMICK, Patricia. Never Fall Down. HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-173093-1; PLB $18.89. ISBN 978-0-06-173094-8; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-211442-6.

MCDONALD, Ian. Planesrunner. Bk. 1. (Everness Series). PYR. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-1-61614-541-5.

MACKALL, Dandi Daley. The Silence of Murder. Random/Alfred A. Knopf. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86896-2; PLB $19.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96896-9; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-89981-2.

MCQUERRY, Maureen Doyle. The Peculiars. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-1-4197-0178-8; ebook $16.95. ISBN 978-1-6131-2308-9.

MAGOON, Kekla. Fire in the Streets. S & S/Aladdin. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-2230-8; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-2232-2.

MARCHETTA, Melina. Froi of the Exiles. Bk. 2. (The Lumatere Chronicles). Candlewick. RTE $18.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-4759-9; ebook $18.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5966-0.

MARILLIER, Juliet. Shadowfell. Bk. 1. (Shadowfell Series). Knopf. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86954-9; PLB $19.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96954-6; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-98366-5.

MATSON, Morgan. Second Chance Summer. S & S. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-4169-9067-3; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4391-5752-7.

MAZER, Harry & Peter Lerangis. Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am. S & S. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-1-4169-3895-8; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-4990-9.

MEYER, Marissa. Cinder. Bk. 1. (Lunar Chronicles Series). Feiwel & Friends. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-312-64189-4; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4668-0011-3.

MICHAELIS, Antonia. The Storyteller. tr. from German by Miriam Debbage. Abrams/Amulet. Tr $18.95. ISBN 978-1-4197-0047-7.

MIÉVILLE, China. Railsea. Del Rey. Tr $18. ISBN 978-0-345-52452-2.

MYERS, Kate Kae. The Vanishing Game. Bloomsbury. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-59990-694-2.

NELSON, Vaunda Micheaux. No Crystal Stair: A Novel in Documents, Based on the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller. illus. by R. Gregory Christie. Carolrhoda Lab. Tr $17.95. ISBN 978-0-7613-6169-5; ebook $12.95. ISBN 978-0-7613-8727-5.

NEWMAN, Lesléa. October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard. Candlewick. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5807-6.

NIELSEN, Jennifer A. The False Prince. Bk. 1. (The Ascendance Trilogy). Scholastic. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-28413-4; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-39249-5 .

NIX, Garth. A Confusion of Princes. HarperCollins/Harper. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-009694-6; PLB $18.89. ISBN 978-0-06-009695-3; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-221356-3.

OPPEL, Kenneth. Such Wicked Intent. Bk. 2. (The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein).
S & S. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-0318-5; pap. $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-0319-2; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-0320-8.

PEARCE, Jackson. Purity. Little, Brown. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-316-18246-1; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-316-20198-8.

POBLOCKI, Dan. The Ghost of Graylock. Scholastic. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-545-40268-2.

PRATCHETT, Terry. Dodger. HarperCollins/Harper. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-200949-4; PLB $18.89. ISBN 978-0-06-200950-0; ebook $11.99. ISBN 978-0-06-219015-4.

QUICK, Matthew. Boy 21. Little, Brown. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-316-12797-4; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-316-19314-6.

RIVERS, Karen. The Encyclopedia of Me. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-545-31028-4; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-545-46951-7.

ROSSI, Veronica. Under the Never Sky. HarperCollins/Harper. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-207203-0; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-207205-4.

RUBENS, Michael. Sons of the 613. Clarion. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-61216-4; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-544-08044-7.

SÁENZ, Benjamin Alire. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. S & S. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-0892-0; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-0894-4.

SCHREFER, Eliot. Endangered. Scholastic. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-16576-1; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-47001-8.

SCHREIBER, Joe. Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick. Houghton Harcourt. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-57738-8; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-547-67763-7.

SCHUMACHER, Julie. The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls . Delacorte. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-385-73773-9; PLB $19.99. ISBN 978-0-385-90685-2; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-98571-3.

SELFORS, Suzanne. The Sweetest Spell. Walker. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8027-2376-5.

SHERMAN, Delia. The Freedom Maze. Big Mouth House. Tr $16.95. ISBN 9781931520300; ebook $9.95. ISBN 9781931520409.

SONNENBLICK, Jordan. Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip. Scholastic. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-32069-6; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-39311-9.

STIEFVATER, Maggie. The Raven Boys. Bk. 1. (The Raven Cycle). Scholastic. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-42492-9; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-46979-1.

SUMMERS, Courtney. This Is Not a Test. St. Martin’s. pap. $9.99. ISBN 978-0-312-65674-4; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-250-01181-7.

TREGAY, Sarah. Love & Leftovers. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Bks. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-202358-2; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-209935-8.

VIVIAN, Siobhan. The List. Scholastic/PUSH. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-16917-2.

VOLPONI, Paul. The Final Four. Viking. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-670-01264-0.

WASSERMAN, Robin. The Book of Blood and Shadow. Random/Knopf. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86876-4; PLB $20.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96876-1; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-89961-4 .

WEIN, Elizabeth. Code Name Verity. Hyperion/ Disney. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-1-4231-5219-4; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-1-4231-5325-2.

WOODSON, Jacqueline. Beneath a Meth Moon. Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Bks. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-399-25250-1.

WOOLSTON, Blythe. Catch & Release. Carolrhoda Lab. Tr $17.95. ISBN 978-0-7613-7755-9; ebook $12.95. ISBN 978-0-7613-8725-1.

ZETTEL, Sarah. Dust Girl. (The American Fairy Trilogy). Random. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86938-9; PLB $20.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96938-6; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-98318-4.

Great Graphic Novels for Teens

(Starred items represent the ‘top ten’ picks in the category)

Nonfiction

ABIRACHED , Zeina. A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return. tr. from French by Edward Gauvin. illus. by author. Lerner/Graphic Universe. PLB $29.27. ISBN 978-0-7613-8568-4; pap. $9.95. ISBN 978-1-57505-941-9; ebook $21.95. ISBN 978-1-4677-0047-4.

BACKDERF, Derf. My Friend Dahmer. illus. by author. Abrams. Tr $24.95. ISBN 978-1-4197-0216-7; pap. $17.95. ISBN 978-1-4197-0217-4.

FETTER-VORM, Jonathan. Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb. illus. by author. Hill and Wang. Tr $22. ISBN 978-0-809-09468-4.

GOODWIN, Michael. Economix: How and Why Our Economy Works (and Doesn’t Work), in Words and Pictures. illus. by Dan E. Burr. Abrams. pap. $19.95. ISBN 978-0-8109-8839-2.

HALE , Nathan. Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy. illus. by author. Abrams/Amulet. Tr $12.95. ISBN 978-1-4197-0396-6.

LAMBERT, Joseph. Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller. illus. by author. (The Center for Cartoon Studies Series). Hyperion/Disney. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-1-4231-1336-2.

O’CONNOR, George. Hades: Lord of the Dead. Bk. 4. illus. by author. (Olympians Series). First Second/A Neal Porter Bk. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-434-9; pap. $9.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-761-6.

QUINN, Jason . Steve Jobs: Genius by Design. illus. by Amit Tayal. Campfire. pap. $12.99. ISBN 9789380028767.

Fiction

AZZARELLO, Brian. Wonder Woman: Vol. 1: Blood. illus. by Cliff Chiang & Tony Akins. (The New 52!). DC Comics. Tr $22.99. ISBN 9781401235635.

BENDIS, Brian Michael. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man. Vol. 1. illus. by Sara Pichelli. Marvel Comics. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-0-7851-5712-0.

BENDIS, Brian Michael. Ultimate Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man. illus. by Mark Bagley. Marvel Comics. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-0-7851-5274-3.

BERMEJO, Lee. Batman: Noël. illus. by author. DC Comics. Tr $22.99. ISBN 9781401232139.

BROWN, Tom & Nimue Brown. Hopeless, Maine Vol 1: Personal Demons. illus. by Tom Brown. Archaia Entertainment. Tr $19.95. ISBN 978-1-936393-57-2.

CAREY, Mike. Sigil: Out of Time. illus. by Leonard Kirk. Marvel Comics. pap. $14.99. ISBN 978-07851-5622-2.

COSBY, Nate. Cow Boy Vol. 1: A Boy and His Horse. illus. by Chris Eliopoulos. Archaia Entertainment. Tr $19.95. ISBN 978-1-936393-67-1.

COSTA, Mike & Jon Armstrong. Smoke and Mirrors. illus. by Ryan Browne. IDW. pap. $19.99. ISBN 978-1-61377-402-1.

DEFILIPPIS, Nunzio & Christina Weir. Avalon Chronicles: Once in a Blue Moon. Vol. 1. illus. by Emma Vieceli. Oni Pr. Tr $19.99. ISBN 978-1-934964-75-0.

GAULD, Tom. Goliath. illus. by author. Drawn and Quarterly. Tr $19.95. ISBN 9781770460652.

GIALLONGO, Zack. Broxo. illus. by author. First Second. pap. $16.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-551-3.

GRAHAM, Brandon. King City TP. illus. by author. Image Comics. pap. $19.99. ISBN 9781607065104.

HATKE, Ben . Legends of Zita the Spacegirl. illus. by author. First Second. Tr $18.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-806-4; pap. $12.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-447-9.

HICKS, Faith Erin. Friends with Boys. illus. by author. First Second. pap. $15.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-556-8.

INZANA, Ryan. Ichiro. illus. by author. Houghton Harcourt. Tr $19.99. ISBN 978-0-547-25269-8.

ISAYAMA, Hajime. Attack on Titan 1. illus. by author. Kodansha. pap. $10.99. ISBN 978-1-61262-024-4.

JEON, Hey-jin. Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries Vol.1. illus. by Ki-ha Lee. Seven Seas. pap. $11.99. ISBN 9781935934806.

KASHYAP, Keshni. Tina’s Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary. illus. by Mari Araki. Houghton Harcourt. Tr $18.95. ISBN 978-0-618-94519-1. ebook. $18.95. ISBN 978-0-547-60786-3.

KOVAC, Tommy. The Royal Historian of Oz. illus. by Andy Hirsch. SLG Publishing. pap. $14.95. ISBN 9781593622169.

KWITNEY, Alisa, et al. A Flight of Angels. illus. by Rebecca Guay. Vertigo. Tr $24.99. ISBN 9781401232009; pap. $17.99. ISBN 9781401221478.

L’ENGLE, Madeline. A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel. adapted by Hope Larson. illus. by adapter. Farrar/Margaret Ferguson. Tr $19.99. ISBN 978-0-374-38615-3.

LEPP, Royden. Rust Vol 1: Visitor in the Field. illus. by author. Archaia Entertainment. Tr $24.95. ISBN 978-1-936393-27-5.

LONG, Mark & Jim Demonakos. The Silence of Our Friends. illus. by Nate Powell. First Second. pap. $16.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-618-3.

MEREY, Ilike. a + e 4ever. illus. by author. Lethe Press. pap. $18. ISBN 978-1-59021-390-2.

MORRISON, Grant. Joe the Barbarian Deluxe Edition. illus. by Sean Murphy. Vertigo. Tr $29.99. ISBN 9781401229719.

MURAKAMI, Takashi. Stargazing Dog. illus. by author. NBM/ComicsLit. pap. $11.99. ISBN 978-1-56163-612-9.

NEEL, Julien. Secret Diary. Bk. 1. tr. from French by Carol Klio Burrell. illus. by author. (Lou! Series). Lerner/Graphic Universe. PLB $27.93. ISBN 978-0-7613-8776-3; pap. $8.95. ISBN 978-0-7613-8868-5; ebook $20.95. ISBN 978-1-4677-0099-3.

PETTY, JT. Bloody Chester. illus. by Hilary Florido. First Second. Tr $18.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-100-3.

PHAM, Thien. Sumo. First Second. pap. $14.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-581-0.

RIOUX, Jo. The Golden Twine. Bk. 1. illus. by author. (Cat’s Cradle Series). Kids Can. RTE $17.95. ISBN 978-1-55453-636-8; pap. $9.95. ISBN 978-1-55453-637-5.

ROZUM, John. Xombi. illus. by Fraser Irving. DC Comics. pap. $14.99. ISBN 9781401233464.

SHINKAI, Makoto. 5 Centimeters per Second. tr. from Japanese by Melissa Tanaka. illus. by Yukiko Seike. Vertical. pap. $18.95. ISBN 978-1-932234-96-1.

SIMONE, Gail. Bat girl Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection. illus. by Ardian Syaf. (The New 52!). DC Comics. Tr $22.99. ISBN 9781401234751; pap. $14.99. ISBN 9781401238148.

SMITH, Mark Andrew. Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors. Vol. 1. illus. by Armand Villavert. Image Comics. pap. $15.99. ISBN 9781607061151.

SNYDER, Scott. Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls. illus. by Greg Capullo. (The New 52!). DC Comics. Tr $24.99. ISBN 9781401235413.

TELGEMEIER, Raina. Drama. illus. by author. Scholastic/Graphix. Tr $23.99. ISBN 978-0-545-32698-8; pap. $10.99. ISBN 978-0-545-32699-5.

TENNAPEL, Doug. Cardboard. illus. by author. Scholastic/Graphix. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-0-545-41872-0; pap. $12.99. ISBN 978-0-545-41873-7.

THUNG, Diana. August Moon. illus. by author. Top Shelf. pap. $14.95. ISBN 978-1-60309-069-8.

TOMA, Rei. Dawn of the Arcana. Vol. 1. ISBN 978-1-4215-4104-4.
_____. Dawn of the Arcana. Vol. 2. ISBN 978-1-4215-4105-1.
ea vol: tr. from Japanese by Alexander O. Smith. illus. by author. Viz Media. pap. $9.99.

TOMORI, Miyoshi. A Devil and Her Love Song, Vol. 1. tr. from Japanese. illus. by author. Viz Media. pap. $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4215-4164-8.

WAID, Mark. Daredevil. Vol. 1. illus. by Paolo Manuel Rivera & Marcos Martin. Marvel Comics. pap. $15.99. ISBN 978-0-7851-5238-5.

WESTERFELD, Scott & Devin Grayson. Uglies: Shay’s Story. illus. by Steven Cummings. Del Rey. pap. $10.99. ISBN 978-0-345-52722-6.

WILSON, G. Willow. Mystic: The Tenth Apprentice. illus. by David Lopez. Marvel Comics. pap. $14.99. ISBN 978-0-7851-5608-6.

WOODING, Chris. Pandemonium. illus. by Cassandra Diaz. Scholastic/Graphix. Tr $22.99. ISBN 978-0-545-25221-8; pap. $12.99. ISBN 978-0-439-87759-6.

YANG, Gene, Michael Dante DiMartino, & Bryan Konietzko. Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise Part 1. ISBN 978-1-59582-811-8.
_____. Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise Part 2. ISBN 978-1-59582-875-0.
ea vol: illus. by Gurihiru. Dark Horse. pap. $10.99

Teen Summer Reading Programs website,

The main page of the ning-based website is already abuzz with comments and collaboration ideas. While the Pikes Peak Library District in Colorado Springs, CO, is “going with a tree logo — the t-shirt will have a tree and you can see the leaves and roots. It is very cool. We are trying to do all kinds of creative things,” the programming at Muskego Public Library in Muskego, WI, will be “focusing on different subcultures each week… a steampunk hat challenge, anime candy sushi, gothic sock puppets, and a zine writer’s workshop.” You have to be member to join the chat, so sign up (it’s free) and get in on the party.

Visit YALSA’s original post for complete details and guidelines and to see what other reading challenge participants are talking about. There’s always something going on over at The Hub!

The award was first created two years ago and honors nonfiction titles published for young people ages 12-18.

The 2013 finalists are:

Titanic: Voices from the Disaster (Scholastic) by Deborah Hopkinson, an intricate examination of that fateful night that incorporates stories from Titanic survivors as well as detailed facts.

Bomb: The Race to Build — and Steal — the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon (Roaring Brook) by Steve Sheinkin, an enthralling, suspenseful account of how the work of scientists, spies, and saboteurs resulted in the atomic bomb.

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 (Farrar) by Phillip Hoose, which explores a species of bird that migrates hundreds of thousands of miles over the course of its life.

Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal (Feiwel & Friends) by Karen Blumenthal, a nuanced portrait of the late entrepreneur and innovator that delves into both his life and his myriad accomplishments.

We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March (Peachtree) by Cynthia Levinson, a meticulously researched photo-essay that chronicles the narratives of four young people involved in the Birmingham Children’s March.

“The committee is very proud of the five finalists,” Angela Frederick, chair of YALSA’s Nonfiction Award committee told SLJ. “I think each author succeeded in telling a true story in a fascinating way, and that is what will attract teen readers. There were many wonderful nonfiction books published for teens this year, and the committee struggled to narrow it down to the five that were ultimately chosen.”

YALSA will host a reception honoring both the finalist authors and the winner, as well as YALSA’s Morris Award winner and finalists, at a reception from 10:30 am to noon on January 28 in room 606 of the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.

Members of the 2013 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults award committee are: Chair Angela Frederick, Nashville (TN) Public Library; Ruth Allen, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR; Roxy Ekstrom, Schaumburg (IL) Township Library; Angie Manfredi, Los Alamos (NM) County Library System; Judy Nelson, Pierce County Library System, Tacoma, WA; Maren Ostergard, King County Library System, Issaquah, WA; Laura Pearle, VennConsultants, Carmel, NY; Adela Peskorz, Metropolitan State University Library, Saint Paul, MN; Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington (VA) Public Library; Sara Morse, Nashville (TN) Public Library; and Gillian Engberg, Booklist, Chicago.

Sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the award recognizes a book written for young adults by a debut author.

The 2013 finalists are:

Wonder Show (Houghton Harcourt) by Hannah Barnaby, a dark tale of historical fiction about a teenager who joins a traveling sideshow as she searches for her father.

Love and Other Perishable Items (Knopf) by Laura Buzo, an unflinchingly honest story following a fifteen-year-old and her intense, but one-sided, crush on an older co-worker.

After the Snow (Feiwel & Friends) by S.D. Crockett, in which a teen boy searches for his family in a bleak, dystopian world of freezing temperatures, crowded cities, and a fascist government.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post (HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray) by emily m. danforth, a complex and poignant coming-of-age story of an adolescent girl, wrestling with the death of her parents and her own sexuality, who is sent to a conversion camp for gay teenagers.

Seraphina (Random) by Rachel Hartman, a fantasy about a girl who inhabits a world where dragons and humans uneasily coexist—and who is hiding a potentially devastating secret.

The finalists “may be first-time published authors, but they are writing with great polish and sophistication, and their books have themes or topics that are really relevant to teens’ lives,” Joy Kim, chair of YALSA’s Morris Award committee, told SLJ. Representing a wide range of topics and genres, the finalist list “reflects that teens have diverse reading interests,” she said.

The finalists and the winner will be honored at a reception hosted by YALSA, as well as YALSA’s Nonfiction Award finalists and winner, from 10:30 a.m. to noon on January 28 in room 606 of the Washington State Convention center in Seattle.

The award is named for William C. Morris, an influential pioneer in the world of publishing who advocated marketing books for children and young adults.

Members of the 2013 William C. Morris Award Committee are: Chair Joy Kim, Pierce County Library System, Tacoma, WA; Lee Catalano, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR; Diane Colson, Palm Harbor (FLA) Library; Michael Fleming, Pacific Cascade Middle School Library, Issaquah, WA; Sarah Holtkamp, Chicago Public Library; Shelly McNerney, Blue Valley West High School, Overland Park, KAN; Anne Rouyer, New York Public Library; Judy Sasges, Sno-Isle Libraries, Marysville, WA; Vicky Smith, Kirkus Reviews, South Portland, ME; Sandy Sumner, administrative assistant, Morehead (KY) State University Camden–Carroll Library; and Ilene Cooper, Booklist consultant, Chicago.

Scott Westerfeld, Photo by Samantha Jones

What are the next big trends for teenage readers? Fandom, contemporary fiction, Australian lit, and transmedia, according to experts leading panels on these subjects at the third biennial YALSA Young Adult Literature Symposium in St. Louis, MO, held November 2-4.

Fandom

Fandom was the focus of “YA Literature and Fan-Created Work,” a panel organized by Robin Brenner, teen librarian at the Brookline (MA) Public Library, and host of the graphic novel website No Flying, No Tights. Brenner was joined by panelists Aja Romano, fandom journalist at the web newspaper The Daily Dot, and Leslee Friedman of the Organization of Transformative Works, a group devoted to archiving fandom.

What is fandom? The community of fans that grows up around a shared interest such as a book, a TV show or a film, according to the panel. Teens who write fan fiction about a favorite book, create fan art based on a favorite movie, or dress like a favorite TV character are all participating in fandom.

Fandom also figured in “Make it Pop: How to Use Pop Culture in Your Library,” presented by Sarah Wethern, youth librarian at the Douglas County Library in Alexandria, MN, and Scott Rader, assistant youth services librarian at the Hays (KS) Public Library. The duo presented an entertaining survey of current teen pop culture interests, from the phenomenon of Bronies (teenage and adult male fans of the TV show My Little Pony) to Bad Lip Reading videos (spoof video clips of films and TV shows with humorous dubbing).

Scott Westerfeld (author of the “Leviathan” series, Simon Pulse) also celebrated fandom in the context of book illustration during his closing keynote. Reviewing the history of book imagery, Westerfeld honed in on the original Sherlock Holmes illustrations, which forever attached the “deerstalker” hat to the Holmes character, though the hat is never mentioned in the story. Westerfeld supplemented his talk by presenting examples of fan art, created by in response to favorite books.

Contemporary fiction

In their program “Get Real,” public librarians Angie Manfredi, Kelly Jensen, Kathryn Salo, and Andrea Sowers spoke about contemporary fiction, defined as any book set in the present. They discussed books published in the past three years.

In Manfredi’s view, contemporary fiction resonates because “seeing the reality of your life reflected back to you in books is incredibly empowering.” Salo shared the emotional impact that such contemporary titles as Boyfriends with Girlfriends (S&S, 2011) by Alex Sanchez (featuring diverse teens exploring their sexuality) and Tell Us We’re Home (Atheneum, 2011) by Marina Budhos (similar in mood to Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Delacorte, 2001), but featuring the daughters of maids and housekeepers) had on teens in her library.

How new does something have to be to be “contemporary?” Certainly not older than five years, according to Manfredi, who created a stir in the room and on Twitter when she told the audience not to refer to the TV character Veronica Mars while booktalking to teens. Why not? Because the Veronica Mars series (2004-2007) is already outdated.

Australian Literature

“Globalize Me! Young Adult Literature from Outside the U.S.” was presented by nonfiction writer Catherine M. Andronik (Stephen Colbert: A Biography, Greenwood, 2012; Copernicus: Founder of Modern Astronomy, Enslow, 2006) and Adele Walsh, program coordinator for the centre for youth literature at the state library of Victoria, Australia.

Walsh highlighted several Australian authors in her talk, including Leanne Hall (This Is Shyness and Queen Of The Night; both Text Publishing, 2010 & 2012) and Fiona Wood (Six Impossible Things, Pan Macmillan Australia, 2010). Attendees left the panel primed to read books by Australian YA author Vikki Wakefield (All I Ever Wanted, Text Publishing, 2011) as well as Saltwater Vampires (Penguin Australia, 2010) by Aussie Kirsty Eagar. More details on Walsh’s presentation are available online.

Transmedia

Jackie Parker, teen librarian at the Lynnwood Library, WA, and Rachel McDonald, teen librarian at the Washington’s Burien Library, talked about new ways of telling stories in “When a Book is More than Paper: Transmedia Trends in Young Adult Literature.”

“Transmedia” means more than an adaptation or book tie-in, the panelists said. It refers to a single unified story, told on multiple media, that avoids redundancy.

They highlighted an array of examples, from older titles given a modern treatment like iPoe (an interactive and illustrated Edgar Allan Poe Collection app) to original stories written to be a transmedia experience, such as The Survivors (Chafie Creative Group LLC, 2011) by Amanda Havard. While Parker and McDonald were enthusiastic about transmedia titles, they were also pragmatic—pointing out issues of accessibility and discussing how enhanced titles can, or cannot, be lent by libraries.

Presenter Kelly Jensen, associate librarian at Beloit, WI, Public Library, spoke for many attendess when explaining why the YALSA conference appeals. “Big conferences like ALA Annual are great but because they cover so many aspects of librarianship,” she said. The YALSA symposium offers something different–specialized “niche sessions” that one wouldn’t find elsewhere.

What did people discuss during all this socializing? One topic: How reading, by nature a solitary occupation, can also be a social one. Educational technology consultant Linda W. Braun’s Saturday morning session, “Social Reading: Inside the Ebook Book Discussions,” examined the ways that talking about books creates connection among readers. And while sharing one’s enthusiasm on social reading site Goodreads is terrific, those exchanges happen outside the book.

Enter social reading within Ereaders. Typically, reading an Ebook allows for highlights, note-taking, and sharing on Twitter and Facebook from within the book. Braun showed her audience iPad apps that take social reading a few steps further. First, she introduced two book apps—Wonders of the Universe by Brian Cox (a 3-D tour of the universe, which Braun sees as the future of nonfiction) and Cupcakes! (an app for creating virtual cupcakes; the future of cookbooks).

Braun then introduced two free reading apps—Inkling (allows for purchasing a chapter of a book at a time, the creation of reading groups, and private or public notes) and Kno (a textbook app that provides detailed sharing options perfect for study groups).

David Levithan speaks at the YALSA Lit Symposium in St. Louis. Photo by Emily Goodknight.

But the bulk of the discussion focused on the Subtext app. Subtext allows for the creation of groups, the easy purchase of one title for a group of readers, the side-loading of EPUB titles onto the app (including original student work, for example) and extensive sharing features. It is not only possible to highlight and add notes to the original text, the reader can also tag those notes, mark notes as spoilers, keep notes private, or turn off the notes feature altogether. Every attendee of the session left with a code granting access to a free copy of Steve Hamilton’s (Alex Award-winning) novel The Lock Artist (Minotaur Books, 2010) and the ability to join a reading group to begin November 10th.

This opens up myriad possibilities for both classroom and literature circles. Using Subtext, teachers and librarians can be right in the story with teen readers. Teachers are able to insert questions within the text and implement a setting that cloaks other student replies until the reader has posted themselves. An in-the-book discussion could level the playing field for students who are slow processors. They could read at their own pace at home, taking their time answering questions within the text, yet still feel part of the discussion.

There’s great potential for book club discussions as well. Book club members unable to attend their meetings could still participate in the discussion within the book. Other uses? Prepping for author visits, sharing creative writing projects, peer editing, sharing alternative endings–the list goes on. In sum, Subtext allows librarians to be part of the reading experience. It’s all about building relationships with teen patrons.

On Saturday afternoon, Rollie Welch, collections manager at the Cleveland Public Library, led the session “Classic Literature vs.21st Century Novels: Survival of the Fittest.” The purpose was to share ideas for persuading adults who work with teens to move beyond assigning or recommending classics that rarely appeal to teen readers.

Earlier this year, at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Welch led a pre-conference session in which the attendees chose the one book that every teen should be assigned to read in 2057. In other words, what contemporary YA books will survive as a classic? (At that session, it came down to a tie between Laurie Anderson’s Speak (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999) and Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief (Picador, 2005)).

The YA Lit Symposium session really got rolling when Welch shared 15 theme areas. For each area, he began with a classic novel typically assigned in school, then offered a contemporary novel and a nonfiction title on the same theme. Audience members had a wonderful time recommending alternatives and applauding their favorites. For example, for the theme of “Young Soldiers at War,” rather than assigning The Red Badge of Courage, why not try Craig Crist-Evans’s Amaryllis (Candlewick, 2003) or Evan Wright’s Generation Kill (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004)? In the Mystery category, rather than The Hound of the Baskervilles, consider Rick Yancey’s The Monstrumologist (S&S, 2010), or Richard Jones’s Jack the Ripper: The Casebook (Andre Deutsch, 2009). Rather than Robert Lipsyte’s The Contender (Harper & Row, 1967), try Paul Volponi’s Black and White (Viking, 2005) or Brian Shields’s The WWE Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to World Wrestling Entertainment (DK, 2009).

Welch believes that at least three on his list of classics will still be read and enjoyed by today’s teens–The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Even so, he offered Printz Award winner, Ship Breaker (Little, Brown 2010) by Paolo Bacigalupi as an alternative to the latter in the category of “Hero’s Journey of Self Discovery.”

The YA Lit Symposium is held every other year. The 2014 conference will be held in Austin, TX, over the Halloween weekend.

Angela Carstensen is Head Librarian and an Upper School Librarian at Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. She also blogs at Adult Books 4 Teens. Angela served on the Alex Awards committee for four years, chairing the 2008 committee, and chaired the first YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adult committee in 2009. Recently, she edited Outstanding Books for the College Bound: Titles and Programs for a New Generation (ALA Editions, 2011). Contact her via Twitter @AngeReads.

A face-to-face summit will take place January 23 and 24, 2013, just prior to the American Library Association 2013 Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, WA. Following that, the Forum will hold three virtual town halls, facilitated by Linda W. Braun, YALSA Immediate Past President, on March 19, April 16, and May 21, 2013. To stay connected via Twitter, use the hashtag #yalsaforum.

While any ideas relating to YALSA resources, using technology, or encouraging teen participation in libraries are encouraged, the 365 Days of YA Task Force also wants to hear about any program, service, display, or activity that has been a hit with your young adult patrons. Send all ideas to 365daysofya@gmail.com, and keep sending them through June 2013, when the task force wraps up and makes the 365 Days of YA calendar available via the YALSA website.

Photo courtesy of Thinkstockphotos.com

Once upon a time, a new blog discussing possible contenders for the annual Michael L. Printz Award for exemplary teen titles was born on SLJ.com. Now in its second year, Someday My Printz Will Come is back and ready to take on the challenge of speculating which literary gem will wear this year’s crown.

Bloggers and former Printz committee members Karyn Silverman, high school librarian and educational technology department chair at LREI, Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School, and Sarah Couri, director of library and information systems at Grace Church High School, both in New York City, return to analyze books published in 2012 and written specifically for a teen audience that might be considered the best in “literary merit.”

Bestowed annually by the American Library Association (ALA), the Printz Award differs from the more well-known Newbery Medal because it can go to a title that wasn’t originally published in the U.S. That and other aspects of the criteria and eligibility governing the Printz are expected to be the subject of debate on the blog.

While “Someday” started last year with a list of 35 possible contenders, combed from starred journal reviews and highly touted releases, this time Couri and Silverman will consider 60 books, and they foresee a rich and contentious conversation ahead. “We’re looking forward to being challenged and pushed, and hoping to run some guest or rebuttal posts as well,” says Silverman.

Debuting later this year is Someday’s Mock Printz component, called the Pyrite Printz, in which readers will get the chance to parallel the work of the actual committee, reading all of the shortlist titles and considering them against one another, followed by a vote to determine the winner. Silverman will run a Mock Printz in her own school, sharing her best practices and results along the way.

These teen lit mavens are up to the task before them and are looking forward to the challenge ahead. Couri states, “Our discussions last year were so passionate and really had me thinking. I can’t wait to get going!” Silverman agrees. “It forced me outside my own comfort zone, which makes me a better librarian, and often leads me to wonderful books I might have never read otherwise,” she says.