Sex Is . . . | What Makes a Family? | Magic in the Real World | Anyone Can Play
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest-growing division of the American Library Association (ALA), today announced its 2008 list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (PPYA). The list, drawn from 189 official nominations, is presented annually at the ALA Midwinter Meeting.
“Teens love to read thematic lists. This year’s lists will be popular with a wide range of teen readers,” said J. Marin Younker, committee chair. “There is everything from the hot topic of sex to an update of the well-read PPYA sports list from 1999. Also added to the mix are titles about the many forms of family and books for the obsessed fantasy fan. Enjoy!”
Members of the Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Committee are: J. Marin Younker, chair, Sno-Isle Libraries, Marysville, Wash.; Karen E. Brooks-Reese, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Dr. Allan O’Grady Cuseo, Bishop Kearney-Golisano High School Library, Rochester, N.Y.; Kristin L. Fletcher-Spear, Glendale (Ariz.) Public Library; Jane Ellen Gibson, Seattle (Wash.) Library); Alison M. Hendon, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library; Todd Krueger, Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, Md.; Kathryn Olson, Hoover Middle School, San Francisco (Calif.); Ann Perrigo, Allegan (Mich.) Public Library; Susan Person, Lacey Timberland Library, Wash.; Nancy Reich, Los Angeles (Calif.) Unified School District; Caryn G. Sipos, La Center, Wash.; Jillian Subach, Boise (Id.) Public Library; Carlisle Kraft Webber, Bergen County Cooperative Library System, Hackensack, N.J.; Snow Wildsmith, Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County(N.C.) and Melissa Rabey, administrative assistant, Frederick County Public Libraries, Frederick, Md.Fiction and nonfiction books for teens about our favorite taboo subject, sex. Committee chair Kristin Fletcher-Spear says “Teens have always been and will always be interested in sex. This list explores teens' favorite obsession.”
Kristin Fletcher-Spear, Chair
Karen Brooks-Reese
Allan O’Grady Cuseo
Todd Krueger
Caryn Sipos
Carlie Webber
Snow Wildsmith
Marin Younker
Barnes, Derrick. The Making of Dr. Truelove. 2006. Simon Pulse, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-4169-14396). Diego will do anything to get his girl Roxy back.
Behrens, Andy. All the Way. 2007. Puffin, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-14-240833-9). Nine hundred miles of highway. Destination: Hooking up with an online friend.
Blume, Judy. Forever. 2007. Simon Pulse, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-4169-3400-4). Nothing lasts forever.
Brian, Kate. The Virginity Club. 2005. Simon Pulse, $5.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-4169-0346-8). Purity: Everyone has a different definition.
Burgess, Melvin. Doing It. 2006. Henry Holt & Company, $6.95 (ISBN13: 978-0-8050-8079-7). Three best friends are all trying to get some.
Cabot, Meg. Ready or Not. 2007. HarperTeen, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-06-072452-8). Would you want the media to know the state of your virginity?
Davidson, Dana. Played. 2007. Jump at the Sun, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-7868-3691-8). He never should have taken that bet.
Ha, Thu-Huong. Hail Caesar. 2007. PUSH, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-439-89026-7). The player gets played.
Hartinger, Brent. The Order of the Poison Oak. 2006. HarperTeen, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-06-056732-3). This one time, at burn camp…
Kazumi, Maki. Desire. 2004. Digital Manga Publishing, $12.95 (ISBN13: 978-1-56970-979-5). Boys' love. In the bed. In the shower.
Klause, Annette Curtis. Blood and Chocolate. 1999. Laurel-Leaf, $6.50 (ISBN13: 978-0-440-22668-0). Vivian falls for a "meatboy" and her pack doesn't understand why.
Levithan, David and Rachel Cohn. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. 2007. Knopf, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-375-83533-9). One night changes every effing thing.
The Little Black Book for Girlz: A Book on Healthy Sexuality. 2006. Annick Press, $8.95 (ISBN13: 978-1-55037-954-9). Questions answered, lessons learned. For girls, by girls.
Lockhart, E. Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything. 2007. Delacorte, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-385-73282-6). A metamorphosis teaches Gretchen everything she never wanted to know about boys.
Medina, Nico. The Straight Road to Kylie. 2007. Simon Pulse, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-4169-3600-8). If Jonathan is out and proud, why is he sleeping with a girl?
Pardes, Bronwen. Doing it Right: Making Smart, Safe, and Satisfying Choices About Sex. 2007. Simon Pulse, $14.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-4169-1823-3). If you're thinking about it, you might as well get your facts straight.
Ruditis, Paul. Rainbow Party. 2005. Simon Pulse, $12.95 (ISBN13: 978-1-4169-0235-5). Sometimes a party is no fun.
Scott, Elizabeth. Bloom. 2007. Simon Pulse, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-4169-2683-2). Lauren puts up with a boyfriend who won't put out.
Wallington, Aury. Pop! 2006. Razorbill, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-59514-092-0). Marit and Jamie are friends with benefits.
Watase, Yuu. Absolute Boyfriend, Volume 1. 2006. VIZ, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-4215-0016-4). Riiko gets the perfect boyfriend. Too bad he's a robot.
Does a family have to be blood or legally related? Can a tribe or a gang be a family? Fiction and nonfiction about all kinds of family. This list offers fiction and nonfiction titles about all kinds of families. Committee chair Dr. Allan O’Grady Cuseo says, “This list highlights a wide variety of family experiences.”
Allan O’Grady Cuseo, Chair
Jane Gibson
Alison Hendon
Kathryn Olson
Susan Person
Nancy Reich
Jillian Subach
Alvarez, Julia. Finding Miracles. 2006. Laurel-Leaf, $6.50 (ISBN13: 978-0-553-49406-8). Imagine not knowing your birth parents or your birthday.
Bauer, Cat. Harley, Like a Person. 2007. Knopf, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-375-83735-7). Harley has always believed she was adopted — and then one day she finds proof.
Cohn, Rachel. The Steps. 2004. Aladdin, $4.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-689-87414-7). Everything takes on a new meaning when Annabel visits her father’s new family.
Ferris, Jean. Of Sound Mind. 2004. Sunburst, $6.95 (ISBN13: 978-0-374-45584-2). It’s not until Theo meets Ivy that he learns to stop resenting his deaf family.
Frost, Helen. Keesha’s House. 2007. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $8.00 (ISBN13: 978-0-374-40012-5). When you can’t stay with your family, can you find your own?
Headley, Justina Chen. Nothing but the Truth (And a Few White Lies). 2007. Little, Brown, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-316-01131-0). Summer math camp is Patty’s best escape from her overbearing Taiwanese mom.
Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last. 2004. Simon Pulse, $5.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-689-84923-7). You have to grow up fast when you’re a single teen father.
Kantor, Melissa. If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where’s My Prince? 2007. Hyperion, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-7868-0961-5). Lucy has a stepmother and two stepsisters, but they definitely don’t feel like family.
Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. 2005. Penguin, $16.00 (ISBN13: 978-0-14-303640-1). Lily Owen finds her place with help from the Calendar sisters.
Kingsolver, Barbara. The Bean Trees. 1998. Harper Torch, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-06-109731-7). On a journey out West, Marietta learns what it means to belong.
Marchetta, Melina. Saving Francesca. 2006. Knopf, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-375-82983-3). Depression shakes the foundation of Francesca’s family.
Myers, Walter Dean. Bad Boy: A Memoir. 2002. Amistad, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-06-447288-3). Sometimes a bad boy grows up to become a popular author.
Patterson, James. Maximum Ride: School’s Out—Forever. 2007. Little, Brown, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-316-06796-6). Family gives you wings.
Perkins, Mitali. Monsoon Summer. 2006. Laurel-Leaf, $6.50 (ISBN13: 978-0-440-23840-9). A summer in India helps Jasmin understand her dual heritage.
Reinhardt, Dana. A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life. 2007. Wendy Lamb Books, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-375-84691-5). Simone deals with boys, parties and meeting her birth mother.
Rottman, S.L. Shadow of a Doubt. 2003. Peachtree, $7.95 (ISBN13: 978-1-56145-354-2). Murder reunites a family.
Schraff, Anne. Lost and Found. 2007. Scholastic, $3.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-439-89839-3). A Bluford High student confronts the father who abandoned her family.
Sones, Sonya. One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies. 2005. Simon Pulse, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-4169-0788-6). Everyone knows her famous father — except Ruby.
Triana, Gaby. Cubanita. 2006. Rayo, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-06-056022-5). Isabel wishes her mother would stop obsessing about Cuba and act more American.
Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle: A Memoir. 2006. Scribner, $15.00 (ISBN13: 978-0-7432-4754-2). A chaotic life feels normal when that’s all you know.
Wittlinger, Ellen. Zigzag. 2005. Simon Pulse, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-689-84998-5). Imagine a long road trip with two obnoxious cousins.
Woodson, Jacqueline. Miracle’s Boys. 2006. Puffin, $5.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-14-240602-1). Three orphan brothers struggle to keep their family together.
Zeises, Lara M. Anyone But You. 2007. Laurel-Leaf, $6.50 (ISBN13: 978-0-440-23858-4). When you’ve made your own family, what do you do when it starts to change?
What would life be like if magic really existed? The titles on this list explore our world, with a fantastical twist. “We usually think of fantasy as things that could never happen, especially not to people like us,” says Karen Brooks-Reese, committee chair. “Discover the magical worlds all around you with the books on this list.”
Karen Brooks-Reese, Chair
Kristin Fletcher-Spear
Jane Gibson
Alison Hendon
Kathryn Olson
Ann Perrigo
Caryn Sipos
Snow Wildsmith
Barnes, Jennifer Lynn. Tattoo. 2007. Delacorte, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-385-73347-2). Magic at the mall.
Black, Holly. Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie. 2005. Simon Pulse, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-689868-23-8). Val runs away to an underground world filled with junkies, homeless teens, and trolls.
Card, Orson Scott. Magic Street. 2006. Del Ray, $14.95 (ISBN13: 978-0-345-41690-2). Mack can make dreams come true—and wishes he couldn’t.
Chima, Cinda Williams. The Warrior Heir. 2007. Hyperion, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-7868-3917-9). Jack forgets his medicine and discovers his magic.
De Lint, Charles. The Blue Girl. 2006. Puffin, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-14-240545-1). Imogene’s high school is infested with creatures only she can see.
Friesner, Esther. Temping Fate. 2007. Puffin, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-14-240848-3). Summer jobs can be horrible, especially if your bosses are gods and goddesses.
Fünke, Cornelia. Inkheart. 2005. Scholastic Paperbacks, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-439-70910-1).
Words can change worlds.
Gaiman, Neil. Neverwhere. 1998. Avon, $10.95 (ISBN13: 978-0-380-78901-6). Richard discovers what’s really under London.
Hoffman, Nina Kiriki. A Fistful of Sky. 2004. Ace, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-441-01177-3). A magical inheritance turns out to be a curse.
Horowitz, Anthony. Raven’s Gate: The Gatekeepers, Book One. 2006. Scholastic Paperbacks, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-439-68009-7). Matt’s new town is hiding a deadly secret.
Johnson, Maureen. Devilish. 2007. Razorbill, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-59514-132-3). Instant popularity: too good to be true?
Jones, Diana Wynne. Deep Secret. 2002. Starscape, $5.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-7653-4247-8). Who’d look for a wizard’s apprentice at a SF convention?
Lackey, Mercedes and Ellen Guon. Bedlam’s Bard. 2006. Baen, $3.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-4165-3282-8). Magic and elves return to L.A.
Larbalestier, Justine. Magic or Madness. 2006. Razorbill, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-59514-070-8). Witchcraft runs in the family. Use it or lose it.
Mlynowski, Sarah. Bras and Broomsticks. 2005. Delacorte, $8.95 (ISBN13: 978-0-385-73184-3). Rachel’s little sister is a witch. How unfair!
Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief. 2006. Miramax, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-7868-3865-3). Underdog Percy is the only one who can stop a war between the gods.
Swendson, Shanna. Enchanted, Inc. 2005. Ballantine, $12.95 (ISBN13: 978-0-345-48125-2). Seeing through magic is a job requirement.
Vande Velde, Vivian. Now You See It . . . 2006. Magic Carpet Books, $6.95 (ISBN13: 978-0-15-205461-8). These sunglasses reveal more than they hide.
Westerfeld, Scott. Midnighters: The Secret Hour. 2004. Eos, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-06-0519537). In the twenty-fifth hour, anything is possible.
Yolen, Jane and Adam Stemple. Trollbridge: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fairy Tale. 2007. Starscape, $5.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-7653-5284-2). Twelve dairy princesses, three rocking brothers, and one trollbridge.
Yoshizumi, Wataru. Ultra Maniac Volume 1. 2005. VIZ Media, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-59116-917-8). The new student is a witch!
Read fiction and nonfiction about all sorts of sports. Nancy Reich, committee chair, comments “These titles contain the action, teamwork and tough choices that make sports exciting for competitors and spectators.”
Nancy Reich, Chair
Todd Krueger
Ann Perrigo
Susan Person
Jillian Subach
Carlie Webber
Marin Younker
Andora, Anthony. Rhysmyth. Illus. by Lincy Chan. 2007. TokyoPOP, $9.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-4278-0088-6). There’s a sport even for the clumsy.
Carey, Mike. Re-Gifters. Illus. by Sonny Liew and Marc Hempel. 2007. Minx, $9.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-4012-0371-9). To kick her way to the top, Jen might have to crush her crush.
Colton, Larry. Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn. 2001. Grand Central, $14.95 (ISBN13: 978-0-446-67755-4). Up close and personal look at girls’ hoops.
De La Pena, Matt. Ball Don’t Lie. 2007. Delacorte, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-385-73425-7). Basketball might be Sticky's ticket off the streets.
Deuker, Carl. High Heat. 2005. HarperTeen, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-06-057248-8). Shane can’t take the mound after beaning a rival player.
Feinstein, John. Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery. 2006. Yearling, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-553-49460-0). A scandal during March Madness.
FitzGerald, Dawn. Soccer Chicks Rule. 2007. Square Fish, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-312-37662-8). Should politics and sports mix?
Hamilton, Bethany with Sheryl Berk and Rick Bundschuh. Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board. 2006. MTV, $12.00 (ISBN13: 978-1-4165-0346-0). After a shark attack, Bethany returns to ride the waves.
Hawthorn, Rachel. The Boyfriend League. 2007. HarperTeen, $5.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-06-113837-9). Jason is Dani's top draft choice, but she's not supposed to pick him.
Hughes, Pat. Open Ice. 2007. Laurel-Leaf, $6.50 (ISBN13: 978-0-553-49444-0). Injuries may keep Nick off the ice for good.
Konomi, Takeshi. Prince of Tennis Volume 1. 2004. VIZ Media, $7.95 (ISBN13: 978-1-59116-435-7). Ryoma serves up humiliation to his older rivals.
Lipsyte, Robert. Raiders Night. 2007. HarperTeen, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-06-059948-5). What secrets will Matt keep to make it to the big time?
Lupica, Mike. Heat. 2006. Puffin, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-14-240757-8). Family tragedy jeopardizes a baseball season.
Miller, Timothy. NASCAR Now! 2006. Firefly Books, $24.95 (ISBN13: 978-1-55407-148-7). Imagine spending more than one million bucks a year on tires!
Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. Dairy Queen. 2007. Graphia, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-618-86335-8). Girls can play football, too.
Rottman, S.L. Head Above Water. 2003. Peachtree, $6.95 (ISBN13: 978-1-56145-238-5). Will Skye sink or swim?
Scott, Kiernan. I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader. 2007. Puffin, $7.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-14-240910-7). Hair color shouldn’t be the only requirement.
Skate and Destroy: The First Twenty Five Years of Thrasher Magazine. 2006. Universe Publishing, $32.50 (ISBN13: 978-0-7893-1386-7). Sex, drugs, attitude, and sk8ing.
Takanashi, Mitsuba. Crimson Hero Volume 1. 2005. VIZ Media, $8.99 (ISBN13: 978-1-4215-0140-6). She may be a star volleyball player, but she still needs a team.
Tomlinson, Joe with Ed Leigh. Extreme Sports: In Search of the Ultimate Thrill. 2004. Firefly, $19.95 (ISBN13: 978-1-55297-992-1). You’ve gotta see ‘em to believe ‘em.
Volponi, Paul. Black and White. 2006. Puffin, $6.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-14-240692-2). Being a star athlete doesn’t mean you’re above the law.
Wallace, Rich. Wrestling Sturbridge. 2001. Laurel-Leaf, $5.99 (ISBN13: 978-0-679-88555-9). In a town where wrestling is king, it’s tough to be second on the depth chart.