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Contacts:  Larra Clark/Macey Morales

ALA Media Relations

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For Immediate Release                                                  

January 22, 2007        

YALSA announces 2007 Alex Awards

SEATTLE – The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has selected 10 adult books that will appeal to teen readers to receive the 2007 Alex Awards. The awards, sponsored by the Margaret Alexander Edwards Trust, were announced today at the 2007 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, and will appear with full annotations in the February 15 issue of Booklist magazine.

The 2007 Alex Awards are:

• Connolly, John. “The Book of Lost Things.” $23. Simon & Schuster/Atria.  (0743298853)
• Doig, Ivan. “The Whistling Season.” $25. Harcourt.  (0151012377)
• D’Orso, Michael. “Eagle Blue: A Team, A Tribe, and A High School Basketball Season in Arctic Alaska.” $23.95. Bloomsbury. (1582346232)
• Gruen, Sara. “Water for Elephants.” $23.95. Algonquin. (1565124995)
• Hamamura, John. “Color of the Sea.” $24.95. Thomas Dunne. (0312340737)
• Joern, Pamela Carter. “The Floor of the Sky.” $16.95. University of Nebraska.  (0803276311)
• Lewis, Michael. “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game.” $24.95. Norton. (0393061239)
• Mitchell, David. “Black Swan Green.” $23.95. Random House. (1400063795)
• Rash, Ron. “The World Made Straight.” $24. Henry Holt. (0805078665)
• Setterfield, Diane. “The Thirteenth Tale.” $26. Simon & Schuster/Atria.  (0743298020)

The Alex Awards were created to recognize that many teens enjoy and often prefer books written for adults, and to assist librarians in recommending adult books that appeal to teens. The award is named in honor of the late Margaret Alexander Edwards, fondly called “Alex” by her closest friends, a young adult specialist at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. She used adult books extensively with young adults to broaden their experience and enrich their understanding of themselves and their world.

In addition to selecting titles for the Alex Awards, the Alex Committee presents a program at the ALA Annual Conference. The 2007 program will take place in Washington, D.C., Saturday, June 24, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and will highlight how to booktalk Alex winners to young adults.

The 2007 Alex Awards Committee is: Chair Terry Beck, Sno-Isle Libraries, Wash.; Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, N.Y.;  Priscille M. Dando, Robert E. Lee High School, Fairfax County, Va.; Jennifer Jung Gallant, Elyria Public Library, Ohio;  Betsy Levine, San Francisco Public Library, Calif.; Charli M. Osborne, Oxford Public Library, Mich.; Victor Schill, Harris County Public Library, Texas; John Sexton, Ashland Branch Library, Ore.; Karlan Sick, New York; and Gillian Engberg, Booklist, Chicago. Administrative Assistant:  Judy Sasges, Sno-Isle Libraries, Wash.

For 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos, and audio books for teens. For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading, viewing and listening, go to www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists, or contact the YALSA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4390; or e-mail: yalsa@ala.org.