'Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon' wins 2013 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

For Immediate Release
Mon, 01/28/2013

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SEATTLE —“Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon,”written by Steve Sheinkin, has been named the 2013 winner of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, the first national award that honors the best nonfiction books for teens. The award was presented today by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) at the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting, held Jan. 25–29 in Seattle.

In a suspenseful combination of science and history, Sheinkin masterfully exposes the international race to develop an atomic weapon and bring an end to World War II. Period photographs and an abundance of primary sources make this well-researched, true-life spy thriller jump off the page.

“In readability, documentation and presentation, Bomb exemplifies the highest quality in nonfiction for young adults, and it as suspenseful as an international spy thriller,” said YALSA Nonfiction Award Chair Angela Frederick.

The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12–18) during a Nov. 1–Oct. 31 publishing year. Award winners are announced annually during the ALA Midwinter Meeting’s Youth Media Awards. The award will be presented to Steve Sheinkin at a reception in Seattle at 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 28, inroom 606 of the Washington State Convention Center.

2013 YALSA Nonfiction Award finalists, which were announced in December, include: “Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different,” written by Karen Blumenthal, published by Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group; “Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95,” written by Phillip Hoose, published by Farrar Straus Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group; “Titanic: Voices from the Disaster,” written by Deborah Hopkinson, published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic; and “We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March,” written by Cynthia Levinson, published by Peachtree Publishers.

The full list of official nominations for the award will be available online at www.ala.org/yalsa/nonfiction.

 

Members of the 2013 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults award committee are: Chair Angela Frederick, Nashville (Tenn.) Public Library; Ruth Allen, Multnomah County Library, Portland, Ore.; Roxy Ekstrom, Schaumburg (Ill.) Twp. Library; Angie Manfredi, Los Alamos (N.M.) County Library System; Judy Nelson, Pierce County Library System, Tacoma, Wash.; Maren Ostergard, King County Library System, Issaquah, Wash.; Laura Pearle, VennConsultants, Carmel, N.Y.; Adela Peskorz, Metropolitan State University Library, Saint Paul, Minn.; Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington (Va.) Public Library; Sara Morse, Nashville (Tenn.) Public Library; Gillian Engberg, Booklist, Chicago.

YALSA’s portfolio of book and media awards helps strengthen library services for and with teens by identifying quality, age appropriate resources for librarians and library workers to share with the teens in their communities.  For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading, viewing and listening, go to http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has worked to build the capacity of libraries and librarians to engage, serve and empower teens.  For more information about YALSA or to access national guidelines and other resources go to www.ala.org/yalsa, or contact the YALSA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4390; or email: yalsa@ala.org.

 

For more information on the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults and other ALA Youth Media Awards, please visitwww.ala.org/yma.