YALSA names 2019 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults

CHICAGO – The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2019 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults list.

The list consists of 39 titles; with 35 fiction and 3 nonfiction audiobooks, selected from 62 official nominations, which were posted and discussed in blogposts on The Hub.

The list is aimed towards young adults aged 12-18 and is drawn from the previous year of spoken-word releases. The committee listened to over 300 titles this year in their quest to choose a myriad of audiobooks that would appeal to all subsects of the teen audience. View the full list at http://www.ala.org/yalsa/amazing-audiobooks.

In addition to the full list, the blogging team chose the following titles as its top ten:

• Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, read by Yetide Badaki. Tantor Audio, 2018. 8 hours and 49 minutes; 7 discs. 978-1-9773-0242-7.
• Educated by Tara Westover, read by Julia Whelan. Random House, 2018. 12 hours, 10 minutes. 978-0-5255-2805-0.
• I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman, read by Nicole Lewis, Michael Crouch, and Sunil Malhotra. Listening Library, 2018. 7 hours, 29 minutes; 6 discs. 978-0-5256-3626-7.
• Lu by Jason Reynolds, read by Guy Lockard. Simon & Schuster Audio, 2018. 4 hours, 50 minutes; 4 discs. 978-1508263463.
• Quidditch Through the Ages by J.K. Rowling and Kennilworthy Whisp, read by Andrew Lincoln. Pottermore, 2018. 3 hours, 10 minutes. 978-1-7811-0990-8.
• Sadie by Courtney Summers, read by Rebecca Soler, Fred Berman, Dan Bittner, Gabra Zackman, and a Full Cast. Macmillan Audio, 2018. 7 hours, 57 minutes. 978-1-2502-1821-6.
• Sunny by Jason Reynolds, read by Guy Lockard. Simon & Schuster Audio, 2018. 3 hours 7 minutes. 978-1-5082-6347-0.
• The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by MT Anderson and Eugene Yelchin, read by Gildart Jackson. Dreamscape Media, 2018. 5 hours, 25 minutes. 9781974930388.
• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, read by Elizabeth Acevedo. HarperAudio, 2018.  3 hours, 30 minutes. 978-1-5385-0023-1.
• Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman, read by Greg Trembley. Audible Studios on Brilliance, 2018. 13 hours, 2 minutes; MP3 CD. 978-1-9786-1430-6.

The suggestion form for the 2020 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults list is open. If you’d like to suggest a title to the blogging team for consideration as a nominee, please fill out the form.

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. Learn more about YALSA’s other book and media lists here.

Members of the 2019 Amazing Audiobooks Blogging Team are: Coordinator Erin Durrett, Clinton-Macomb Public Library, Clinton Township, MI; Catherine Andronik, Brien McMahon High School, Norwalk, CT (Retired); Anna Dalin, OC Public Libraries, Garden Grove, CA; Joyce Fong, Toledo Lucas County Public Library, Toledo, OH; Brittany Garcia, Rancho Cucamonga Public Library, Rancho Cucamonga, CA; Sarah Hannah Gomez, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; Cyndi Hamann, Crystal Lake Public Library, Crystal Lake, IL; Samantha Jackson, Algoma Public Library, Algoma, WI; Amy Oelkers, Washington County Library - Oakdale Branch, Oakdale, MN; Kennedy Penn-O’Toole, Albany County Public Library, Laramie, WY; Erin Phemester, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL; Becky Proie, New Castle Public Library, New Castle, PA; Jessica Hilbun Schwartz, Louisville Public Library, Louisville, CO; Denise Tabscott, Harpeth Valley Elementary, Nashville, TN.

The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is to support library staff in alleviating the challenges teens face, and in putting all teens ‒ especially those with the greatest needs ‒ on the path to successful and fulfilling lives. 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 e-mail: yalsa@ala.org.