Teens vote for their favorite young adult books

Contact: Nichole Gilbert


312-280-4387

ngilbert@ala.org

For Immediate Release


November 14, 2003



Teens vote for their favorite young adult books

Teen readers across the country voted for their favorite books for the first annual Teens' Top Ten (TTT), sponsored by The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The vote took place during Teen Read Week October 19 - 25, 2003 and gave teens an opportunity to voice their choice of the best new young adult books.




TTT is a part of YALSA's YA Galley Project, which facilitates access to advance copies of young adult books to national teen voting groups. Five teen voting groups appointed by YALSA's YA Galley Committee as official Teens' Top Ten readers evaluated books that were published from November 2002 to October 2003, and created a list of 35 nominations for the best new books for young adults. Teen voters then cast ballots for their ten favorites creating the first annual Teens' Top Ten booklist of the best new books for young adults.




YA Galley groups include: the MLHS Booktalkers at Medical Lake High School in Medical Lake, Wash.; the Teen Advisory Board at Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, In.; the Teen Advisory Board: Readers R' Us at Wilson Middle School in Plano, Texas; the Teen Advisory Council at B. B. Comer Memorial Library in Sylacauga, Ala.; and the Teen Review Board at East Lansing Public Library in East Lansing, Mich.




In addition to the Teens' Top Ten, other teens across the country were encouraged to vote for their favorite young adult books via the Internet. Over 1,700 online ballots were cast and tabulated separately from the TTT vote. The online vote also took place during Teen Read Week, and each voter chose three personal favorites, which contributed to the development of an alternative top ten list of the best new books for young adults.




Four titles appear on both the TTT and popular teen vote lists: "The Second Summer of the Sisterhood" by Ann Brashares; "Abhorsen" by Garth Nix; "Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale" by Holly Black; and "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke.

Teens selected the following:




YA Galley Groups


1. "Faerie Wars" by Herbie Brennan, (Bloomsbury, 2003) Fantasy


2. "What Happened to Lani Garver?" by Carol Plum-Ucci, (Harcourt, 2002)


Mystery


3. "Abhorsen" by Garth Nix, (HarperCollins, 2003) Fantasy


4. "The First Part Last" by Angela Johnson,(Simon & Schuster, 2003) Realistic


5. "Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale" by Holly Black, (Simon & Schuster, 2002)


Fantasy


6. "The Second Summer of the Sisterhood" by Ann Brashares,


(Delacorte/Random House, 2003) Realistic


7. "After" by Francine Prose, (HarperCollins, 2003) Realistic.


8. "Storm Catchers" by Tim Bowler, (McElderry/S & S) Mystery.


9. "Once Upon a Marigold" by Jean Ferris, (Harcourt, 2002) Fantasy.


10. "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke, (Chicken House/Scholastic, 2002)


Fantasy

Popular Teen Vote


1. "A Wizard Alone: Young Wizards Book 6" by Diane Duane, (Harcourt,


2002) Fantasy.


2. "The Second Summer of the Sisterhood" by Ann Brashares,


(Delacorte/Random House, 2003) Realistic


3. "Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale" by Holly Black,(Simon & Schuster, 2002).


Fantasy


4. "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke, (Chicken House/Scholastic, 2002).


Fantasy


5."The True Meaning of Cleavage" by Mariah Fredericks, (Atheneum/S & S,


2003). Realistic.


6. "Abhorsen" by Garth Nix, (HarperCollins, 2003) Fantasy


7. "The Book of Wizardry: The Apprentice's Guide to the Secrets of the


Wizards' Guild" by Cornelius Rumstuckle, (Llewellyn, 2003). Nonfiction.


8. "Dead Girls Don't Write Letters" by Gail Giles, (Roaring Brook, 2003)


Mystery


9. "True Confessions of a Heartless Girl" by Martha Brooks, (Melanie Kroupa


Books/Farrar Straus Giroux, 2003) Realistic.


10. "America" by E. R. Frank, (Atheneum/S & S, 2002) Realistic

TTT is coordinated by YALSA's YA Galley Committee whose members include Diane P. Monnier, chair; Edith Cummings; Tracey Firestone; Paulette M. Goodman; Lynn Kaminski; Mary F. Long; Sydna Wexler; and Cathi Dunn MacRae, Ex-Officio Member. Corporate sponsorship for the project is provided by Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA).


For further information on the TTT project, visit YALSA's Teen Reading web site at
www.ala.org/teenread.