YALSA announces 2006 Alex Awards

Contact:


Larra Clark/Macey Morales


ALA Media Relations


312-280-5043/4393

For Immediate Release



January 23, 2006

YALSA announces 2006 Alex Awards

(SAN ANTONIO) 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 2006 Alex Awards. The awards, sponsored by the Margaret Alexander Edwards Trust, were announced at the 2006 ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio, January 20-25, and will appear with full annotations in the February 15 issue of Booklist magazine.

The 2006 Alex Awards are:

Bates, Judy Fong. “
Midnight at the Dragon Café.” Counterpoint, $14 (1582431892)

Buckhanon, Kalisha. “
Upstate.” St Martins,
$19.95 (0312332688)

Gaiman, Neil. “
Anansi Boys.” William Morrow & Company, $26.95 (006051518x)

Gallaway, Gregory. “
As Simple as Snow.” Putnam, $23.95 (0399152318)

Ishiguro, Kazuo. “
Never Let Me Go.” Alfred A. Knopf, $24 (1400043395)

Martinez, A. Lee.
“
Gil’s All Fright Diner.” Tor, $12.95 (076531711)

Palwick, Susan.
“
The Necessary Beggar.” Tor, $ 24.95 (076531097x)

Rawles, Nancy. “
My Jim.” Crown, $19.95 (1400054001)

Scheeres, Julia. “
Jesus Land: A Memoir.” Counterpoint, $23 (152433380)

Walls, Jeannette. “
The Glass Castle: A Memoir.” Scribner, $25 (0743247531)

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 2006 program will take place in New Orleans, Saturday, June 25, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and will highlight how to booktalk the Alex winners to young adults.

The 2006 Alex Awards Committee is: Chair Ann C. Theis, Chesterfield County Public Library, Va.; Teresa A. Beck, Sno-Isle Libraries, Wash.; Priscille M. Dando, Robert E. Lee High School, Va.; Jennifer Jung Gallant, Elyria Public Library, Ohio; Holly B. Koelling, Bothell Regional Library, Wash.; Ellen Loughran, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Charlynn M. Osborne, Oxford Public Library, Mich.; Judy Sasges, Sno-Isle Libraries, Wash.; John Sexton, Ashland Branch Library, Wash.; and Gillian Engberg, Booklist, Chicago. Administrative Assistant: John Sexton, Ashland Branch Library, Wash.