Penguin Books for Young Readers to give away award-winning books to new regular YALSA members

Contact: Stephanie Kuenn


Communications Specialist


312-280-2128


skuenn@ala.org
For Immediate Release


August 7, 2007


Penguin Books for Young Readers to give away


award-winning books to new regular YALSA members

CHICAGO - The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest growing division of the American Library Association (ALA), is looking for new regular members who want to "LOL @ your library." The first fifty new members to join YALSA and celebrate Teen Read Week(tm) will receive nine Michael L. Printz Award-winning titles courtesy of Penguin Books for Young Readers, a Teen Read Week Promotional Partner. To take advantage of this offer, members should visit
www.ala.org/teenread and click on "Join Us."

"Penguin Books for Young Readers is happy to partner with YALSA for Teen Read Week," said Doug Whiteman, president, Penguin Young Readers Group. "It is exciting for us to be able to put some of the very best YA books into the hands of new YALSA members to help give them a better grounding in this all-important niche, as well as more exposure to the Printz Award and what it means."

The books include:

  • 2007 Printz Honor Book "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green



  • 2006 Printz Winner "Looking for Alaska" by John Green



  • 2006 Printz Honor Book "John Lennon: All I Want is the Truth" by Elizabeth Partridge



  • 2004 Printz Honor Book "Fat Kid Rules the World" by K.L. Going



  • 2003 Printz Winner "Postcards from No Man's Land" by Aidan Chambers



  • 2003 Printz Honor Book "My Hearbeat" by Garret Freyman-Weyr



  • 2002 Printz Winner "A Step from Heaven" by An Na



  • 2001 Printz Honor Book "Many Stones" by Carolyn Coman



  • 2000 Printz Honor Book "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

YALSA members can access the Member's Only Web site, which allows them to see annotated versions of YALSA's book and media lists along with print versions of speeches by authors who have won the Michael L. Printz Award and Margaret A. Edwards Award. Members will also receive YALSA's quarterly electronic newsletter, "YAttitudes," and a free subscription to YALSA's quarterly journal, "Young Adult Library Services," as well as discounts for ALA products, books, conferences and will be eligible to win more than $35,000 in grants and awards that YALSA administers each year.

Now in its 10th year, Teen Read Week is a national literacy initiative aimed at teens, their parents, librarians, educators, booksellers and other concerned adults. The purpose of the event is to increase the number of teens who are regular readers and library users. It began in 1998 and is celebrated the third week in October. The 2007 theme is "LOL @ your library," which encourages teens to read something humorous or light, just for the fun of it. Teen Read Week 2007 will be October 14-21, 2007. For more information, visit the Teen Read Week Web site at
www.ala.org/teenread.

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.