YALSA announces 2009 Alex Awards

Contacts: Macey Morales/Jennifer Petersen


ALA Media Relations


312-280-4393/5043

For Immediate Release


January 26, 2009

DENVER - 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 2009 Alex Awards. The awards, sponsored by the Margaret Edwards Trust, were announced at the 2009 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver, Jan. 23 - 28, and will appear with full annotations in the March 15 issue of
Booklist magazine.

The 2009 Alex Award winners are:

  • “City of Thieves,” by
    David Benioff, published by
    Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (9780670018703)
  • “The Dragons of Babel,” by
    Michael Swanwick,
    a Tor Book published by
    Tom Doherty Associates (9780765319500)
  • “Finding Nouf,” by
    Zoë Ferraris published by
    Houghton Mifflin Company (9780618873883)
  • “The Good Thief,” by
    Hannah Tinti, published by
    Dial Press, a division of Random House (9780385337458)
  • “Just After Sunset: Stories,” by
    Stephen King, published by
    Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster (9781416584087)
  • “Mudbound,” by
    Hillary Jordan, published by
    Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (9781565125698)
  • “Over and Under,” by
    Todd Tucker, published by
    Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press (9780312379902)
  • “The Oxford Project,” by
    Stephen G. Bloom, photographed by Peter Feldstein, published by
    Welcome Books (9781599620480)
  • “Sharp Teeth,” by
    Toby Barlow, published by
    Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins (9780061430220)
  • “Three Girls and Their Brother,” by
    Theresa Rebeck, published by
    Shaye Areheart Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House (9780307394149)

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 pioneer in providing library services to young adults, who worked 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, which will be held in Chicago, July 9 - 15. The 2009 program will highlight how to booktalk the Alex winners to young adults. Authors also will discuss the impact the award has had on their careers.

The 2009 Alex Awards Committee is Chair Priscille Dando, Robert E. Lee High School, Fairfax County Public Schools, Lorton, Va.; Vicki Emery, admin asst., Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke Va.; Hope Baugh, Carmel (Ind.) Clay Public Library; Diane Colson, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, Fla. ; Jennifer Jung Gallant, Elyria (Ohio) Public Library system, Bay Village, Ohio; Sarah Hill, Paris (Ill.) Union School District #95; Jennifer Hubert Swan, Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, New York; Betsy Levine, San Francisco Public Library; Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, Troy, Mich.; Kaite Mediatore Stover, Kansas City (Mo.) Public Library; and Ian Chipman,
Booklist Consultant, Chicago, Ill.

For more than 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.

For information on the Alex Awards and other ALA literary awards, please visit
www.ala.org/yma.

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