YALSA names 2011 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults

For Immediate Release
Thu, 01/13/2011

Contact:

Jaclyn Finneke

Communications Manager

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)

800-545-2433 ext.2128

SAN DIEGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2011 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults list. The list for those ages 12-18 is drawn from the previous two years of spoken-word releases and presented annually at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. The full list can be viewed at www.ala.org/yalsa/audiobooks.

The 2011 Amazing Audiobooks list, composed of 31 fiction titles and one nonfiction, features recordings covering a wide range of interests for young adults from humor to historical fiction, romance to reality, along with a number of science fiction and fantasy offerings. While not all titles will appeal to every teen listener, there is a nice balance of titles that will appeal to listeners from across YALSA’s service age range.

In addition to the full list, the committee chose the following recordings as its top 10:

“The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had” by Kristin Levine, read by Kirby Heyborne. Listening Library, 2010.
“Dreamdark Silksinger” by Lani Taylor, read by Cassandra Campbell. Brilliance Audio, 2009.
“Finnikin of the Rock” by Melina Marchetta, read by Jeffrey Cummings. Brilliance Audio. 2010,
“The Knife of Never Letting Go” by Patrick Ness, read by Nick Podehl. Brilliance Audio, 2010.
“Muchacho” by Louanne Johnson, read by Ozzie Rodriguez. Listening Library, 2009.
“One Crazy Summer” by Rita Garcia Williams, read by Sisi Aisha Johnson. Recorded Books, 2010.
“Precious” by Sapphire, read by Bahni Turpin. Random House, 2009.
“Rapture of the Deep” by L. A. Meyer read by Katherine Kellgren. Listen and Live Audio, 2010.
“The Rock and the River” by Kekla Magoon, read by Dion Graham. Brilliance Audio, 2010.
“Will Grayson, Will Grayson” by John Green and David Levithan, read by MacLeod Andrews and Nick Podehl. Brilliance Audio, 2010.

"Our goal from the beginning of the year has been to create a list of outstanding titles for teens from which every listener could find something of interest, no matter their gender, background, which part of the age range they fit in or which genre they prefer to listen to,” said Chair Jamie Mayo. “We are very pleased with how the list took shape and hope that all listeners, whether new to audiobooks or longtime fans, will discover a handful of the gems from the last two years that will open up new worlds for them."

Members of the 2011 Amazing Audiobooks Committee are: Chair Jamie Mayo, Kansas City (Mo.) Public Library; Angela Craig, Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (N.C.) Library; Betsy Crone, Guilford County Schools, Greensboro, N.C.; Viola Dyas, Berkeley (Calif.) Public Library; Jennie A.D. Evans, Carrollton (Texas) Public Library; Sara Fitzgerald, Martin County (Fla.) Library System; Jennifer Lawson, San Diego County (Calif.) Library; Sasha Matthews Chesapeake (Va.) Public Library; and Julia Riley, Pflugerville (Texas) Community Library.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos and audiobooks 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.