YALSA Announces 2003 Alex Awards

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Ten adult books that will appeal to teen readers have been selected to receive the 2003 Alex Awards.
The Alex Award Committee of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) selected the books.
They are being announced by YALSA and
Booklist as part of National Library Week, April 7-12, 2003.
Nominate a title for 2004.

The titles are:

  • Barry, Lynda. One Hundred Demons. Sasquatch, $24.95 (0-57061-337-0).
  • Conroy, Pat.
    My Losing Season.
    Doubleday/Nan A Talese, $27.95 (0-385-48912-9)
  • Ferris, Timothy. Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary Peril. Simon & Schuster, $26 (0-684-86579-3)
  • Fforde, Jasper.
    The Eyre Affair. Viking, $23.95 (0-670-03064-3)
  • Lawson, Mary. Crow Lake. Dial, $23.95 (0-385-33611-X); Bantam, paper, $12.95 (0-385-33767-9).
  • Malloy, Brian.
    The Year of Ice. St. Martin’s, $22.95 (0-312-28948-0).
  • Otsuka, Julie.
    When the Emperor Was Divine. Knopf, $18 (0-375-41429-0).
  • Packer, Ann. The Dive from Clausen’s Pier. Knopf/Borzoi, $24 (0-375-41282-4); Vintage, paper, $14 (0-375-72713-2).
  • Southgate, Martha. The Fall of Rome. Scribner, $23 (0-684-86500-9); paper, $12 (0-743-22721-2).
  • Weisberg, Joseph.
    10th Grade. Random, $23.95 (0-375-50584-9); paper, $11.95 (0-8129-6662-7).

“The ten titles, chosen by the 2003 Alex Awards Committee, represent outstanding adult fiction and non-fiction books that will appeal to a broad cross-section of teen readers,” said Deborah Taylor, co-chair of the Alex committe.

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 experiences and enrich their understanding of themselves and their world.

An annotated list of the Alex Award winners is available on the YALSA “for members only” Web site, in the April 1 issue of
Booklist, and in the 2002 edition of
ALA’s Guide to Best Reading.
The list without annotations will be available April 7 on the YALSA Web site:

www.ala.org/yalsa .

The 2003 Alex Award Committee: Co-chairs Deborah Taylor, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD, and David Mowery, Brooklyn (NY) Public Library; Michael Cart, Chico, CA; Betty Carter, Coppell, TX; Jack Forman, San Diego (CA) Mesa College Library; Pamela Spencer Holley, Virginia Beach, VA; Bonnie Kunzel, New Jersey State Library, Trenton, NJ; Susan Riley, Mount Kisco (NY) Public Library; Judy Sasges, Sno-Isle Regional Library, Marysville WA; Stephanie Zvirin, consultant,
Booklist, Chicago, IL.

For additional information contact the YALSA Office by e-mail at

yalsa@ala.org , or by phone at 1-800-545-2433, extension 4390.