Best Books for Young Adults honors 84 books

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has announced its 2004 annual recommended list of Best Books for Young Adults.
The list was released during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Diego, January 9-14.

The 15-member committee narrowed the list from over 900 submissions to 207 official nominations meeting the criteria of both good literary quality and popular reading appeal for teens, ages 12-18.
The 207 nominations alone equaled 49,119 pages of reading for this very dedicated committee.
Teens attended special sessions to share their opinions with the committee at two ALA conferences and submitted their input throughout the year through committee members.
The 84 winning titles make up an extremely diverse list that includes graphic novels, adult books, and books from small presses.
Science fiction and fantasy titles are prominently featured, and many high-quality, appealing nonfiction titles round out the list.

Eleven books received a unanimous vote from the committee:
“Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case” by Chris Crowe chronicles the events that helped to trigger the Civil Rights movement; "A Northern Light" by Jennifer Donnelly retells the stroy of the true murder that inspired "An American tragedy" as seen through the eyes of a teenage girl; “Across the Nightingale Floor: Tales of the Otori, Book One” by Lian Hearn is a magical tale that takes place in Ancient Japan; “The First Part Last” by Angela Johnson relates the story of a teenage father struggling to do right by his baby daughter; “Boy Meets Boy” by David Levithan presents an ideal world where sexual prejudices are nonexistent; “The Usual Rules” by Joyce Maynard touchingly portrays the aftermath of 9-11 through the eyes of a teenaged girl who has lost her mother in the World Trade Center; “Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship's Boy” by L.A. Meyer is the swashbuckling adventure story of a girl who transforms herself to join the crew of a British warship; “An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793” by Jim Murphy is gripping nonfiction on a very engaging topic; “East” by Edith Pattou retells the fable East of the Sun, West of the Moon with a fresh voice and unforgettable characters; “Milkweed” by Jerry Spinelli shows the stark suffering and playful optimism of a boy trying to survive a Polish ghetto during the Holocaust;
and “Deep” by Susanna Vance
allies two very different teenage girls when they encounter a ruthless modern-day pirate.

Top Ten

  • Brooks, Martha. “True Confessions of a Heartless Girl.” Farrar, Straus &
    Giroux/Melanie Kroupa Books, $16.00 (0-374-37806-1)
  • Donnelly, Jennifer.
    “A Northern Light.” Harcourt, $17.00 (0-15-216705-6)
  • Haddon, Mark. “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A Novel.” Random House/Doubleday, $22.95 (0-385-50945-6)
  • Johnson, Angela. “The First Part Last.” Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $15.95 (0-689-84922-2
  • Levithan, David. “Boy Meets Boy.” Random House/Alfred A. Knopf, $15.95 (0-375-82400-6)
  • Maynard, Joyce. “The Usual Rules.” St. Martin’s Press, $24.95 (0-312-24261-1)
  • Pattou, Edith. “East.” Harcourt Children’s Books, $18.00 (0-15-204563-5)
  • Rapp, Adam. “33 Snowfish.” Candlewick Press, $15.99 (0-7636-1874-8)
  • Stroud, Jonathan. “The Amulet of Samarkand: Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book One.”
    Hyperion Books for Children/Miramax, $17.95 (0-7868-1859-X)
  • Thompson, Craig. “Blankets: An Illustrated Novel.” Top Shelf Productions, $29.95 (1-891830-43-0)

Members of the 2003 Best Books for Young Adults committee are:

Kimberly L. Paone, chair, Free Public Library of Elizabeth (N.J.); Leslie A. Acevedo, Flint (Mich.) Public Library; Angelina Benedetti, King County Library System, Issaquah, Wash.; Edith E. H. Cummings, Allen County Public Library, Ft. Wayne, Ind.; Cindy Dobrez, Harbor Lights School, Holland, Mich; Betsy J. Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Calgary, Canada; Diana Tixier Herald, The Center for Adolescent Reading, Grand Junction, Colo.; Jennifer Hubert, Little Red School House, New York City; Kathleen T. Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, D.C.; Betsy J. Levine, San Francisco Public Library; Cindy Lombardo, Tuscarawas County Library, New Philadelphia, Ohio; Richie Partington, Richie’s Picks, Sebastopol, Calif.; Adela Peskorz, Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, Minn; Karen J. Tannenbaum, Evansville (Ind.) Vanderburgh Public Library; Cheryl Karp Ward, East Hartford (Conn.) High School; Gillian Engberg, consultant,
Booklist, Chicago; Sharon Rawlins, administrative assistant, Piscataway (NJ) Public Library.

For more information, contact the YALSA office by phone at 800-545-2433 x 4390 or e-mail,
yalsa@ala.org .

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi –
Purple Hibiscus, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, ISBNTrd. 1-56512-387-5, 2003, $23.95

Bell, Hilari –
The Goblin Wood, HarperCollins/Eos, ISBNTrd. 0-06-051371-3, ISBNlib. 0-06-051372-1, 2003, $16.99/$18.89

Bird, Eugenie –

Fairie-Ality: The Fashion Collection from the House of Ellwand , Candlewick

Press, ISBNTrd. 0-7636-1413-0, 11/2002, $40.00

Bray, Libba –
A Great and Terrible Beauty, Random House, Inc./Delacorte, ISBNTrd. 0-385-73028-4, ISBNlib. 0-385-90161-5, 2003, $16.95/$18.99

Brennan, Herbie –
Faerie Wars, Bloomsbury, ISBNTrd. 1-58234-810-3, 2003, $17.95

Brooks, Kevin –
Lucas, Scholastic/Chicken House, ISBNTrd. 0-439-45698-3, 2003, $16.95

Brooks, Martha –
True Confessions of a Heartless Girl, Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Melanie Kroupa Books, ISBNTrd. 0-374-37806-1, 2003, $16.00

Buckingham, Dorothea N. –
Staring Down the Dragon, Sydney Press, ISBNpbk. 0-9724577-3-9, 2003, $10.95

Burt, Guy –
Sophie, Random House/Ballantine Books, ISBNTrd. 0-345-44659-3, 2003, $12.95

Calhoun, Dia –
White Midnight, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, ISBNTrd. 0-374-38389-8, 2003, $18.00

Capuzzo, Michael –
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916, Random House/Crown Publishers, ISBNTrd. 0-375-82231-3, ISBNlib. 0-375-92231-8, 2003, $16.95/$18.99

Coburn, Jake –
Prep, Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers/Dutton Books, ISBNTrd. 0-525-47135-9, 2003, $16.99

Cofer, Judith Ortiz –
The Meaning of Consuelo, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, ISBNTrd. 0-374-20509-4, 2003, $20.00

Crowe,
Chris –

Getting Away With Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case , Penguin Putnam/Phyllis Fogelman Books, ISBNTrd. 0-8037-2804-2, 2003, $18.99

Crutcher, Chris –
King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography, HarperCollins/ Greenwillow Press, ISBNTrd. 0-06-050249-5, ISBNlib. 0-06-050250-9, 2003, $16.99/$17.89

Davis, Amanda –
Wonder When You’ll Miss Me, HarperCollins/William Morrow & Co., ISBNTrd. 0-688-16781-0, 2003, $24.95

Donnelly, Jennifer –
A Northern Light, Harcourt, ISBNTrd. 0-15-216705-6, 2003, $17.00


Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction , Sharyn November, ed., Penguin Putnam/Firebird Books, ISBNTrd. 0-14-250142-5, 2003, $19.99

Fleming, Candace –
Ben Franklin’s Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman’s Life, Simon & Schuster/Atheneum, ISBNTrd. 0-689-83549-3, 2003, $19.95

Fradin, Dennis Brindell and Judith Bloom Fradin –
Fight On! Mary Church Terrell’s Battle for Integration, Houghton Mifflin Company/Clarion Books, ISBNTrd. 0-618-13349-6, 2003, $17.00

Frank, E. R. –
Friction, Simon & Schuster/Atheneum/A Richard Jackson Book, ISBNTrd. 0-689-85384-X, 2003, $16.95

Freedman, Russell –
In Defense of Liberty: The Story of America’s Bill of Rights, Holiday House, ISBNTrd. 0-8324-1585-6, 2003, $24.95

Freese, Barbara –
Coal: A Human History, Perseus Publishing, ISBNTrd. 0-7382-0400-5, 12/2002, $25.00

Frost, Helen –
Keesha’s House, Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Frances Foster Books, ISBNTrd. 0-374-34064-1, 2003, $16.00

Going, K. L. –
Fat Kid Rules the World, Penguin Putnam/G.P. Putnam’s Sons, ISBNTrd. 0-399-23990-1, 2003, $17.99

Goodman, Alison -

Singing the Dogstar Blues , Penguin Putnam/Viking, ISBNTrd.

0-670-03610-2, 4/2003, $16.99

Greenberg, Jan and Sandra Jordan –
Runaway Girl: The Artist Louise Bourgeois, Harry N. Abrams/La Martiniere, ISBNTrd. 0-8109-4237-2, 2003, $19.95

Haddon, Mark –
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A Novel, Random House/Doubleday, ISBNTrd. 0-385-50945-6, 2003, $22.95

Hampton, Wilborn –
September 11, 2001: Attack on New York City, Candlewick Press, ISBNTrd. 0-7636-1949-3, 2003, $17.99

Hautman, Pete –
Sweetblood, Simon & Schuster, ISBNTrd. 0-689-85048-4, 2003, $16.95

Hearn, Lian –
Across the Nightingale Floor: Tales of the Otori, Book One, Putnam Publishing Group/ Riverhead Books, ISBNTrd. 1-57322-225-9, 9/2002, $24.95

Henkes, Kevin –
Olive’s Ocean, HarperCollins/Greenwillow Books, ISBNTrd. 0-06-053543-1, ISBNlib. 0-06-053544-X, 2003, $15.99/$16.89

Hoffman, Nina Kiriki –
A Stir of Bones, Penguin Putnam/Viking, ISBNTrd. 0-670-03551-3, 2003, $15.99

Holt, Kimberly Willis –
Keeper of the Night, Henry Holt & Co., ISBNTrd. 0-8050-6361-7, 2003, $16.95

Horvath, Polly –
The Canning Season, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, ISBNTrd. 0-374-39956-5, 2003, $16.00

Jenkins, A. M. –
Out of Order, HarperCollins, ISBNTrd. 0-06-623968-0, ISBNlib. 0-06-6239699, 2003, $15.99/$16.89

Johnson, Angela –
The First Part Last, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, ISBNTrd. 0-689-84922-2, 2003, $15.95

Johnson, Kathleen Jeffrie –
Target, Roaring Brook Press, ISBNTrd. 0-7613-1932-8, ISBNlib. 0-7613-2790-8, 2003, $15.95/$22.90

Juby, Susan –

Alice, I Think , HarperCollins/HarperTempest, ISBNTrd. 0-06-051543-0, ISBNlib. 0-06-051544-9, 2003, $15.99/$16.89

Koja, Kathe –
Buddha Boy, Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Frances Foster Books, ISBNTrd. 0-374-30998-1, 2003, $16.00

Korman, Gordon –
Jake, Reinvented, Hyperion, ISBNTrd. 0-7868-1957-X, 2003, $15.99

Krisher, Trudy –
Uncommon Faith, Holiday House, ISBNTrd. 0-8234-1791-3, 2003, $17.95

Levithan, David –
Boy Meets Boy, Random House/Alfred A. Knopf, ISBNTrd. 0-375-82400-6, ISBNlib. 0-375-92400-0, 2003, $15.95/$17.99

Little, Jason –
Shutterbug Follies, Bantam Doubleday Dell/Doubleday, ISBNTrd. 0-385-50346-6, 10/2002, $24.95

Lowachee, Karin –
Burndive, Warner Books, Inc./Aspect, ISBNpbk. 0-446-61318-5, 2003, $6.99

Mack, Tracy –
Birdland, Scholastic, Inc., ISBNTrd. 0-439-53590-5, 2003, $16.95

Mackler, Carolyn –
The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things, Candlewick Press, ISBN 0-7636-1958-2, 2003, $15.99

Martinez, Manuel Luis –
Drift, St. Martin’s Press/Picador, ISBNpbk. 0-312-30995-3, 2003, $14.00

Maynard, Joyce –
The Usual Rules, St. Martin’s Press, ISBNTrd. 0-312-24261-1, 2003, $24.95

McNamee, Graham –
Acceleration, Random House Children’s Books/Wendy Lamb Books, ISBNTrd. 0-385-73119-1, ISBNlib. 0-385-90144-5, 2003, $15.95/$17.99

Meyer, L. A. –
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy, Harcourt, Inc., ISBNTrd. 0-15-216731-5, 9/2002, $17.00

Murphy,
Jim –
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of

1793 , Houghton Mifflin Co./Clarion, ISBNTrd. 0-395-77608-2, 2003, $16.00

Murphy, Jim –
Inside the Alamo, Random House, Inc./Delacorte Press, ISBNTrd. 0-385-32574-6, ISBNlib. 0-385-90092-9, 2003, $16.95/$18.99

Murray, Jaye –
Bottled Up: A Novel, Penguin Putnam/Dial Books, ISBNTrd. 0-8037-2897-2, 2003, $16.99

Myracle, Lauren –
Kissing Kate, Penguin Putnam/Dutton Books, ISBNTrd. 0-525-46917-6, 2003, $16.99

Naidoo, Beverly –
Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope, HarperCollins, ISBNTrd. 0-06-050799-3, ISBNlib. 0-06-050800-0, 2003, $16.99/$17.89

Napoli, Donna Jo –
Breath, Simon & Schuster/Atheneum, ISBNTrd. 0-689-86174-5, 2003, $16.95

Osa,
Nancy –

Cuba 15 , Random House/Delacorte Press, ISBNTrd. 0-385-73021-7, ISBNlib. 0-385-90086-4, 2003, $15.95/$17.99

Parker, Jeff –
The Interman, Octopus, ISBNTrd. 0-9725553-0-7, 2003, $19.95

Pattou, Edith –
East, Harcourt Children’s Books, ISBNTrd. 0-15-204563-5, 2003, $18.00

Paulsen, Gary –
How Angel Peterson Got His Name and Other Outrageous Tales About Extreme Sports, Random House Children’s Books/Wendy Lamb Books, ISBNTrd. 0-385-72949-9, ISBNlib. 0-385-90090-2, 2003, $12.95/$14.99

Peck, Richard –
The River Between Us, Penguin Putnam/Dial, ISBNTrd. 0-8037-2735-6, 2003, $16.99

Pierce, Tamora –
Trickster’s Choice, Random House, ISBNTrd. 0-375-81466-3, ISBNlib. 0-375-91466-8, 2003, $17.95/$19.99

Pratchett, Terry –
The Wee Free Men: A Story of Discworld, HarperCollins, ISBNTrd. 0-06-001236-6, ISBNlib. 0-06-001237-4, 2003, $16.99/$17.89

Rapp, Adam –

33 Snowfish, Candlewick Press, ISBNTrd. 0-7636-1874-8, 2003, $15.99

Rees, Celia –
Pirates!, Bloomsbury Publishing/Bloomsbury Children, ISBNTrd. 1-58234-816-2, 2003, $17.95

Reeve, Philip –
Mortal Engines: A Novel, HarperCollins/Eos, ISBNTrd. 0-06-008207-0, ISBNlib. 0-06-0082089, 2003, $16.99/$17.89

Roach, Mary –
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., ISBNTrd. 0-393-05093-9, 2003, $23.95

Rowling, J.K. –
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Scholastic, Inc., ISBNTrd. 0-439-35806-X, ISBNlib. 0-439-56761-0, 2003, $29.99/$34.99

Rylant, Cynthia –

God Went to Beauty School , HarperCollins/HarperTempest, ISBNTrd. 0-06-009433-8, ISBNlib. 0-06-009434-6, 2003, $15.99/$16.89

Satrapi, Marjane –
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, Random House, Inc./Pantheon, ISBNTrd. 0-375-42230-7, 2003, $17.95

Sis, Peter –
The Tree of Life: A Book Depicting the Life of Charles Darwin
Naturalist,

Geologist & Thinker , Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Frances Foster, ISBNTrd. 0-374-45628-3, 2003, $18.00

Slade, Arthur –
Dust, Random House/Delacorte Press, ISBNTrd. 0-385-73004-7, ISBNlib. 0-385-90093-7, ISBNpbk. 0-006-48593-6 (8/2001), 2003, $15.95/$17.99

Spinelli, Jerry –
Milkweed, Random House, Inc./Alfred A. Knopf, ISBNTrd. 0-375-81374-8, ISBNlib. 0-375-91374-2, 2003, $15.95/$17.99

Stroud, Jonathan –
The Amulet of Samarkand: Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book One, Hyperion Books for Children/Miramax, ISBNTrd. 0-7868-1859-X, ISBNpbk. 0-7868-5143-0, 2003, $17.95/$14.00

Thompson, Craig –
Blankets: An Illustrated Novel, Top Shelf Productions, ISBNTrd. 1-891830-43-0, 2003, $29.95

Trueman, Terry –
Inside Out, HarperCollins/HarperTempest, ISBNTrd. 0-06-623962-1, ISBNlib. 0-06-623963-X, 2003, $15.99/$16.89

Vance, Susanna –
Deep, Random House/Delacorte, ISBNTrd. 0-385-730-57-8, ISBNlib. 0-385-90080-5, 2003, $15.95/$17.99

Vande Velde, Vivian –
Heir Apparent, Harcourt, Inc., ISBNTrd. 0-15-204560-0, 10/2002, $17.00

Wittlinger, Ellen -
Zigzag, Simon & Schuster/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, ISBNTrd. 0-689-84996-6, 2003, $16.95

Woodson, Jacqueline –
Locomotion, Penguin Putnam/G.P. Putnam’s Sons, ISBNTrd. 0-399-23115-3, 2003, $15.99

Wrede, Patricia C. and Caroline Stevermer –
Sorcery & Cecelia, Or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the Correspondance of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in
London and the Country, Harcourt, Inc., ISBNTrd. 0-15-204615-1, 2003, $17.00

Yolen, Jane –
Sword of the Rightful King: A Novel of King Arthur, Harcourt, Inc., ISBNTrd. 0-15-202527-8, 2003, $17.00

Zahn, Timothy –
Dragon and Thief: A Dragonback Adventure, Tom Doherty Associates/TOR, ISBNTrd. 0-765-30124-5, ISBNpbk. 0-765-34272-3, 2003, pbk. 6/2003, $24.95/$5.99