YALSA has announced its 2006 annual recommended list of Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. The list was released during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in
Compiled by an 11-member committee, the 91 titles on the list were published late 2004 through 2005 and represent over 30 different publishers. Forty-six of the titles are non-fiction and forty-five are fiction.
The Quick Picks committee seeks books that teens, ages 12-18, will pick up on their own and read for pleasure. The list is geared to the teenager who, for whatever reason, does not like to read. The list is not intended for teenagers with reading disabilities, though some of the selected titles may be appropriate for those teens. Teen input is a vital aspect in the final decision of the committee. Committee members spend countless hours reading, selecting books to nominate, and working one-on-one with reluctant readers to gauge their interest in the books.
NONFICTION
Cosmo Girl Quiz Book: Discover Your Personality.
Happy Kitty Bunny Pony: A Saccharine Mouthful of Super Cute. Abrams, 2005. 0-8109-9200-0.
Mad about the ‘90s: The Best of the Decade. DC Comics, 2005. 1-4012-0660-3.
Seventeen Magazine’s Traumarama!: Real Girls Share their Most
Embarrassing Moments. Hearst Books, 2005. 1-58816-517-5.
Teen People Celebrity Beauty Guide: Star Secrets for Gorgeous Hair, Makeup, Skin and More! Time, Inc., 2005. 1-932273-39-5.
50 Cent. From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside,
Arakawa, Hiromu. Fullmetal Alchemist series, Volume 1. Viz, 2005. 1-59116-920-8.
Volume 2. Viz, 2005. 1-59116-923-2.
Volume 3. Viz, 2005. 1-59116-925-9.
Volume 4. Viz, 2005. 1-59116-929-1.
Baltin, Steve. From the Inside: Linkin Park’s Meteora. Bradson Press, 2004. 0-9603574-1-6.
Benton, Jim. It’s Happy Bunny: Life. Get One. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-69346-2.
Benton, Jim. It’s Happy Bunny: Love Bites. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-69345-4.
Buckley, James Jr. Scholastic Book of Firsts. Scholastic Reference, 2005. 0-439-67607-X.
Caldwell, Ben. Fantasy! Cartooning.
Caprio, Robert. Are We There Yet: Tales from the Never-Ending Travels of WWE Superstars. Simon & Schuster, 2005. 0-7434-9041-X.
Carlson, Lori. Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems in Being Young and Latino in the
Davis, James. Skateboarding is Not a Crime: 50 Years of Street Culture. Firefly, 2004. 1-55407-001-5.
Edgar, Jim. Bad Cat. Workman, 2004. 0-7611-3619-3.
Finkel, Jon. Greatest Stars of the NBA: Jason Kidd. Tokyopop, 2005. 1-59532-183-7.
Finkel, Jon. Greatest Stars of the NBA: Kevin Garnett. Tokyopop, 2005. 1-59532-184-5.
Finkel, Jon. Greatest Stars of the NBA: Shaquille O’Neal. Tokyopop, 2004. 1-59532-181-0.
Finkel, Jon. Greatest Stars of the NBA: Tim Duncan. Tokyopop, 2004. 1-59532-182-9.
Flaherty, Mike. American Chopper: At Full Throttle. Meredith Books, 2004. 0-696-22165-9.
Foxworthy, Jeff. Jeff Foxworthy’s Redneck Dictionary: Words You Thought You Knew the Meaning of. Villard, 2005. 1-4000-6465-1.
Ganz, Nicholas. Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents. Harry N. Abrams, 2004. 0-8109-4979-2.
Grandberry, Omari. O. MTV Books, 2005. 1-4165-0328-5.
Haab, Sherri. The Hip Handbag Book : 25 Easy-to-Make Totes, Purses and Bags. Watson-Guptill, 2004. 0-8230-2263-3
Hart, Christopher. Manhwa Mania: How to Draw Korean Comics. Watson-Guptill,2004. 0-8230-2976-X.
Hee-Joon, Son. PHD: Phantasy Degree Tokyopop, 2005.
Vol. 1, 1-59532-319-8.
Vol. 2, 1-59532-320-1.
Hess, Jared and Jerusha. Napoleon Dynamite: The Complete Quote Book. Simon Spotlight, 2005. 1-4169-1391-2.
Keys, Alicia. Tears for Water: Songbook of Poems and Lyrics. Penguin Putnam, 2004. 0-399-15257-1.
Kilpatrick, Nancy. The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined.
Kirkman, Robert. Invincible: The Ultimate Collection, Volume 1. Image Comics, 2005. 1-58240-500-X.
Lane, Billy. Chop Fiction: It’s Not a Motorcycle, Baby, It’s a Chopper. Motorbooks, International, 2004. 0-7603-2011-X.
Lee, Lela. Angry Little Girls. Abrams, 2005. 0-8109-5868-6.
Loeb, Jeph. Superman Batman :Public Enemies, Volume 1. DC Comics, 2005. 1-4012-0220-9.
Miller, Steve and Baugh, Bryan Scared! How to Draw Fantastic Horror Comic Characters.
Watson-Guptill, 2004. 0-8230-1664-1.
Oh, Minya. Bling Bling: Hip Hop’s Crown Jewels. Wenner Books, 2005. 1-932958-02-9.
Ohba, Tsugumi. Deathnote: Volume I: Boredom. Viz, 2005. 1-4215-0168-6.
Palmer, Chris. Streetball: All the Ballers, Moves, Slams and Shine. Harperresource, 2004. 0-06-072444-7.
Perel, David. Bat Boy Lives! The Weekly World News Guide to Politics, Culture, Celebrities, Alien Abductions, and the Mutant Freaks that Shape our World.
Polhemus, Ted. Hot bodies, Cool Styles. Thames and
Powell, Michael. Superhero Handbook.
Riley, Andy. Return of the Bunny Suicides. Penguin/Plume, 2005. 0-452-28623-9.
The RZA. The Wu Tang Manual. Riverhead, 2005. 1-59448-018-4.
Steffans, Karine. Confessions of a Video Vixen. Amistad, 2005. 0-06-084242-3.
Sugiyama, Rika. Comics Artists-Asia: Manga Manhwa Manhua. Harper Design International, 2004. 0-06-058924-8.
Wilson, Daniel How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion.
FICTION
Adoff, Jaime. Jimi and
Black, Holly. Valiant: a Modern Tale of Faerie. Simon & Schuster, 2005. 0-689-86822-7.
Bradley, Alex. 24 Girls in 7 Days. Dutton, 2005. 0-525-47369-6.
Brown, Tracy. Criminal Minded. St. Martin’s
Burke, Morgan. The Party Room Trilogy. Simon Pulse, 2005.
Get It Started 0-689-87225-9.
After Hours 0-689-87226-7.
Last Call 0-689-87227-5.
Cary, Kate. Bloodline. Razorbill, 2005. 1-59514-012-3.
Castellucci, Cecil. Boy Proof. Candlewick, 2005. 0-7636-2333-4.
Clugston, Chynna. Queen Bee. Scholastic Graphix, 2005. 0-439-70987-3.
Coy, John. Crackback. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-69733-6.
Dean, Zoey. Blonde Ambition. Little, Brown, 2004. 0-316-73474-8.
Delaney, Joseph. Revenge of the Witch: Book One: The Last Apprentice. Greenwillow, 2005. 0-06-076618-2.
De la Pena, Matt. Ball Don’t Lie. Delacorte, 2005. 0-385-73232-5.
Deuker, Carl. Runner. Houghton Mifflin, 2005. 0-618-54298-1.
Flake,
Flanagan, John. Ranger’s Apprentice: Book One: The Ruins of Gorlan. Philomel/Putnam, 2005. 0-399-24454-9.
Friedman, Aimee.
Goobie, Beth. Something Girl. Orca Soundings, 2005. 1-55143-347-8.
Grant, Vicki. Dead-End Job. Orca Soundings, 2005. 1-55143-378-8.
Green, John. Looking for
Hiaasen, Carl. Flush. Random House, 2005. 0-375-92182-6.
Horowitz, Anthony. Raven’s Gate. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-67995-8.
Horowitz, Anthony. Scorpia. Philomel, 2005. 0-399-24151-5.
Klass, David. Dark Angel. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. 0-374-39950-6.
Krovatin, Christopher. Heavy Metal and You. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-73648-X.
Lockhart, E. The Boyfriend List : 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs, and Me, Ruby Oliver. Random House, 2005. 0-385-73206-6.
Mac, Carrie. Charmed. Orca Soundings, 2004. 1-55143-321-4.
Mayer, Melody. The Nannies. Delacorte, 2005. 0-385-73283-X.
Meyer, Adam. The Last Domino. Penguin Putnam, 2005. 0-399-24332-1.
Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. Little Brown, 2005. 0-316-16017-2.
Newman, Leslea. Jailbait. Delacorte, 2005. 0-385-90230-1.
Olin, Sean. Killing Britney. Simon Pulse, 2005. 0-689-87778-1.
Patterson, James. Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment. Little, Brown, 2005. 0-316-15556-X.
Rose, Malcolm Traces : Framed! Kingfisher, 2005. 0-7534-5829-2.
Traces:Lost Bullet. Kingfisher, 2005. 0-7534-5830-6.
Traces: Roll Call. Kingfisher, 2005. 0-7534-5923-X.
Shan, Darren. Lord Loss. Little, Brown, 2005. 0-316-11499-5.
Shaw, Susan. The Boy from the Basement. Dutton, 2004. 0-525-47223-1.
Shusterman, Neal. Dread Locks: Dark Fusion, Book One. Dutton, 2005. 0-525-47554-0.
Shusterman, Neal. Red Rider’s Hood: Dark Fusion, Book Two. Dutton, 2005. 0-525-47562-1.
Sloan, Brian. A Really Nice Prom Mess. Simon & Schuster, 2005. 0-689-87438-3.
Sorrells, Walter. Fake ID: The Hunted: Book One. Dutton Sleuth, 2005. 0-525-47514-1.
Standiford, Natalie. The Dating Game: Breaking Up is Really, Really Hard to do. Little, Brown, 2005. 0-316-11041-8.
The Dating Game:The Dating Game. Little Brown, 2005. 0-316-11040-X.
Stone, Jeff. The Five Ancestors: Monkey. Random House, 2005. 0-375-83073-1.
The Five Ancestors:Tiger. Random House, 2005. 0-375-83071-5.
Tiernan, Cate. Balefire: A Chalice of Wind. Penguin Razorbill, 2005. 1-59514-045-X.
Balefire:
Volponi, Paul. Black and White. Penguin Viking, 2005. 0-670-06006-2.
Whyman, Matt. Boy Kills
Williams, Lori Aurelia. Broken
Members of the YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers committee are: Jamie Watson, Chair, Harford County (Maryland) Public Library; Sarah Couri, New York Public Library; Stacy L. Creel-Chavez, University of North Texas; Katherine H. Fitch, Rachel Carson Middle School (Virginia); Susan Y. Geye, Crowley Independent School District (Texas); MaryAnn Harlan, Arcata High School (Calif.); Sara Catherine Howard, Sam Houston State University (Texas); Teri S. Lesesne, Sam Houston State University (Texas); Hillias Jackson Martin, New York Public Library; Kimberly A. Patton, Lawrence (Kansas) Public Library; Rollie Welch, Cleveland (Ohio) Public Library; Jennifer Mattson, consultant Booklist, Chicago; Administrative Assistant Ty Burns, Cypress Springs High School (Texas).