2011 Nonfiction Award
Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing
By Ann Angel, published by Amulet/Abrams
From her humble beginnings in a small town in Texas to her marquee life as a superstar of '60s rock, Janis Joplin remains an icon of music. Despite her short life, she left an indelible impression on the music of an era.
“From the cover art and the interior design to the compelling personal narrative, this is a pearl of a book,” said YALSA Nonfiction Award Chair Don Latham.
2011 Finalists
They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Bartoletti provides readers with an in-depth look at the formation of the KKK and its subsequent evolution into a violent organization. With primary source material, she details the horrific history of the Ku Klux Klan and the people who fell victim to its reign of terror.
Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement by Rick Bowers, published by National Geographic Society
In 1958, the state of Mississippi began an undercover operation, The Sovereignty Commission, to spy on and potentially squelch the Civil Rights movement. Bowers' expose of this unknown organization reveals the extent to which some were willing to go to see segregation remain the law of the state.
The Dark Game: True Spy Stories by Paul Janeczko, published by Candlewick Press
This compilation of different spies carries readers from the Revolutionary War through the infamous Cold War era. Delve into stories about the Choctaw Code Talkers of WWI, Soviet moles, Mata Hari and more as you uncover just how they changed the course of history.
Every Bone Tells a Story: Hominin Discoveries, Deductions, and Debates by Jill Rubalcaba and Peter Robertshaw, published by Charlesbridge
Through fieldwork, laboratory analysis, and scientific debate, the bones of Turkana Boy, Lapede Child, Kennewick Man and Iceman are used to tell the fascinating stories of four member of the human family tree. Maps, photographs, and news headlines add to our understanding of archeology's cutting edge science.
The full list of 2011 nominations will be available online. Check the 2011 nominations page!
2011 Committee
Members of the 2011 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award committee are: Chair Don Latham, Florida State University School of Library and Information Studies, Tallahassee, Fla.; Christine Allen, Arlington High School, Riverside, Calif.; Rachel Aronowitz, San Francisco Public Library; Carrie Bryniak, Wadsworth (Ohio) Public Library; Monique Franklin, Texas Women’s University School of Library and Information Science, Denton, Texas; Jeanette Larson, Pflugerville, Texas; Teri Lesesne, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas; Courtney Lewis, Wyoming Seminary Upper School, Kingston, Pa.; Charli Osborne, Oxford (Mich.) Public Library; Judy Sasges, administrative assistant, Sno-Isle Libraries, Marysville, Wash.; and Laura Tillotson, Booklist consultant, Chicago.
