Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, WA. At this meeting, ALA announces the 2013 youth media awards, including the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults, and the Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences. To see the entire list, please click here.Here are a few of the winning titles we have available at the HHS library:
In Darkness by Nick Lake (Printz Award Winner)
In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, fifteen-year-old Shorty, a poor gang member from the slums of Site Soleil, is trapped in the rubble of a ruined hospital, and as he grows weaker he has visions and memories of his life of violence, his lost twin sister, and of Toussaint L'Ouverture, who liberated Haiti from French rule in 1804.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (Printz Honor Book and Pura Belpré Author Award Winner)
Fifteen-year-old Ari Mendoza is an angry loner with a brother in prison, but when he meets Dante and they become friends, Ari starts to ask questions about himself, his parents, and his family that he has never asked before.
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt (Alex Award)
*Available through Overdrive
Her world upended by the death of a beloved artist uncle who was the only person who understood her, fourteen-year-old June is mailed a teapot by her uncle's grieving friend, with whom she forges a poignant relationship.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple (Alex Award)
When Bee aces her report card she claims her reward, which is a trip to Antarctica, but her mother, Bernadette, disappears due to her intensifying allergy to Seattle and people in general, which has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. Bee uses emails, invoices, school memos, private correspondence, and other evidence to try and understand why her mother has left.
