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Teen Picks

Young Adult Book Awards

Abraham Lincoln Award The Lincoln Award is given to the book from that year’s master list that earns the highest number of student votes.

Alex Awards The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year’s publishing. The Alex Awards were first given annually beginning in 1998 and became an official ALA award in 2002.

Edwards Award The Margaret A. Edwards Award, established in 1988, honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.

Morris Award The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first awarded in 2009, honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.

Odyssey Award This annual award will be given to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States.

Non-Fiction Award ALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year.

Printz Award The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.

Blogs & Book Reviews 

So Like YA Know– Book reviews and more, courtesy of the Illinois Library Association’s Young Adult Services Forum.

Graphic Novelty Squared– Nancy and Kathleen are two librarians in the Chicagoland area who love graphic novels! They created this site for a school project and decided to keep it going. They’ve compiled their favorites and classics in the “Recommendations” page. The “Resources” page is filled with websites about graphic novel news, history, and more. The blog posts contain reviews of graphic novels that they have read and loved… or maybe not loved so much.