YALSA Book Awards and listsThe Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) selects outstanding young adult literature for awards and inclusion in a variety of lists, serving teens ages 12-18.
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EPL BooklistsRecommended Reads Chosen by EPL Staff
Blank Park Zoo is bringing real animals to the library on July 8th!
Here are the best YA books featuring animals! White Fang by Jack London. Call # YA Lon.
A wild dog’s journey toward becoming civilized during the 19th century Klondike gold rush. “White Fang” is part dog, part wolf, and all brute, living in the frozen north; he gradually comes under the spell of man’s companionship, and surrenders all at the last in a fight with a bull dog. Plain Kate by Erin Bow. Call # YA Bow. Plain Kate’s odd appearance and expertise as a woodcarver cause some to think her a witch, but friendship with a talking cat and, later, with humans help her to survive and even thrive in a world of magic, charms, and fear. Hero by S.L. Rottman. Call # YA Rot. After years of abuse from his mother and neglect from his father, ninth-grader Sean Parker is headed for trouble until he is sent to do community service at a farm owned by an old man who teaches Sean that he can take control of his own life. The Georges and the Jewels by Jane Smiley. Call # YA Smi. Seventh-grader Abby Lovitt has always been more at ease with horses than with people. Her father insists they call all the mares “Jewel” and all the geldings “George,” and warns Abby not to get attached: the horses are there to be sold. But with all the stress at school and home, Abby seeks refuge with the Georges and the Jewels. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Call # YA Sti. 19-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick competes against Puck Connolly, the first girl ever to ride in the annual Scorpio Races, both trying to keep hold of their dangerous water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Ghost of Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen. Call # YA Mik. Alone in the wilderness, Cole found peace. But he’s not alone anymore. Cole Matthews used to be a violent kid, but a year in exile on a remote Alaskan island has a way of changing your perspective. After being mauled by Spirit Bear, Cole started to heal. He even invited his victim, Peter, to join him on the island and they became friends. But now their time in exile is over, and Cole and Peter are heading back to the one place they’re not sure they can handle: high school. The Sight by David Clement-Davies. Call # YA Cle. In Transylvania during the Middle Ages, a pack of wolves sets out on a perilous journey to prevent their enemy from calling upon a legendary evil one that will give her the power to control all animals. Elephant Run by Roland Smith. Call # YA Smi. In 1941, Nick’s mother sends him to live with his father in Burma on the family’s teak plantation. But the war follows him there, and soon he is left alone on the plantation. As life in the Burmese elephant village grows more dangerous for Nick and his friend Mya, they plan their daring escape. Setting off on elephant back, they will risk their lives to save Nick’s father and Mya’s brother from a Japanese POW camp. Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul. Call # 818.54 Chi (Adult Nonfiction). Stories about pets as teachers, healers, heroes, and friends. The Lego Movie Popcorn Party on June 30th was awesome!
Here are the best YA books that were turned into movies! Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Call # YA Mey.
When 17-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Call # YA Col. In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the 12 districts against one another, 16-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Call # YA Cla. When 15-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder – much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing, not even a smear of blood, to show that a boy has died. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. Call # YA Mea. St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school – it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s – the very place where they’re most in danger. Divergent by Veronica Roth. Call # YA Rot. In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any of them. The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. Call # YA Dup. The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore. Call # YA Lor. In the beginning they were a group of nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet when it fell under attack, who then scattered on Earth. Nine aliens who look like ordinary teenagers living ordinary lives, but who have extraordinary, paranormal skills. Nine aliens who might be sitting next to you now. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl. Call # YA Gar. Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Call # YA Zus. It is 1939 in Nazi Germany. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist: books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. Call # YA Boy. Bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place called “Out-With” in 1942, Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives behind a wire fence. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Call # YA Gre. 16-year-old Hazel, a stage IV thyroid cancer patient, has accepted her terminal diagnosis until a chance meeting with a boy at her cancer support group forces her to reexamine her perspective on love, loss, and life. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Call # YA Chb. Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Musician Jamie Kelley was a hit with teens on June 24th!
And don't miss FORTE STUDIO'S visit to EPL on July 15th! Here are the best YA books that feature music! This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales. Call # YA Sal.
Nearly a year after a failed suicide attempt, sixteen-year-old Elise discovers that she has the passion, and the talent, to be a disc jockey. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Call # YA Coh. High school student Nick O'Leary, member of a rock band, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg and asks her to be his girlfriend for five minutes in order to avoid his ex-sweetheart who’s just walked into his band’s show. Audrey, Wait! By Robin Benway. Call # HS Ben. While trying to score a date with her cute co-worker at the Scooper Dooper, sixteen-year-old Audrey gains unwanted fame and celebrity status when her ex-boyfriend, a rock musician, records a breakup song about her that soars to the top of the Billboard charts. If I Stay by Gayle Forman. Call # YA For. Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind? Then one morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen. Call # HS Des. Remy always knows the perfect time to give a boyfriend "The Speech" telling him it's over-after the initial romantic whirl, but before the reality of an actual relationship hits. Her friends tease that her boyfriend tally is nearing the triple digit mark, but she's a girl who knows just how to avoid any messy emotional entanglement. So what, then, is it about musician Dexter that makes it so hard for her to follow her own rules? The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. Call # YA Nel. Lennie plays second clarinet in the school orchestra and has always happily been second fiddle to her charismatic older sister, Bailey. Then Bailey dies suddenly, and Lennie is left at sea without her anchor. Overcome by emotion, Lennie soon finds herself torn between two boys: Bailey's boyfriend, Toby, and Joe, the charming and musically gifted new boy in town. Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matsen. Call # YA Mat. Since the car accident that resulted in the loss of her father, Amy won’t drive. But with her mother relocating the family to Connecticut and her brother in rehab, Amy is left to get the car from California to their new house. Enter Roger, the 19-year-old son of a family friend, on his way to visit his father in Philadelphia. After a few bumps, Roger and Amy are on their way. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road - diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards - this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Call # YA Chb. Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Coda by Emma Trevayne. Call # Ya Tre. Ever since he was a young boy, music has coursed through the veins of eighteen-year-old Anthem -- the Corp has certainly seen to that. By encoding music with addictive and mind-altering elements, the Corp holds control over all citizens, particularly conduits like Anthem, whose life energy feeds the main power in the Grid. Escape is found in his underground rock band, where music sounds free, clear, and unencoded deep in an abandoned basement. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. Call # HS Des. Last year, Annabel was the girl who had everything. This year, she's the girl who has nothing, until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen's help, maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and her ex-best friend Sophie stopped being friends. Will by Maria Boyd. Call # YA Boy. When 17-year-old Will drops his pants to moon the bus of girls from the sister school to his all-boys academy, he is exiled to the land of geeks, AKA, the band for the school musical, a punishment suggested by his English teacher. The story of a boy going through a difficult time who, in a most unlikely way, discovers the person he truly wants to be. On June 17th, we learned all about life in Japan, thanks to Yuki from the Japan Society of Iowa!
Here are some awesome books featuring Japan and Japanese or Japanese-American characters! Tomo: Friendship through Fiction: An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories. Call #YA Tom
This aptly named fiction anthology - tomo means “friend” in Japanese - is a true labor of friendship to benefit teens in Japan whose lives were upended by the violent earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. Authors from Japan and around the world have contributed works of fiction set in or related to Japan. The Waking: Dreams of the Dead by Thomas Randall. Call # YA Ran After her mother dies, sixteen-year-old Kara and her father move to Japan, where he teaches and she attends school, but she is haunted by a series of frightening nightmares and deaths that might be revenge--or something worse. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by Yasutaka Tsutsui. Call # YA Tsu The story of Kazuko Yoshiyama, a third-year middle school student who accidentally acquires the ability to time travel after an unfortunate accident in a school science lab. An acclaimed anime was based on this story! Heart of a Samurai: The True Story of Manjiro Nakahama by Marji Preus. Call # YA Pre Manjiro, a fourteen-year-old boy, is curious and eager to learn everything he can about America. An American captain adopts him and takes him to New England, and then San Francisco. After many years he returns to Japan, only to be imprisoned as an outsider. The Translator by Nina Schuyler. Call # F Sch (Adult Fiction) After an accident, renowned translator Hanne Schubert loses the ability to speak her native language. Speaking only Japanese, she leaves for Japan where she is forced to reexamine her life. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Call # F For (Adult Fiction) After Henry hears that the belongings of Japanese immigrants interned during WWII have been found in the basement of the Panama Hotel, the narrative shuttles between 1986 and the 1940s. Henry recalls the difficulties of life in America during WWII, when he and his Japanese-American school friend, Keiko, wandered through wartime Seattle. The Dream of Water: A Memoir by Kyoko Mori. Call # B Mor (Biography) In a memoir that is both a search for belonging and a search for understanding, Japanese-American author Kyoko Mori travels back to Kobe, Japan, the city of her birth. Samurai: Japan's Great Warriors by Stephen Turnbull. Call # 355 Tur (Nonfiction) Every image and page of this book offers fascinating insight, from an overview of early Japan and the emperor system to the specifics of weaponry. It provides a look at the mysterious ancient Japanese warrior class. Japanese Mythology by Juliet Piggott. Call # 299.56 Pig (Nonfiction) Discusses the mythology of Japan, its origins in Shintoism and Buddhism, and the gods, spirits, men, and animals that appear in the many legends and stories. Fodor's Japan. Call # 915.2 Fod (Nonfiction) If you can't actually go to Japan, look through this great travel book and dream big! Catch your reflection in the blade of an ancient samurai sword, peer into the caldera of a still-active volcano, stand beneath a cascade of pink cherry blossoms, sample the freshest sushi and sashimi, splurge on a slinky silk kimono or hunt down the prettiest lacquered rice bowls. We had a lot of fun learning about electricity on June 9th!
Here are some great books to SPARK your interest with a science (or science fiction) theme! The Taking by Kimberly Derting. Call # YA Der
After 16-year-old Kyra stalks off one night, there's a flash of light, and she awakens to discover that five years have passed without her in this engrossing paranormal romance. The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer. Call # YA Cre In an alternate nineteenth-century America that is still a colony of Britain's industrial empire, sixteen-year-old Charlotte and her fellow refugees' struggle to survive is interrupted by a newcomer with no memory, bearing secrets about a terrible future. Michael Vey: Rise of the Elgen by Richard Paul Evans. Call # YA Eva Fifteen-year-old Michael Vey, born with Tourette's syndrome and special electromagnetic powers, joins his techno-genius best friend and an alliance of other "electric" teenagers to battle powerful foes in the jungles of Peru. Free to Fall by Lauren Miller. Call # YA Mil In a near-future world where everyone is controlled by their smartphones, sixteen-year-old Rory Vaughn suddenly begins listening to the voice within --which kids are taught to ignore-- and discovers a terrible plot at the heart of the corporation that makes the devices. The Here and Now by Ann Brashares. Call # YA Bra Seventeen-year-old Prenna is a time traveling immigrant who moved to New York when she was twelve. She and the other travelers must follow strict rules to avoid destroying the new life they have worked so hard to get, as well as the one person Prenna is desperate to protect. The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Call # YA Das Thomas, a teenage amnesiac, wakes up in the Glade, a fragile oasis in the middle of an enormous maze. Here, a group of teenage boys eke out a hazardous existence, exploring the Maze by day and retreating to the Glade at night. No one knows how they got there, and no one has ever found a way out. Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Call # YA Mey As plague ravages the overcrowded Earth observed by a ruthless lunar people, Cinder, a gifted mechanic and cyborg, becomes involved with handsome Prince Kai and must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect the world. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. Call # YA Yan Cassie Sullivan, the survivor of an alien invasion, must rescue her young brother from the enemy with help from a boy who may be one of them. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier. Call # YA Gie Sixteen-year-old Gwyneth discovers that she, rather than her well-prepared cousin, carries a time-travel gene, and soon she is journeying with Gideon, who shares the gift, through historical London trying to discover whom they can trust. Across the Universe by Beth Revis. Call # YA Rev Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet 300 years in the future. But 50 years before the ship's scheduled landing, Amy is violently woken from her frozen slumber. Divergent by Veronica Roth. Call # YA Rot In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any of them. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Call # YA Wes Just before their sixteenth birthdays, when they will will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all. |