Young Adult

For ages 12 and up

2017 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award

The Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award is given annually to the author of the book voted most outstanding by students in grades 4-8 in participating Illinois schools. Named in honor of Rebecca Caudill who lived and wrote in Urbana, Illinois for nearly 50 years, the award is given in recognition for her literary talent and […]

Happy Birthday! Celebrating Authors/Illustrators Born in April

Celebrate spring and the birthdays of these great authors and illustrators April 2 Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales By: H.C. Andersen A collection of Andersen’s tales including The Fir Tree, The Little Match Girl, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Thumbelina, The Tinderbox, and The Ugly Duckling. Ages 6 and up April […]

Mental Illness in YA — A Reading List

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 1 in 5 teens and young adults live with a mental health condition. This is a scary number but even scarier is being a young person who is experiencing signs of a mental illness. The following is a list of books that highlight mental illness in a […]

The Michael L. Printz Award

Named for a Topeka Kansas School Librarian, the Michael L. Printz Award exemplifies literary excellence in Young Adult Literature and is presented by YALSA on a yearly basis. Below are this year’s winner and honor books as well as some past winners. Please enjoy! 2017 Winner March: Book Three […]

The Chocolate Lily Book Award — British Columbia’s Reader’s Choice Children’s Book Award — Novel Category

A Year in the Life of a Total and Complete Genius By: Stacey Matson Arthur Bean, soon-to-be a rich and famous author, has set two goals for himself: to win the school writing contest and to win the heart of his secret crush, Kennedy. But his life has had some major twists and turns lately, […]

Great Reads from Across the Pond — The Bookseller’s YA Book Prize

The Bookseller, is one of the UK’s longest-standing magazines, serving as the business magazine of the book industry since 1858. In 2014 they launched the YA Book prize to award a YA title written by an author living in the UK or Ireland. The award honors great books for young adults with the aim of getting more […]

A Little Bit of Irish — YA Lit with an Irish Connection

Whether set in Ireland or written by an Irish author, these books are sure to make your St. Patrick’s Day a little greener. The Supernaturalist By: Eoin ColferIn futuristic Satellite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill escapes from his abusive orphanage and teams up with three other people who share his unusual ability to see supernatural creatures, […]

The Amelia Bloomer List of Recommended Feminist Literature

AMELIA BLOOMER PROJECT TOP TEN Born in 1818 in Homer, NY, just one town over from where I was born and have been raised, Amelia Bloomer was an American women’s rights and temperance advocate. The appropriately named Amelia Bloomer Project creates an annual booklist of feminist books for young readers, ages birth through 18. Here […]

Happy Birthday! Celebrating Authors/Illustrators Born in March

March is a big birthday month for children’s authors and illustrators. In March we celebrate Rob Dillon (3/2), Patricia Maclachlan (3/3), Dav Pilkey (3/4), Mem Fox (3/5), Kenneth Grahame (3/8), Ezra Jack Keats (3/11), Virginia Hamilton (3/12), Carl Hiaasen (3/12), Diane Dillon (3/13), Sid Fleischman (3/16), Louis Sachar (3/20), Lois Lowry (3/20), David Wisniewski (3/21), […]

Presidential Picks

President’s Day is a day to was traditionally celebrated each year on February 22nd, George Washington’s birthday but has was changed to always be a Monday in order provide workers with a 3 day weekend. From George Washington to Donald Trump, America’s 240 year history has seen 45 presidents, some more popular than others. Celebrate presidents, past […]

Everybody Knows somebody : Join the fight against eating disorders

It seems as though there is a day, week, or month for everything. “Take Your Dog to Work Day”, “Appreciate your Name Day” (next week, by the way), and “Life Insurance Awareness Month”. It’s hard to wake up in the morning and remember what I am suppose to be aware of. It’s not that these […]

The Lammys!

I remember reading Annie On My Mind as part of my YA Literature class during my Master’s program. We were assigned a title from each YA “genre” and that was our LGBTQ book I suppose. I guess at the time there probably weren’t many other choices, either that, or it was because that book was […]

ED — An Abusive Relationship

Happy New Year! 2016 Books to Movies

If you’ve already given up on your New Year’s Resolution here’s a new one to sink your teeth into, read all the the children’s and YA books that will become movies in 2016, or sometime soon after. it’s a good idea to keep up with pop culture if you are a librarian that works with […]

PURE GRIT — Strong Women in Historical Fiction

Let me start off my saying that yes I know it is the holidays and I should be sharing a holiday themed list with you. Truth be told I didn’t do one and for me to try to put one together now would be a futile effort as most of your students are out for […]

12 Books about Riots & Revolts

In recent months, several protests around the U.S. have turned destructive or even violent. While these episodes are miniscule compared to the the non-violent, non-destructive protests taking place over the same issues, they have generated a large amount of news media coverage and social commentary. However, riots and revolts have always been a part of our history in the United […]

Sweet 16: Novels for Teen Basketball Fans

March is madness! These young adult novels will keep teen basketball fans reading in between the big games.

Canada

“O Canada . . .The True North Strong and Proud.” Canada Day, the country’s national holiday, is July 1 and commemorates the 1867 unification of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Upper and Lower Canada (Québec and Ontario), hence known as the Dominion of Canada. Today there are ten provinces with an area of 3,855,103 sq. […]

Mexican-American

Mexican? American? What is it like to be a Mexican American today? These books, mostly novels, explore life and issues for Mexican American youth. Like many first, second, or third generation immigrants, it’s not uncommon to have a foot in both worlds, especially if relatives still live in Mexico. To better understand their history and […]

World War II: Fact

D-Day, June 6, 1944, was the beginning of Operation Overlord, which resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe. Hundreds of thousands American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. These nonfiction books, published since 2010, help us understand the facts […]