Best Fiction for Young Adults
Maybe you already heard that YALSA has changed their “Best Books for Young Adults” list and committee. It is now “Best Fiction for Young Adults” which will be announced in January of 2011. The change was to make the committee work more possible, and there is the possibility in the future of additional lists being added beyond those they now sponsor (maybe a “Best Nonfiction for Young Adults” – this is just me speculating, it is not a sure thing).
It is nice to know what titles are being considered. YALSA posts the nominated titles once a month, go to:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestficya/titlesnominated.cfm to see all the titles nominated by April 2010. You are also welcome to nominate titles for the list. The web page
www.ala.org/yalsa/bfya lists the criteria for the award. To nominate titles, go to:
http://yalsa.ala.org/forms/bfya.php and fill in the form. Please let me know what you nominated, if you don’t mind.
I have been completely engulfed in
The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo. She is a favorite author of mine and this book is another reason why. Peter (10), instead of buying bread, gives the coin to a fortuneteller. She lets him know his younger sister is alive. His father died in the war, his mother died giving birth, his sister did not. Or did the fortuneteller lie? His guardian, Vilna Lutz, a retired soldier, says she did. Who is lying? As the fortune teller says on page seven, “The truth is forever changing.” She also said Peter must follow the elephant to find his sister. There are no elephants in the city of Baltese, what could she mean? Magical writing!
(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)
