By Staff
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has announced its 2006 recommended list of Best Books for Young Adults. The list, prepared annually, was released during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, held Jan. 20-25, 2006.
The winning titles make up an extremely diverse list that includes non-fiction, science fiction and fantasy, graphic novels, contemporary and historical fiction and verse novels. The following are some of the committee's selected titles that exemplify the quality and range of literature being published for teens.
Come Back to Afghanistan: A California Teenager's Story by Said Hyder Akbar and Susan Burton
Until Sept. 11, 2001, Hyder was living an ordinary suburban life in California. After the fall of the Taliban, Hyder's father, sold his business and left for Afghanistan, where he became President Hamid Karzai's chief spokesman. Seventeen-year-old Hyder convinced his father to let him join him during three successive summer vacations.
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
By the time Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, 3.5 million children belonged to the Hitler Youth. It would become the largest youth group in history.
Upstate Kalisha Buckhanon
Looking for Alaska John Green
Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
Inexcusable by Chris Lynch
High school senior and football player Keir sets out to enjoy himself on graduation night, but when he attempts to comfort a friend whose date has left her stranded, things go terribly wrong.
Twilight: A Novel by Stephanie Meyer
When seventeen-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.
Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
Cal Thompson is a carrier of a parasite that causes vampirism, and must hunt down all of the girlfriends he has unknowingly infected.
Poison by Chris Wooding
When Poison leaves her home in the marshes of Gull to retrieve her infant sister who was snatched by the fairies, she and a group of unusual friends survive encounters with the inhabitants of various Realms, and Poison herself confronts a surprising destiny.