YALSA Best Books for Young Adults 2006
January 22nd, 2006 by Heidi DolamoreThe room was already filling up 15 or 20 minutes before the session started. The teens came from all over Texas, and a few from even farther…there was a group from Petaluma, CA, too. Here’s how it works: the teens sit up front, there are two microphones, and we go through the nominations list page by page. The teens are invited to line up at the microphones and say a few words about why they liked (or didn’t like) a particular book and what it meant to them. I was totally impressed with how articulately the teens spoke about what they’d read. And I thought it took a lot of guts to get up and say you liked a book that somebody just trashed.
Thumbs down
The Diary of Pelly D. by L. J. Adlington (slow starter)
Code Orange by Caroline Cooney (not as good as her other stuff)
Mostly thumbs down
Shelf Life by Robert Corbet (superficial, too many characters)
Mixed bag
Necklace of Kisses by Francesca Lia Block (a Weetzie Bat fan liked it, but others found it hard to relate to)
Mostly thumbs up
Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson (lots of people liked this one)
Naughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman (one person didn’t like it, but everyone else thought it was really powerful, I bet it makes the list)
Candy by Kevin Brooks
Phoenix Dance by Dia Calhoun (the folks who liked this enjoyed how it gave insight into bipolar disorder)
Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci
Thumbs up
Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie by Holly Black (yeah, they all loved this one, I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t make the list)
24 Girls in 7 Days by Alex Bradley (funny)
Dancing in Red Shoes Will Kill You by Dorian Cirrone
The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher (the word they kept using was “inspiring,” this one’s a good bet for the list, too) (I’m glad because I looove Chris Crutcher)
There were some other books that only one person mentioned, but these are the titles that kept coming up. Sorry, I only stayed until the beginning of the Ds. You’ll just have to wait for the list…
Tags: ALAMidwinter2006, conferences
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