#yalsa

[nitewrighter]

Librarian Poll 2: Info Science Boogaloo

Decided to update this poll because it got pretty good circulation, but looking at people's answers I feel like I could get more data! So let's do this again!

Be sure to reblog for more data!!!

[nealshustermanreal]

More photos during the YALSA award ceremony. Grateful and honored to receive the Edwards Award. Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey!

[all-the-things-2020]

Congratulations, John! I loved this book and I’ll try to hand sell it to as many kiddos as I can as soon as I get my copy into the collection at work (yes, I am that library nerd who donates her books when she’s done with them).

"Starter Villain" an Alex Award Winner

This literally just happened, the above is a screen capture from the actual awards ceremony. For those who don’t know, the Alex Awards are given yearly by the American Library Association to ten books written for adults that they feel are excellent for teen readers as well. And this year Starter Villain is one of those books! I am thrilled. I want my books to be readable to a wide audience, and…

[pepurika]

Congrats on being top 10 in the ALA young adult division's recommendation list for 2024! I hope that means Tiger Tiger winds up in even more libraries!

(www ala org / yalsa / 2024-great-graphic-novels-teens )

HOHOOO THAT'S SO COOL!! also it. just makes me laugh when I basically sit at home and draw my blorbos heehaw and then someone overseas is like yes let's put this on our library recommendations list

like thanks for liking my sea sponge fever dream !!!!

[acesincomics]

Ace Characters in Comics: Shen

Shen, a main character of the comic book series The Last Session, is aromantic and asexual.

The Last Session (2021-2022) is a DnD adventure comic about friends learning to cope with all the changes that come from growing up, created by Jasmine Walls @mythjae-blog, Dozerdraws @littledozerdraws, Micah Myers, and published by Mad Cave Studios @madcavestudios.

The Last Session was nominated for YALSA's 2023 Great Graphic Novels for Teens and was named one of NYPL's 2022 Best Books for Teens.

ROLL FOR INITIATIVE Jay, Lana, Drew, Walter, and Shen began playing Dice & Deathtraps in high school. Now dealing with college and all the twists and turns of their lives, their weekly game has been a wonderful constant. But, as college graduation looms and it feels like their lives are all moving down very different paths, Lana’s thrilled to finally finally complete the party’s unfinished original campaign. But when Jay’s partner Cassandra joins the game, Lana refuses to let her inexperience ruin the best part of her week! But in the end, that may be Lana and the party’s undoing…

Read The Last Session: Mad Cave Studios | Amazon | Drivethru | Global Comix | Bookshop | IndieBound [Available from Libby and Hoopla]

Created by

Jasmine Walls: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr | Ko-fi

Dozerdraws: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr | Patreon | Ko-fi

Micah Myers: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Shop

[More ace characters in comics]

[literaticat]

This is maybe a dumb question but is the ALA as an organization only concerned with children’s books? (It seems like the awards are all for kidlit, right?).

I am not a librarian and I haven't got any esoteric knowledge about teh ALA or its history, but I have been to their conference many times (and looked on their website), so I know a little?

The ALA is a professional organization for all (American) libraries/librarians. That means school library, public library, research/academic libraries, etc etc, for all kinds of patrons.

The organization has different divisions for different kinds of libraries. The divisions that primarily concern themselves with children's books are ALSC (Assoc. of Library Services for Children) and YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Assoc.) But there are lots of other divisions for other kinds of libraries!

The ALA Youth Media Awards is the blanket term for the Kids & YA book awards that we all know and love and that people like me are always chit-chatting about on social media. These awards are administered by either ALSC (Caldecott, Newbery and other awards for children's books) or YALSA (Printz, Morris, and other awards for YA books).

The ALA does give out grownup book awards. The Andrew Carnegie Medal is the main one (administered by the Reference and User Services Assoc, if you are interested). It's just not part of the Youth Media Awards, hence, we aren't talking about it when we talk about the YMA. (There are also the Alex awards, administered by YALSA, that is given to grownup books that have strong appeal for YA -- those ones ARE, in fact, part of the Youth Media Awards, but mostly people ignore them. Sorry, winners!)

The reason kid's book people are always talking about the ALA YMA is because they are by FAR the biggest awards for kid's books that exist in this country. The reason you don't hear much about the Andrew Carnegie medal is because there are LOTS of other, much bigger deal, prizes for grownup books. We don't have a Nobel Prize or Pulitzer for kid's books, this is the best we've got!

(I am guessing here, but I would IMAGINE that this very fact is why those awards began in the first place -- because historically, just like today, many grownup book people mostly disdain children's books, think they are easy or dumb or "less than" or whatever -- so those awards likely began to give SOME recognition to an often ignored or maligned segment of the book industry. Whereas grownup books have never been maligned or ignored!)

[bangtanitalianchannel]

[TRAD ITA] 230929 TWEET DELLA BIGHIT MUSIC:

Video Musicale Ufficiale di <3D (con. Jack Harlow)> di Jung Kook (https://youtu.be/mHNCM-YALSA)

#JungKook#JungKook_3D @jackharlow"

Traduzione a cura di Bangtan Italian Channel Subs (©Ele)

[engshoujosei]

Love in Focus

3 volumes (singles), Love in Focus Complete Collection (1 omnibus)

Licensed by Kodansha, also on Azuki, Mangamo, and INKR Comics.

A YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens pick!

Mako’s always had a passion for photography. When she loses someone dear to her, she clings to her art as a relic of the close relationship she once had…Luckily, her childhood best friend Kei encourages her to come to his high school and join their prestigious photo club. With nothing to lose, Mako grabs her camera and moves into the dorm where Kei and his classmates live. Soon, a fresh take on life, along with a mysterious new muse, begin to come into focus!

Status in Country of Origin

3 Volumes (Complete)

Tags:

Assertive Female Lead

Boarding House

Bold Female Lead

Childhood Friend/s

Classmate/s

Club/s

Dead Family Member/s

High School Student/s

Love Triangle/s

Model/s

Past Plays a Big Role

Photography

Senpai-Kouhai Relationship

Student-Student Relationship

Talented Female Lead

[msareviews]

Review - Truly, Devious by Maureen Johnson

A true-crime obsessed teen is accepted into an elite academy where learning is a game, but is the prize worth it? Stevie goes to Ellingham Academy, drawn in by the unsolved murder that happened there in the 1930s. She’s determined to crack this mystery, but when a classmate dies, she finds that investigating murders can be more harrowing than she thought. It’s recommended for grades eight to twelve (NoveList, n.d.). I saw this book on YALSA’s (2019) Best Fiction for Young Adults list and chose it because of its popularity on BookTok. This book gripped me first with its thick and dark atmosphere, then with its realistic characters, and sealed the deal with its exciting twists and turns.  

Reading lists based on aesthetics have really taken off recently, with libraries (Ramsey County Library, 2024) and even Libby (Suhy, 2023) making reading recommendations based on aesthetics popularized by TikTok. While there are perhaps some issues with sorting books into aesthetic categories, when it comes to teens it’s a great way to get them interested in reading and that’s what counts. I would sort Truly, Devious into the Dark Academia aesthetic, and not just for its literal academic setting. The opulence of the academy is tempered by the weight of the mysterious tragedy the school is known for. Additionally, while the literal setting of the novel is this dark, secluded mansion academy, throughout the novel we are mostly inside Stevie’s head, creating this highly cerebral and emotionally driven atmosphere. Johnson’s world building and perspective choices create a book that you want to live in, despite all the murders. 

Johnson also does a wonderful job creating realistic characters whose actions, though often imperfect, always make sense and incur realistic consequences that allow readers to really get to understand these characters. While it would have been easy for these characters to become archetypes – the detective, the nerd, the actor, etc. – but enough is revealed about these characters through their behaviors that they become fleshed out and real. Our protagonist Stevie is a wonderful example of this, using detective skills as a coping mechanism for her anxiety which naturally leads her to go too far and drive people away as she becomes singularly focused on solving the mystery. However, the exception to this is the artist, Ellie. Ellie is peak stereotype, having grown up on a commune, her full name is literally Element, playing a saxophone and dancing at the most inopportune times without any real reason. It makes me feel like she’s got to be based on someone that Maureen Johnson hates, but that might be projection because I hate Ellie. However, Ellie’s role in this novel is small enough that she didn’t take much away from the reading experience. 

The novel’s plot is packed, but clear and engaging. While Stevie becomes obsessed with solving not one but two murders, she’s also trying to get used to a new school with a new social environment while adjusting to living on her own for the first time. There are introductions to new people and places, romantic dilemmas, assignment deadlines, and, of course, murders. Johnson does a wonderful job of establishing a character who is intelligent and capable of juggling all these activities, but who also tends to hyperfocus. It’s a great use of perspective to help balance and focus the plot so the book doesn’t feel too crowded or too fast to process what’s happening. Every event in the plot is believable but also surprising, which is exactly what you want from a mystery novel. The final whodunit twist of this book, however, does not have a satisfying sense of “all the clues make sense now,” but the rest of the plot is so strong that this minor shortfall again doesn’t bother me much. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. I think both teens and adults will have a blast reading through the mystery and getting to know the characters. While this of course would be a hit among mystery fans, I also think it can be used as an example for aspiring writers of how to craft characters and plots that are engaging and believable. As someone who isn’t big into mysteries, I found it accessble and highly entertaining! 

References 

Johnson, M. (2018). Truly, Devious. HarperCollins. 

NoveList. (n.d.). Truly, Devious. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/novp/detail?vid=2&sid=89425a9c-d774-4372-9c8b-6a3114927208%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9bm92cC1saXZl#AN=10617196&db=neh.  

Ramsey County Library. (2024). Tik Tok inspired reads. https://www.rclreads.org/explore/?tag=tiktok-inspired-reads.  

Suhy, A. (2023, June 28). The books to read based on your aesthetic. Libby Life. https://www.libbylife.com/2023-06-28-the-books-to-read-based-on-your-aesthetic.  

YALSA. (2019). 2019 best fiction for young adults. American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/yalsa/2019-best-fiction-young-adults.

[libroresumen]

Adonde te lleve el ritmo de Sarah Dass: Cuando el paraíso se convierte en una jaula de oro

¿Alguna vez has sentido que tu lugar seguro se ha convertido en una prisión? Pues eso es exactamente lo que le pasa a Reyna, la protagonista de "Adonde te lleve el ritmo". Esta novela de Sarah Dass nos lleva a las playas de Tobago, donde el amor, la música y el deber familiar chocan como las olas contra la arena.

Un paraíso con sabor agridulce

La Plumería, el hotel de la familia de Reyna, es el escenario principal de esta historia. Y vaya escenario:

Playas de arena blanca ✅

Aguas cristalinas ✅

Sol caribeño ✅

Pero no todo es tan idílico como parece. Para Reyna, este paraíso se ha convertido en una especie de purgatorio. ¿La razón? Bueno, resulta que:

Su madre falleció hace dos años.

Aiden, su primer amor, se fue para perseguir sus sueños musicales.

Mientras sus amigos planean sus futuros, ella se siente atrapada cuidando del negocio familiar.

El regreso del primer amor (con bombo y platillo)

Justo cuando Reyna pensaba que las cosas no podían complicarse más, ¡boom! Aiden regresa. Pero ojo, no vuelve como el chico que se fue, sino como toda una estrella musical:

Es parte de DJ Bacchanal, un grupo nominado a los Grammy. (Nada mal, ¿eh?)

Llega al hotel como invitado VIP. (Qué fancy)

Y para rematar, viene acompañado de dos chicas guapísimas de Los Ángeles. (Porque el drama nunca es suficiente)

Reyna: Entre la roca y... otra roca

Nuestra protagonista está en una situación complicada:

Por un lado: Siente la responsabilidad de mantener el hotel familiar.

Por otro lado: Ve cómo sus amigos persiguen sus sueños mientras ella se queda atrás.

Y para colmo: El regreso de Aiden remueve todo un cóctel de emociones.

Más que un simple romance de verano

Aunque la historia tiene todos los ingredientes para ser un típico romance juvenil, "Adonde te lleve el ritmo" va más allá:

Explora el duelo: Reyna aún está procesando la pérdida de su madre.

Cuestiona el deber familiar: ¿Hasta qué punto debemos sacrificar nuestros sueños por la familia?

Habla de segundas oportunidades: ¿Es posible retomar un amor del pasado?

Toca el tema del crecimiento personal: Vemos a Reyna en un viaje de autodescubrimiento.

El poder de la música

La música no es solo el trasfondo de la historia, sino que juega un papel crucial:

Es lo que separó a Reyna y Aiden.

Es lo que trae a Aiden de vuelta.

Y probablemente (aunque esto es una suposición) será lo que ayude a Reyna a encontrar su propio ritmo en la vida.

Un debut que promete

"Adonde te lleve el ritmo" ha recibido algunos reconocimientos interesantes:

Fue seleccionado como uno de los mejores libros de 2022 por JLG Gold Standard.

Está en la lista YALSA's 2022 Best Fiction for Young Adults de los Estados Unidos.

No está nada mal para ser el primer libro de Sarah Dass, ¿eh?

La gran pregunta

Después de todo esto, la pregunta que queda en el aire es: ¿Logrará Reyna encontrar su propio ritmo en medio de todo este caos? ¿O se quedará atrapada en la melodía del pasado?

Si te has quedado con ganas de más (yo sí), te animo a que busques el resumen completo o el vídeo resumen de Adonde te lleve el ritmo. Quién sabe, tal vez encuentres tu propia banda sonora en sus páginas.

[graphicpolicy]

Fred Van Lente, Chris Panda, and Becca Carey take you to Murder Kingdom

Fred Van Lente, Chris Panda, and Becca Carey take you to Murder Kingdom #comics #comicbooks

Mad Cave Studios has announced Murder Kingdom, the toon-themed terror comic from six-time New York Times bestselling and YALSA award-winning writer Fred Van Lente, French artist Chris Panda, and letterer Becca Carey. Once upon a time, in a strange land called Florida, a masked psycho starts murdering cast members of the Storybook Kingdom theme park in ways identical to the gory original Grimms’…

[nealshustermanreal]

I’d like to thank ALA/Yalsa and School Library Journal for recognizing my work. This is, both literally and figuratively, the honor of a lifetime. The validation of my career, and to be in the company of so many great authors who have won this award – wow!

Note: You can also watch my speech through this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WXHxVs_44s

[dallasgrant]

정국 (Jung Kook) '3D (feat. Jack Harlow)' Official MV September 28, 2023 at 11:00PM via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHNCM-YALSA

[chupnaraho]

1802: Sarah Trimmer introduced the terms "Books for Children" (<14 years of age) and "Books for Young Persons" (14-21) in describing "young adulthood" in her children's lit periodical "The Guardian of Education"

1942: Seventeenth Summer, sometimes called the first (modern, English language) young adult novel, published, themes included underage drinking, driving, dating, teenage angst

1950s: Catcher in the Rye

1957: The ALA establishes the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), which evaluates and selects materials for young children

1960: A Wrinkle In Time was written by Madeleine L'Engle and received 26 rejections before being published in 1962, in part, per L'Engle, "because it deals overtly with the problem of evil, and it was really difficult for children, and was it a children's or an adults' book, anyhow?"

1967: The Outsiders, written by a young adult (S.E. Hinton was 16 wrote it in high school), published and to this day remains one of the most popular YA novels

1970: The era of Judy Blume, I remember as a kid being told it was too mature for me, they literally just made a film adaptation so it seems it retains its influence

Not to mention so many referenced above, like Ursula K LeGuin--the entire premise of A Wizard of Earthsea was ripped off by Harry Potter--and Philip Pullman, but also Tamora Pierce, Robin McKinley, Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street, Diana Wynne Jones, Patricia C. Wrede, Jane Yolen, Monica Furlong, Anne McCaffrey, Madeleine L'Engle wrote a bunch more, the Redwall series, T.A. Barron and seemingly innumerable Arthurian legend adaptations, hell even Mercedes Lackey wrote YA before the 2000s. Even regarding vampire YA, LJ Smith was publishing vampire and vampire hunter/romance books far before JKR or the 50 shades of grey fanfic Twilight, which is what The Vampire Diaries tv show was based on. I read them as a kid, I read tons of children/adult/YA fantasy that by the time JKR published I couldn't see the appeal, there were already much better fantasy stories being told, better written, not boring, not so anti-feminist pro-slavery patronizing stuff. I don't begrudge those with fond childhood memories but some of us could tell those books were super messed up from the beginning and there wasn't much need to read them as there was plenty of better fare already.

There is a difference between saying HP created a niche market vs saying it made bank for publishers and corporations? HP and Twilight aren't niche, not by a long shot. Before Twilight the True Blood series had already been published? A number of odd claims have been made on the thread regarding the creation of the genre, vs popularization, vs what it actually seems to reference is corporations and publishers deciding what is marketable and how to market it? Precisely because of the status quo, patriarchal, white supremacist views of both HP and Twilight were these works popular, the more "edgy" ones are at far more risk of censorship and outcry and suppression.

In the words of Ursula K LeGuin herself in 2004 (prior to the publication of Twilight),

"When so many adult critics were carrying on about the “incredible originality” of the first Harry Potter book, I read it to find out what the fuss was about, and remained somewhat puzzled; it seemed a lively kid’s fantasy crossed with a “school novel”, good fare for its age group, but stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited."

So, like, the thing you have to understand is that prior to the mid-2000s, the "Young Adult" genre as we now know it didn't exist. The expectation was that you would graduate to the adult aisle of the book store at, like, 13-14. This worked because the only people still reading long form novels into their teens were precocious bookworms who were better read than their parents.

Harry Potter changed all this. The success of the Harry Potter books convinced the publishing industry that selling full length novels to normie children was a business model. The thing about the Harry Potter books, though, is that at least for the early books, the target audience was a bit younger than what we think of as the YA demographic; tweens, rather than teens. Now, the publishing very much wanted to keep all these normie kids buying books into their teens and beyond, but the previous model of treating teens as functionally adults for marketing purposes would not work; there was simply no way that normie parents were going to let their normie kids read fully adult novels where the characters, like, do drugs or have unprotected sex and stuff. So, in order to be allowed to market to the teen demographic, the YA genre was created.

However, teens have an inherent interest in reading about sex and violence and drugs, and so authors who are able to incorporate these kinds of themes into their YA novels in a discrete way such that it flies under the radar of the moral guardians are met with success. But this is a precarious tightrope to walk. Not enough "mature" themes and the teens will loose interest, to much or to blatant and the teens won't be allowed to read it. And so, it should come as no surprise, that the first person to successfully navigate this tight rope was a Mormon housewife with a vampire fetish.

[darthnaderer]

Nimona by ND Stevenson

Category: YALSA (Great Graphic Novels for Teens)

Summary: Nimona is a shapeshifting sidekick to the villainous Lord Blackheart, who is constantly fighting the Institution of Law Enforcement and his archnemesis, Sir Goldenloin. Most of the time, Blackheart works just as hard trying to help Nimona control her more impulsive/murderous urges as he does trying to defeat his rival. Together, Nimona and Blackheart discover the Institution is planning to use jaderoot (a poison) as a weapon and decide to expose the corrupt Institution once and for all. A combination of science fiction and fantasy, this is a thrilling comedic (and at times, dramatic) adventure as the lines between good and evil blur.

Justification: YALSA listed Nimona as a Great Graphic Novel for Teens in 2016, before Stevenson transitioned and changed his name. The work is laugh-out-loud funny at times and other times moving enough to bring a tear to the eye. Graphic novels are, of course, wonderful for reluctant readers as well as visual learners, but this one also touches on issues such as disability (Blackheart is missing an arm and uses a prosthetic) as well as gender fluidity (Nimona can be anything or anyone she wants, why always be a girl?) which provides good representation.

Reader's Response: I was initially drawn to this graphic novel because I enjoyed the Netflix film. The graphic novel is very different! I had originally watched the film with my sibling, who is non-binary, and added this graphic novel to my To Be Read list soon after. I enjoy the way Stevenson built fun, unique characters who are relatable in a fantasy science fiction setting. I feel like the world could have been fleshed out a bit more, but the characters and their antics were enough to keep me reading even when it did get logistically confusing. The illustrations are deceptively simple at times and at other times richly complex, showcasing a wide range of talent. Overall, I felt like it was good representation of the disabled and queer communities and agreed with its stance about not always trusting those in power to have your best interests at heart. Instead, look out for your community and do what you can to help those in need.

Stevenson, N. (2015). Nimona (N. Stevenson, Illus.). HarperTeen.

[literaticat]

Which book awards are widely recognized in the industry? How are books nominated? Thanks!

ThE iNdUsTrY is a big place. There are a lot of awards! All with different criteria. Most (all?) of them are decided on by a committee of judges, and that panel looks at all books that fit the specific criteria; publishers send them the books.

Big Huge Awards, Mostly for Grownups

Nobel Prize in Literature (given to an author for their whole body of work, winners get a LOT of $$$)

Pulitzer Prize in Fiction (for a distinguished book of adult fiction by an American author on an American topic published in the past year, chosen by a panel of judges, there's no kids category, winners get $$)

Booker Prize (best work of adult fiction published in the past year in the UK/Ireland, there is no kids category, chosen by a panel of judges, winners get $$$)

Kirkus Prize (all books that get a Kirkus star are automatically nominated, the finalists and winners are chosen by a panel, there's a fiction, nonfiction and young readers prize, they get $$$)

National Book Award (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature - must be published in the US in the past year, authors must be US citizens or residents, they get $)

You'll note that of these Big Awards, ONLY the Kirkus Prize and NBA have children's/YA categories.

There are also "smaller" (but still very meaningful!) awards in different genres -- for example the Nebula and Hugo awards for SF/F, and the Edgar awards for Mystery, all of which I believe have a young people's category.

Big Huge KIDS Awards, mostly for kids books

The biggest kids book awards in the US are given by librarian organizations (YALSA/ALSC) under the umbrella of the ALA Youth Media Awards, all of which are chosen by committees who look at all eligible books; each award has different criteria, and publishers send the appropriate books to those committees, any eligible book is technically 'nominated' just by dint of being eligible.

Those ALA awards include (but are not limited to) the Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, Printz, Pura Belpre, etc. You can find out more about all these awards here. There's really only one of these given to grownup books - that's the Alex Award, which is for grownup books that have high kids/YA interest.

All ALA awards are great to get, of course, and can be a nice boost to a book that wins -- but only the Newbery and Caldecott really make a huge impact on sales (and even those are less impactful than they used to be, sadly).

The biggest international kids awards are the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, "This global award is given annually to a person or organisation for their outstanding contribution to children’s and young adult literature" -- and the Hans Christian Andersen Awards, which "recognize lifelong achievement and are given to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children's literature."

There are lots and lots of "smaller" awards too of course -- different states and regions have awards, lots of organizations have awards -- any of which are, naturally, an honor to get. But they probably would not have a huge impact on sales or anything like that.