YALSA's Alex Awards
Current Winners
2010 Vetted Nominations
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Previous Winners
Award Policies and Procedures
Welcome!
The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing. The Alex Awards were first given annually beginning in 1998 and became an official ALA award in 2002. Link to this page using its short URL, www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/alex.
The award is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust. Edwards pioneered young adult library services and worked for many years at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore. Her work is described in her book Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts, and over the years she has served as an inspiration to manylibrarians who serve young adults. The Alex Awards are named after Edwards, who was called “Alex” by her friends.
2010 Winners
    
    
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (9780061730320)
Young teen William, who taught himself enough physics and engineering to build a windmill and bring electricity to his drought-stricken village, discovered the magic of his Malawi homeland in the miracles of science.
The Bride’s Farewell by Meg Rosoff, published by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (9780670020997)
Rather than marry without love, Pell Ridley absconds with a favorite horse and her brother, Bean. Both are quickly lost, and Pell’s perilous journey to find Bean leads to discovery of the things she ran away from: family, love, and herself.
Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr., published by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (9780670020928)
While still in the womb, voices warn Junior of his impending death by comet in this unusually structured coming-of-age story. He has 36 years. How will he spend them?
The Good Soldiers by David Finkel, published by Sarah Crichton Books, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux (9780374165734)
This eye-opening account of “the surge” in 2007 follows the troops of Battalion 2-16, revealing the gritty reality for all those good soldiers serving in Iraq.
The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch and Liz Welch with Amanda Welch and Dan Welch, published by Harmony Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House (9780307396044)
This heart-wrenching memoir, collaboratively written from four different points of view, chronicles the ups and downs of the Welch siblings, who struggled to define the notion of home after their parents died.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman, published by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (9780670020553)
Fantasy and reality meld in unexpected and tragic ways when 17-year-old Quentin Coldwater trades his ho-hum Brooklyn existence for the magical society of Brakebills College.
My Abandonment by Peter Rock, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (9780151014149)
Based on a true story, 13-year-old Caroline and her questionably sane father live in a nature preserve on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. A haunting exploration of familial lore, survival, and hope.
Soulless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel, by Gail Carriger, published by Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group (9780316056632)
Wielding a parasol and hairpins, 25-year-old soulless spinster Alexia Tarabotti accidentally stakes a vampire lacking all common etiquette to open this delightfully dangerous romp.
Stitches: A Memoir, by David Small, published by W.W. Norton & Company (978039306857)
Replete with themes of anger, pain, and hope, and employing classic imagery from Alice in Wonderland, renowned illustrator Small chronicles the harrowing story of his childhood and adolescence in this dark graphic novel. A 2010 Best Book for Young Adults.
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, by Kevin Wilson, published by Harper Perennial, an imprint of HarperCollins (9780061579028)
In a wholly original collection of stories, Wilson turns down the odd side streets of reality to explore rentable relatives, unscrupulous Scrabble workers, Mortal Kombat–fueled romancers, and the adventures of other wildly quirky characters.
Members of the 2010 Alex Awards Committee are: Chair Sarah Hill, Paris (Ill.) Cooperative High School ; Lana Adlawan, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library; Hope Baugh, Carmel Clay (Ind.) Public Library, Carmel, Ind.; Beth Gallaway, Information Goddess Consulting, Hampton, N.H.; Liza Gilbert, Community Library, Salem, Wis.; Jennifer Hubert, Little Red School House & Elizabeth Irwin High School, New York; Karen Keys, Queens Library, New York , N.Y.; Betsy Levine, San Francisco Public Library; Ann Perrigo, Allegan (Mich.) District Library; Meghan Cirrito, administrative assistant, Queens Library, New York , N.Y.; and Ian Chipman, Booklist consultant, Chicago.
In addition to selecting titles for the Alex Awards, the Alex Committee presents a program at the ALA Annual Conference. The 2010 program will take place in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, June 27, 10:30 a.m. to noon, with authors discussing the impact the award has had on their careers.
Previous Winners
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