The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) recently announced the 2013 winners of the Alex Award. The Alex Award is given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults.
Juvenile in Justice by Richard Ross: The photographs in
Juvenile in Justice open our eyes
to the world of the incarceration of American youth. The nearly 150
images in this book were made over five years of visiting more than 1,000
youth confined in more than 200 juvenile detention institutions in 31
states. These riveting photographs, accompanied by the life stories that
these young people in custody shared with Ross, give voice to
imprisoned children from families that have no resources in communities
that have no power.
Not currently available
Caring is Creepy by David Zimmerman: Fifteen-year-old Lynn Marie Sugrue is doing her best to make it through a
difficult summer. Her mother works long hours as a nurse, and Lynn
suspects that her mother’s pill-popping boyfriend has enlisted her in
his petty criminal enterprises. Lynn finds refuge in online flirtations,
eventually meeting up with a troubled young soldier, Logan Loy, and
inviting him home. When he’s forced to stay over in a storage space
accessible through her closet, and the Army subsequently lists him as
AWOL, she realizes that he’s the one thing in her life that she can
control. Meanwhile, her mother’s boyfriend is on the receiving end of a
series of increasingly violent threats, which places Lynn squarely in
the cross-hairs.
Available at other libraries through interlibrary loan
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan: The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San
Francisco Web-design drone—and luck has landed him a new gig working
the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a
few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more
curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but
they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything, instead
“checking out” impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the
store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with
the strange Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger,
Clay concludes, and soon he’s embarked on a complex analysis of the
customers’ behavior and roped his friends into helping to figure out
just what’s going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr.
Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the
bookstore.
New Adult Fiction Sloan
My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf: You only think you know this story: In 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer—the most
notorious serial killer since Jack the Ripper—seared himself into the
American consciousness. To the public, Dahmer was a monster who
committed unthinkable atrocities. To Derf Backderf, "Jeff" was a much
more complex figure: a high school friend with whom he had shared
classrooms, hallways, and car rides. In
My Friend Dahmer, a haunting and
original graphic novel, writer-artist Backderf creates a surprisingly
sympathetic portrait of a disturbed young man struggling against the
morbid urges emanating from the deep recesses of his psyche—a shy kid, a
teenage alcoholic, and a goofball who never quite fit in with his
classmates. With profound insight, what emerges is a Jeffrey Dahmer that
few ever really knew, and one readers will never forget.
Available at other libraries through interlibrary loan
One Shot at Forever by Chris Ballard: In 1971, a small-town high school baseball team from rural Illinois playing with hand-me-down uniforms and peace signs on their hats defied convention and the odds. Led by an English teacher with no coaching experience, the Macon Ironmen emerged from a field of 370 teams to become the smallest school in Illinois history to make the state final, a distinction that still stands. There, sporting long hair, and warming up to "Jesus Christ Superstar," the Ironmen would play a dramatic game against a Chicago powerhouse that would change their lives forever.
Available at other libraries through interlibrary loan
Pure by Julianna Baggott: Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the
Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop
where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost--how
the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties,
fathers and mothers...to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and
fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to
turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier
or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets,
Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.
New Teen Fiction Baggott
The Round House by Louise Erdrich: One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in
North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface
as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal
what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and
thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably
transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed
and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds
himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill
prepared. While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to
wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes
frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted
friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their
quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of
worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning.
The Round House was the 2012 National Book Award winner.
New Adult Fiction Erdrich
Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt: 1987. There’s only one person who has ever truly understood 14-year-old June Elbus, and that’s her uncle, the renowned painter
Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can
only be herself in Finn’s company; he is her godfather, confidant, and
best friend. So when he dies, far too young, of a mysterious illness her
mother can barely speak about, June’s world is turned upside down. But
Finn’s death brings a surprise acquaintance into June’s life—someone who
will help her to heal, and to question what she thinks she knows about
Finn, her family, and even her own heart. At Finn’s funeral,
June notices a strange man lingering just beyond the crowd. A few days
later, she receives a package in the mail. Inside is a beautiful teapot
she recognizes from Finn’s apartment, and a note from Toby, the
stranger, asking for an opportunity to meet. As the two begin to spend
time together, June realizes she’s not the only one who misses Finn, and
if she can bring herself to trust this unexpected friend, he just might
be the one she needs the most.
Available at other libraries through interlibrary loan
Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple: Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a
fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in
Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary
architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply,
Mom. Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her
report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to
Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle--and people
in general--has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in
India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is
problematic. To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages,
official documents, secret correspondence--creating a compulsively
readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and
daughter's role in an absurd world.
New Adult Fiction Semple
