A Guide to Teen Book Awards

Every year at the end of January, the American Library Association announces the winners of its awards for excellence in children's and young adult literature.  This episode will introduce you to the newest winning titles as well as to ways of thinking about book awards as tools for navigating the world of books for teens.

Recommendations in this episode include

• Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (HarperTeen, 2008)
• The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves by M. T. Anderson (Candlewick, 2008)
• Nation by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins, 2008)
• Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan (Knopf, 2008)
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (Hyperion, 2008)
   
• We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson (Hyperion, 2008)
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Harcourt, 2008)
   
• What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell (Scholastic, 2008)
• The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp (Knopf, 2008)
• The Underneath by Kathi Appelt (Atheneum, 2008)
• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson (Simon & Schuster, 2008)