Since one of our major criteria for award-winning books here at the Cybils is kid appeal, we were stoked to find out about a new award for YA literature that recognizes that same quality. The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) recently announced the finalists for the inaugural Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult Fiction, which awards $5,000 to the author of a young adult title that demonstrates "a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit."
Of the five finalist titles, we were pleased to see two that were also Cybils honorees. Congratulations to all the authors:
- After Tupac and D Foster, by Jacqueline Woodson
- Graceling, by Kristin Cashore
- The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
- Me, The Missing, and the Dead, by Jenny Valentine
- My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park, by Steve Kluger
— Sarah Stevenson, Deputy Editor