And the Award Goes to . . .

January is the month of awards, at least for the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards which includes he Newbery Award. If you haven't heard already, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book won that coveted slot in the canonization of young adult fiction. We should all be so lucky, right? Critics of the Newbery have been wagging their jaws about how the award is out of touch with the youth of America and how it turns kids off to reading more than it turns them on to it. Well, with this awarding, I think they hit the nail on the head, don't you?

But that's not the only award handed out this month. Teenreads.com has a rather thorough list of award winners and these are books that shouldn't be ignored! Among the list is The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves by MT Anderson for the Michael L. Printz Honors along with The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E Lockhart. Stephen King's Just After Sunset: Stories received an Alex Award and Laurie Halse Anderson won the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her works Catalyst, Fever 1793 and Speak. Click the link to see the entire list.

Also at Teenreads.com are the Top 10 Books for Young Adult Readers including The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Top 10 Great Graphic Novels for Teens and the Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Be sure to check them all out!