YALSA‘s (Young Adult Library Services Association) has just released their 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominations list. The books nominated have been published within the past 16 months, are recommended for ages 12 – 18, and meet the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teens. From this nomination list, the YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults (BFYA) Committee will choose their selections for their 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adult list and 2012 Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adult list (to be announced at the annual ALA Midwinter Meeting).
The 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominations comprises a wide range of genres and styles, including contemporary realistic fiction, fantasy, horror, science fiction and novels in verse. It is great to see a number of multicultural titles on the list including:
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor(Penguin Group/Viking, 2011)
Bitter Melon by Cara Chow (Egmont USA, 2011)
Daughter of Xanadu by Dori Jones Yang (Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Press, 2011)
Karma, A Novel in Verse by Cathy Ostlere (Penguin Group/RazorBill, 2011)
Orchards by Holly Thompson (Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Press, 2011)
Queen of Water by Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango (Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2011)
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
What Can(t) Wait by Ashley Hope Perez (Lerner Publishing Group/CarolrhodaLAB, 2011)
Where the Streets had a Name by Randa Abel-Fattah (Scholastic, Inc/Scholastic Press, 2010)
Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy (Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books, 2011)