YALSA stands for Young Adult Library Services Association and is a division of the American Library Association. Below is a list of links to awards given through these organizations. You can also search for them in the YALSA Book Finder database.
Alex Award
The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing.
Edwards Award
The Margaret A. Edwards Award, established in 1988, honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.
Morris Award
The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first given in 2009, honors a book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.
Nonfiction Award
YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year.
Odyssey Award
This annual award will be given to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States.
Printz Award
The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.
American Indian Library Association
Awarded biennially, the American Indian Youth Literature Award identifies and honors the very best writing and illustrations by Native Americans and Indigenous peoples of North America. Books selected to receive the award present Indigenous North American peoples in the fullness of their humanity.
Consortium of Latin American Studies Program Award
CLASP founded the Américas Award in 1993 to encourage and commend authors, illustrators and publishers who produce quality children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinx in the United States, and to provide teachers with recommendations for classroom use. CLASP offers up to two annual book awards, together with a commended list of titles.
Asian/Pacific American Literature Award
The goal of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature is to honor and recognize individual work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit.
Common Sense Media's Best Book Lists
Whether you're on the hunt for classic kids' books or best sellers, our "best books" lists are full of stories that are bound to spark kids' imagination and keep the pages turning.
Amazing Audio Books
Each year, YALSA's Amazing Audiobooks Blogging Team selects and annotates an annual list of notable audio recordings significant to young adults from those released in the past two years.
Best Fiction for Young Adults
YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults Blogging Team presents fiction titles published for young adults in the past 14 months that are recommended reading for ages 12 to 18. The purpose of the annual list it to provide librarians and library workers with a resource to use for collection development and reader’s advisory purposes.
Amelia Bloomer Project
Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18 has been promoting quality feminist literature for young readers since 2002 as a part of the Feminist Task Force and the Social Responsibilities Round Table. Each year, the project compiles an annotated book list (or bibliography) of well-written and well-illustrated books with significant feminist content, intended for young readers (ages birth through 18). Books eligible for this honor must have been published in the United States during the 18 months prior to the selection in January of each year.
ALA Rainbow List
The List is a curated bibliography highlighting books with significant gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning content, aimed at children and youth from birth to age 18.
Great Graphic Novels for Teens
Great Graphic Novels for Teens is a list of recommended graphic novels and illustrated nonfiction for those ages 12-18, prepared yearly by YALSA.
Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers
The Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers list identifies titles aimed at encouraging reading among teens who dislike to read for any reason.
