Each year, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) presents the Best Fiction for Young Adults list after ALA’s Midwinter Meeting. This year’s list of 102 books was drawn from 200 official nominations. The books, recommended for ages 12-18, meet the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teens. The list comprises a wide range of genres and styles, including contemporary realistic fiction, fantasy, horror, science fiction and novels in verse. In addition to the full list, the Best Fiction for Young Adults committee also created a Top Ten list of titles from the final list, denoted here by an asterisk. Seven Canadian authors made the list!
“I am very proud of the hard work, patience and dedication each committee member took this year in selecting the 2013 BFYA list,” said Chair Ted Schelvan. “After much deliberation and discussion, our final list is comprised of books a library can be proud to add to their Young Adult collection.”
The Canadian selections are listed below, alphabetically by author.
Call the Shots
Written by Don Calame
Candlewick, 2012
Sean, Matt, and Coop have pulled off a few schemes in the past, but can they manage to make a low-budget horror film?
Seraphina*
Written by Rachel Hartman
Doubleday Canada/Random House
Intriguingly, in this world, dragons can transform at will into the body of a human. Part human, part dragon, Seraphina must hide her heritage as the tenuous peace her country has with dragons seems likely to slip away as unknown elements are stirring up trouble that even Seraphina’s music can’t assuage.
The Book of Life by Angel
Written by Martine Leavitt
Groundwood Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2012
Angel must escape her life of drugs and prostitution before she is forced to do the same for another.
The Traitor and the Tunnel
Written by Y.S. Lee
Candlewick Press, 2012
Mary Lang cannot keep herself out of scrapes. Once again, she is thrown into the thick of a murder mystery. This time it involves both the British Royal Family and her own long-lost father. The clues bringer her closer to the truth, but deeper into trouble!
Such Wicked Intent: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein Book Two
Written by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins Canada/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012
Try as he might, Victor cannot swear off the two great temptations in his life: the power over life and death offered by the Dark Sciences, and his love for his brother’s fiancé.
The Encyclopedia of Me
Written by Karen Rivers
Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine, 2012
Pick a letter and let Tink take you on a journey.
This is Not a Test
Written by Courtney Summer
St. Martin’s Griffith, 2012
Meet the girl who doesn’t want to survive the zombie apocalypse.
The members of the Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee are: Ted Schelvan, chair, Chief Umtuch Middle School Library, Battle Ground, WA; Rachel Cornelius, Sparta Free Library, Sparta, WI; Valerie Davis, Campbell County Public Library, Newport, KY; Veronica McKay, Rita & Truett Smith Public Library, Wylie, TX; L. Lee Butler, Keefe Memorial Library Boston Latin School, Boston, MA; Julie Vaught, Florence County Library, Florence, SC; Abby Moore, University of South Dakota University Libraries, Vermillion, SD; Stacey McCraken, W.F. West High School, Chehalis, WA; Elizabeth Schneider, Monrovia Public Library, Monrovia, CA; Shanna Swigert Smith, Mesa County Libraries, Grand Junction, CO; Carol Edwards, Denver Public Library, Denver, CO; Sherry Rampey, Gaston First Baptist Church Library, Gaston, SC; Christopher Lassen, Brooklyn Public Library-Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY; Diana Tixier Herald, Libraries Unlimited, Grand Junction, CO; and Ann Kelley, Booklist consultant, Chicago.
For the complete list of selection, click here.