Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
The American Library Association's Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults, formerly Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults, is a recommendation list of audiobooks presented yearly by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) division.
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) released the first list of Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults in 1999.[1] In 2009, the list was renamed as Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults.[1]
The list can be used to help young adult readers find suitable audiobooks, which "are an underused treasure in school libraries. Teacher librarians can use them to draw new readers into the library and find new ways to connect with teachers."[2] However, finding quality audiobooks can be difficult as one must consider the audiobook's sound quality, pacing, variety, cultural authenticity, narrators (professional versus volunteer; computer versus human), as well as matching readers' interests, reading ability, the audiobook's length, and more.[2] To help address these challenges, several librarians and organizations recommend parents and teachers use the Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults list to find audiobooks for young adults.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Criteria
To be eligible for the list, the audiobook "must have been produced or released within the 24 months previous to the list’s release."[7] The audiobooks cover a range of topics and are targeted toward individuals between the ages of 12 and 18.[7] To land a place on the list, audiobooks are judged on the following criteria:[7]
- The audiobooks must appeal to young adults age 12 to 18. This includes book whose text versions may not be suitable to this demographic.
- If the material is adapted, it "must remain true to, expand, or complement the original work"
- The audiobook must effectively use voice, music, sound effects, and/or language
- The audiobook must be appropriate for audio presentation
- The audiobook must have a suitable match between the performer and the text.
- The audiobook must be professionally produced.
- All words within the audiobook must be pronounced correctly.
- The audiobook must be clearly recorded.
- The audiobook must include informative packaging.
Honorees
After honoring all amazing audiobooks, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) selects ten books every year, which are "the best of the best."[8]
| Award Year | Genre | Author | Book Title | Reader(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011[9] | Fantasy | Laini Taylor | Dreamdark Silksinger | Cassandra Campbell |
| Melina Marchetta | Finnikin of the Rock | Jeffrey Cummings | ||
| Fantasy, Science-Fiction | Patrick Ness | The Knife of Never Letting Go | Nick Podehl | |
| Fiction | LouAnne Johnson | Muchacho | Ozzie Rodriguez | |
| Sapphire | Precious | Bahni Turpin | ||
| John Green and David Levithan | Will Grayson, Will Grayson | MacLeod Andrews and Nick Podehl | ||
| Historical fiction | Kristin Levine | The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had | Kirby Heyborne | |
| Rita Garcia Williams | One Crazy Summer | Sisi Aisha Johnson | ||
| L. A. Meyer | Rapture of the Deep | Katherine Kellgren | ||
| Kekla Magoon | The Rock and the River | Dion Graham | ||
| 2012[10] | Biography | Georgia Bragg | How They Croaked | L.J. Ganser |
| Fantasy | Rick Yancey | Curse of the Wendigo | Steven Boyer | |
| Philip Reeve | Fever Crumb | Philip Reeve | ||
| Andrew Smith | Marbury Lens | Mark Boyett | ||
| Jonathan Stroud | Ring of Solomon | Simon Jones | ||
| Fiction | Louise Rennison | Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? | Stina Nielson | |
| Libba Bray | Beauty Queens | Libba Bray | ||
| Brent Crawford | Carter’s Big Break | Nick Podehl | ||
| Historical fantasy | Franny Billingsley | Chime | Susan Duerden | |
| Historical fiction | L.A. Meyer | Wake of the Lorelei Lee | Katherine Kellgren | |
| 2013[11] | Autobiography | Melba Patillo Beals | Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High | Lisa Renee Pitts |
| Fantasy | Libba Bray | The Diviners | January LaVoy | |
| Christopher Paolini | Inheritance | Gerard Doyle | ||
| [[Rick Yancey|Rick Yancey]] | The Isle of Blood | Steven Boyer | ||
| Fiction | Jeff Kinney | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever | Ramon de Ocampo | |
| E.M. Kokie | Personal Effects | Nick Podehl | ||
| R.J. Palacio | Wonder | Diana Steele, Nick Podehl, and Kate Rudd | ||
| Historical fiction | Elizabeth Wein | Code Name Verity | Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskell | |
| Allan Wolf | The Watch That Ends the Night | Michael Page, Phil Gigante, Christopher Lane, Laurel Merlington, and Angela Dawe | ||
| Mystery, Thriller | Niall Leonard | Crusher | Daniel Weyman | |
| 2014[12] | Biography | Leon Leyson | The Boy on the Wooden Box | Danny Burstein |
| Fantasy | Gail Carriger | Etiquette & Espionage | Moira Quirk | |
| DC Pierson | Crap Kingdom | D.C. Pierson | ||
| Terry Pratchett | Dodger | Stephen Briggs | ||
| Fantasy, Horror | Paolo Bacigalupi | Zombie Baseball Beatdown | Sunil Malhotra | |
| Fiction | Sara Farizan | If You Could Be Mine | Negin Farsad | |
| Rainbow Rowell | Eleanor & Park | Rebecca Lowman and Sunil Malhotra | ||
| Historical Fiction | L.A. Meyer | Viva Jacquelina!: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Over the Hills and Far Away | Katherine Kellgren | |
| Horror, Thriller | Daniel Kraus | Scowler | Kirby Heyborne | |
| Science-Fiction | Ian Doescher | William Shakespeare's Star Wars | full cast | |
| 2015[13] | Fiction | Emma Pass | ACID | Fiona Hardingham with Nicholas Guy Smith and Suzan Crowley |
| Gail Carriger | Curtsies and Conspiracies | Moira Quick | ||
| Julie Anne Peters | Define Normal | Christine Lakin | ||
| Geoff Herbach | Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders | Nick Podehl | ||
| A.S. King | Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future | Christine Lakin | ||
| Sally Green | Half Bad | Carl Prekopp | ||
| Ava Dellaira | Love Letters to the Dead | Julia Whelan | ||
| Deborah Wiles | Revolution | Stacey Aswad and Francois Battiste with J.D. Jackson and Robin Miles | ||
| Carl Hiaasen | Skink--No Surrender | Kirby Heyborne | ||
| [[Ian Doescher|Ian Doescher]] | William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Collection | Danny Davis, Jonathan Davis, Ian Doescher, Jeff Gurner, January LaVoy, and Marc Thompson | ||
| 2016[14] | Fiction | Gail Carriger | Waistcoats & Weaponry | Moira Quick |
| Dawn Kurtagich | The Dead House | Charlotte Parry and Christian Coulson | ||
| Pam Munoz Ryan | Echo | Mark Bramhall, David De Vries, Macleod Andrews, and Rebecca Soler | ||
| Isabel Quintero | Gabi, A Girl in Pieces | Kyla Garcia | ||
| Sally Green | Half Wild | Carl Prekopp and Kyla Garcia | ||
| Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff | lluminae | Olivia Taylor Dudley, Lincoln Hoppe, and Jonathan McClain | ||
| Libba Bray | Lair of Dreams | January LaVoy | ||
| Ransom Riggs | Library of Souls | Kirby Heyborne | ||
| Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus | Trollhunters | Kirby Heyborne | ||
| Nonfiction | Randall Munroe | What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions | Wil Wheaton | |
| 2017[15] | Fiction | Gavriel Savit | Anna and the Swallow Man | Allan Corduner |
| Brie Spangler | Beast | Andrew Eiden | ||
| Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff | Gemina | Carla Corvo, MacLeod Andrews, Steve West, and a full cast | ||
| Goldy Moldavsky | Kill the Boy Band | Barrett Wilbert Weed | ||
| Noelle Stevenson | Nimona | Marc Thompson, Rebecca Soler, January LaVoy, Peter Bradbury, Jonathan Davis, David Pittu, and Natalie Gold | ||
| Gary D. Schmidt | Orbiting Jupiter | Christopher Gebauer | ||
| Ruta Sepetys | Salt to the Sea | Jorjeana Marie, Will Damron, Cassandra Morris, and Michael Crouch | ||
| E.K. Johnston | Star Wars: Ahsoka | Ashley Eckstein | ||
| Ellen Hopkins | Traffick | Kirby Heyborne, Julia Whelan, Madeleine Maby, Rebekkah Ross, and Jacques Roy | ||
| April Genevieve Tucholke | Wink Poppy Midnight | Michael Crouch, Alicyn Packard, and Caitlin Davies | ||
| 2018[16] | Fantasy | J.K. Rowling and Newt Scamander | Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Eddie Redmayne |
| Neal Shusterman | Scythe | Greg Tremblay | ||
| Fiction | Ellen Oh (editor) | Flying Lessons and Other Stories | Various | |
| Angie Thomas | The Hate U Give | Bahni Turpin | ||
| Benjamin Alire Sáenz | The Inexplicable Logic of My Life | Robbie Daymond | ||
| Elizabeth Wein | The Pearl Thief | Maggie Service | ||
| Nicola Yoon | The Sun is Also a Star | Dominic Hoffman, Raymond Lee, and Bahni Turpin | ||
| Historical fiction | Mackenzi Lee | The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue | Christian Coulson | |
| Memoir | Lynda Blackmon Lowery, as told to Elspeth Leacock and Susan Buckley | Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March | Damaras Obi | |
| Memoir, Graphic novel | Maggie Thrash | Honor Girl | Ensemble Cast | |
| 2019[17] | Fantasy | Nnedi Okorafor | Akata Witch | Yetide Badaki |
| M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin | The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge | Gildart Jackson | ||
| J.K. Rowling and Kennilworthy Whisp | Quidditch Through the Ages | Andrew Lincoln | ||
| Neal Shusterman | Thunderhead | Greg Trembley | ||
| Fiction | Gayle Forman | I Have Lost My Way | Nicole Lewis, Michael Crouch, and Sunil Malhotra | |
| Jason Reynolds | Lu | Guy Lockard | ||
| Courtney Summers | Sadie | Rebecca Soler, Fred Berman, Dan Bittner, Gabra Zackman, and a Full Cast | ||
| Jason Reynolds | Sunny | Guy Lockard | ||
| Memoir | Tara Westover | Educated | Julia Whelan | |
| Poetic Fiction | Elizabeth Acevedo | The Poet X | Elizabeth Acevedo | |
| 2020[18] | Fantasy | A.S. King | Dig | A.S. King, Mike Chamberlain, Tonya Cornelisse and Kirby Heyborne |
| Fiction | Mindy McGinnis | Heroine | Brittany Pressley | |
| Tiffany D. Jackson | Let Me Hear a Rhyme | Adenrele Ojo, Korey Jackson, Adam Lazarre-White, and Nile Bullock | ||
| Angie Thomas | On the Come Up | Bahni Turpin | ||
| Elizabeth Acevedo | With the Fire on High | Elizabeth Acevedo | ||
| Historical fiction | Ruta Sepetys | The Fountains of Silence | Maite Jáuregui, with Richard Ferrone, Neil Hellegers, Joshua Kane, Liza Kaplan, and Oliver Wyman | |
| Memoir | Michelle Obama | Becoming | Michelle Obama | |
| Memoir, Graphic novel | Jarrett J. Krosoczka | Hey Kiddo | Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Jeanne Birdsall, Richard Ferrone, and Jenna Lamia | |
| Poetic Memoir | Laurie Halse Anderson | Shout | Laurie Halse Anderson | |
| Science Fiction | Samira Ahmed | Internment | Soneela Nankani | |
| 2021[19] | Biography, Graphic Novel | Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed | When Stars Are Scattered | Full Cast |
| Fantasy | Tracy Deonn | Legendborn | Joniece Abbott-Pratt | |
| Aiden Thomas | Cemetery Boys | Avi Roque | ||
| Elizabeth Acevedo | Clap When You Land | Melania-Luisa Marte and Elizabeth Acevedo | ||
| Holly Jackson | A Good Girl's Guide to Murder | Bailey Carr, Melissa Calin, Michael Crouch, Gopal Divan, Robert Fass, Kevin R. Free, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Carol Monda, Patricia Santomasso, Shezi Sardar and Amanda Thickpenny | ||
| Allan Wolf | The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep: Voices from the Donner Party | Bahni Turpin, Whitney Dykhouse, Teri Schnaubelt, Tim Gerard Reynolds, Lauren Ezzo, Eric G. Dove, Ramón de Ocampo, and Shaun Taylor-Corbett | ||
| Deborah Wiles | Kent State | Christopher Gebauer, Lauren Ezzo, Christina Delaine, Johnny Heller, Roger Wayne, Korey Jackson, and David de Vries | ||
| Jordan Ifueko | Raybearer | Joniece Abbott-Pratt | ||
| Historical fiction | Traci Chee | We Are Not Free | Scott Keiji Takeda, Dan Woren, Ryan Potter, Ali Fumiko, Sophie Oda, Andrew Kishino, Christopher Naoki Lee, Grace Rolek, Erika Aishii, Brittany Ishibashi, Kurt Sanchez Kanazawa and Terry Kitagawa | |
| Nonfiction | [[Jason Reynolds|Jason Reynolds]] and Ibram X. Kendi | Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You | [[Jason Reynolds|Jason Reynolds]] and Ibram X. Kendi |
References
- ^ a b c Cahill, Maria; Moore, Jennifer (Spring 2017). "A Sound History: Audiobooks Are Music to Children's Ears". Children and Libraries. 15 (1): 22–29. doi:10.5860/cal.15n1.22.
- ^ a b c Lamb, Annette (December 2017). "Listeners' Advisory Part 1". Teacher Librarian. 45: 2 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Young, Renee (2019-10-25). "The Alert Collector: Listen Up: Best Practices for Audiobooks in Libraries". Reference & User Services Quarterly. 58 (4): 210–214. doi:10.5860/rusq.58.4.7146. ISSN 1094-9054.
- ^ Reading by right : successful strategies to ensure every child can read to succeed. Chris Riddell, Joy Court. London. 2017. ISBN 978-1-78330-209-3. OCLC 968905071.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Lesesne, Teri S. (Summer 2016). "Benefits and Practical Applications of Audiobooks". The ALAN Review. 43 (3): 107–109.
- ^ Wolfson, Gene (2008). "Using Audiobooks to Meet the Needs of Adolescent Readers". American Secondary Education. 36 (2): 105–114. ISSN 0003-1003. JSTOR 41406113.
- ^ a b c "Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2014-11-25. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ "An Enthusiastic Earful". American Libraries Magazine. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
- ^ Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) (2010-12-27). "2011 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
- ^ Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) (2012-01-24). "2012 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Top Ten". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) (2013-01-31). "2013 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Top Ten". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2013-03-18. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) (2014-01-30). "2014 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Top Ten". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) (2015-02-03). "2015 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2015-02-07. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) (2016-01-11). "2016 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2016-01-14. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) (2017-01-25). "2017 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2017-03-22. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) (2018-01-09). "2018 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2018-01-10. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) (2019-01-10). "2019 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2019-01-30. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) (2020-01-06). "2020 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2020-06-06. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) (2021-01-04). "2021 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2021-04-03.