We now have the design for the newly established Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award from ALAN. And in case you missed the announcement earlier this summer, it follows beneath the seal. What fun to have served on this inaugural committee.




Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Finalists Announced

The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is pleased and proud to announce the finalists for the inaugural Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult Fiction. The honored titles for 2009 (in alphabetical order by title) are:

 After Tupac and D Foster, by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam)

 Graceling, by Kristin Cashore (Harcourt)

 The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)

 Me, The Missing, and the Dead, by Jenny Valentine (HarperCollins)

 My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park, by Steve Kluger (Dial)





This year’s winning title will be announced at an open reception and reading at the 2009 ALAN Workshop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Established in 2008 to honor the wishes of young adult author, Amelia Elizabeth Walden, the award allows for the sum of $5,000 to be presented annually to the author of a young adult title selected by the ALAN Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Committee as demonstrating a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit.

The 2009 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee was comprised of ten members representing the university, K-12 school, and library communities who considered 232 young adult titles over the duration of the process:

Wendy Glenn, Chair
Associate Professor
University of Connecticut, Storrs

Mary Arnold
Teen Services Manager
Cuyahoga County Public Library, Ohio

Erica Berg
Classroom Teacher
Rockville High School, Vernon, CT

Jean Boreen
Professor
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff

C.J. Bott
Retired Classroom Teacher, Educational Consultant
Solon, OH

Jennifer Buehler
Assistant Professor
Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO

Bonnie Kunzel
Retired Youth Services Consultant, Youth Services Consultant
New Jersey

Teri Lesesne
Professor
Sam Houston State University Department of Library Science, Huntsville, TX

Daria Plumb
Classroom Teacher
Dundee Alternative High School, Dundee, MI

Barbara Ward
Assistant Professor
Washington State University, Tri-Cities


And I just learned from Kathi Appelt that THE UNDERNEATH is one of the winners of a PEN Award! Woo hoo!

Nominations, anyone? Thought this might be of interest.
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Dear Teri,

Just wanted to drop you a note and let you know about Children’s Book Council's (CBC) 2009 Teen Choice Book Award, which I thought you and your readers might be interested in.

Teenreads.com is collaborating with the Children's Book Council offering teens an opportunity to share their five favorite books of 2008. The five titles that receive the most “votes” will serve as the finalists for the CBC’s 2009 Teen Choice Book Award.

A list of nominees can be found at http://www.teenreads.com/features/ccba_nominees_2009.asp where readers also may find information on how to nominate other titles published in 2008. The deadline for nominating books is January 31, 2009.

In February 2009 we will send you information about where readers can go vote for the five finalists. The winner will be announced in May 2009.

I hope you will consider letting your readers know about the opportunity to participate in the Teen Choice Book Award Nominations. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Thanks for your consideration - I look forward to hearing from you!

Cheers,

Anna







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Anna Jarzab

Marketing Associate

The Book Report Network

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anna@authorsontheweb.com