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YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

Nonfiction AwardNonfiction AwardNonfiction AwardCurrent Winners

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The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a November 1 – October 31 publishing year. The award winner will be announced annually at the ALA Midwinter Meeting Youth Media Awards, with a shortlist of up to five titles named the first week of December. The award will be presented at ALA Annual Conference.

Seals for the winning titles, finalist titles, and nominated titles can be purchased from the ALA Online Store.
 

   

2010 Winner

2010 Nonfiction Award Winner Charles & Emma

Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith

By Deborah Heiligman, published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group (9780805087215).

After creating a list of the pros and cons of marriage, science-minded Charles Darwin chooses to marry his strictly religious first cousin. Little does he know that he is about to embark upon the most loving, creative, and intellectually important relationship of his life.

2010 Finalists

Almost Astronauts  Claudette Colvin The Great and Only Barnum Written in Bone

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream

By Tanya Lee Stone, published by Candlewick. (9780763636111).

In the early 1960s, the doctor in charge of testing NASA’s astronauts decided to find out if female pilots were capable of passing the grueling qualification tests required of male pilots. Feasible? Yes. Allowed? No. All testing of women’s potential for the Mercury program was done outside NASA’s purview and without their permission. The reasons why will stun readers.  

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

By Phillip Hoose, published by Melanie Kroupa Books/ Farrar Straus Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan children’s Publishing Group (9780374313227).

Hoose recounts the largely untold story of Claudette Colvin, who was arrested and jailed at the age of 15 after refusing to relinquish her seat on a bus to a white woman. Interviews with Colvin create a vivid picture not only of the Montgomery bus boycott but also the Browder v. Gayle case, in which she was a key defendant.

The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum

By Candace Fleming and illustrated by Ray Fenwick published by Schwartz & Wade Books/Random House (9780375841972).

Thrill to the audacity! Gasp at the hucksterism! Come one, come all to the jaw-dropping, larger-than-life biography of expert humbugger, relentless curiosity seeker, and unparalleled showman P. T. Barnum.

Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland

By Sally M. Walker, published by Carolrhoda/Lerner. (9780822571353)

By presenting a detailed examination into the work of different types of forensic archaeology at excavations in both Jamestown, Virginia, and Colonial Maryland, readers are rewarded with both a picture of this fascinating work and an appreciation for what it contributes to our knowledge of history.

2010 Committee

Members of the 2010 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults award committee are: Chair Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York; Sallie H. Barringer, Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati; Betsy J. Fraser, Calgary (Alb.) Public Library, Canada; Joyce K. Giuliani, Hayfield Secondary School, Alexandria, Va.; Andy Howe, Albuquerque (N.M.) Academy Simms Library; Dr. Jami L. Jones, East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C.; Tena Litherland, Webb School of Knoxville, Tenn.; Stephen L. Matthews, Foxcroft School, Middleburg, Va.; Jody Sharp, Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, Md.; Judy Sasges, administrative assistant, Sno-Isle Libraries, Marysville, Wash.; and Daniel Kraus, Booklist consultant, Chicago.