91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the 91´«Ã½, has officially announced the .

The Teens’ Top Ten is a “teen choice” list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year. Nominators are members of teen book groups from sixteen school and public libraries around the country selected by YALSA to participate.

This year’s list of nominees featured 25 titles that were published between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020.

The nominees are as follows:

• "All Boys Aren’t Blue" by George M. Johnson. Farrar, Stratus and Giroux/Macmillan
• "All the Stars and Teeth" by Adalyn Grace. Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
• "Atomic Women" by Roseanne Montillo. Little, Brown and Company/Hatchett Book Group
• "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic Inc.
• "The Betrothed" by Kiera Cass. HarperTeen/HarperCollins Publishers
• "The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person" by Frederick Joseph. Candlewick Press
• "The Bone Thief" by Breeana Shields. Page Street Publishing Co.
• "Cemetery Boys" by Aiden Thomas. Swoon Reads/Macmillan
• "Chain of Gold" by Cassandra Clare. Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Division
• "Clap When You Land" by Elizabeth Acevedo. Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins Children’s Books
• "Dangerous Secrets" by Mari Mancusi. Disney Press
• "The Dark Matter of Mona Starr" by Laura Gulledge. Amulet Books/Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
• "Dragon Hoops" by Gene Luen Yang. First Second Books/Macmillan
• "Five Total Strangers" by Natalie D. Richards. Sourcebooks Fire/Sourcebooks
• "Flamer" by Mike Curato. Henry Holt and Company/Macmillan
• "The Inheritance Games" by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers/Hatchett Book Group
• "Instant Karma" by Marissa Meyer. Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan
• "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue" by VE Schwab. Tom Doherty Associates.
• "Legendborn" by Tracy Deonn. Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster’s
• "Lost Book of the White" by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu. Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster’s
• "The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea" by Maggie Tokudo-Hall. Candlewick Press
• "One of Us is Next" by Karen M. McManus. Delacorte Press/Penguin Random House
• "The Shadows Between Us" by Tricia Levenseller. Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan
• "Tweet Cute: A Novel" by Emma Lord. Wednesday Books/Macmillan
• "We Used to Be Friends" by Amy Spalding. Amulet Books/Abrams

A video announcing the nominees and an annotated list is also available at

Teens are encouraged to read the nominees throughout the summer to prepare for the national Teens’ Top Ten vote, which will take place Aug. 15 – Oct. 12. The 10 nominees that receive the most votes will be named the official 2021 Teens’ Top Ten.

As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has put a strain on in-person library experiences, this is a great opportunity to better utilize digital resources. We encourage teens to engage in digital resources, especially e-books and audiobooks offered by their libraries. To learn more, visit . Applications to become a YA Galley/Teens’ Top Ten book group will be released early fall. Please check the then for more information.

A digital image of a Teens’ Top Ten seal for nominated titles is available to publishers for licensing. Arrangements can be made through 91´«Ã½’s Rights and Permissions office for publishers who need permission to reproduce the seal on a paperback edition of book jacket. Contact permissions@ala.org, Mary Jo Bolduc, (312) 280-5416 (phone) or (312) 944-8741 (fax) for information.

The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is to support library staff in alleviating the challenges teens face, and in putting all teens ‒ especially those with the greatest needs ‒ on the path to successful and fulfilling lives. For more information about YALSA or to access national guidelines and other resources go to www.ala.org/yalsa, or contact the YALSA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4390; or e-mail: yalsa@ala.org.