For immediate release | February 12, 2019

2019 Teens’ Top Ten book groups announced

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CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has selected 15 public and school libraries from across the country to serve as official book groups for its .

The Teens’ Top Ten is a booklist created entirely by and for teens. These 15 groups will nominate books published in a calendar year to create the official Teens’ Top Ten nominations. Teen voters across the country then cast ballots for their favorites, creating the Teens’ Top Ten. Official nominees of the 2019 Teens’ Top Ten will be announced on the Thursday of , April 11 at .

In addition to creating the official Teens’ Top Ten nominations, the groups also evaluate books for publishers. More than 30 publishers provide advanced reading copies to the teen book discussion groups in libraries and in exchange, teen readers evaluate them.

The 2019-2020 official book groups began their terms in January of this year. They are:

  • Blueprint; Santa Margarita Catholic High School; Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, advised by Maricar Laudato
  • Bookworms Anonymous; Everett High school; advised by Deborah Payne
  • Folsom Public Library Teen Library Council; Folsom Public Library; advised by Amanda Perez
  • Johnson County Library YAAC; Johnson County Library; Overland Park, KS, advised by Peggy Hendershot
  • Jr. Litwits; Newton High School; advised by Teresa Henning
  • Newport Teens; Newport Beach Public Library; advised by Nadia Dallstream
  • One Team Readers; 'Iolani School; advised by Tora Nishimiya
  • Pages @ the Projects; Algonquin Area Public Library District; advised by Lindsey Tomsu
  • PCTI Book Club; Passaic County Technical Institute; advised by Claire Houghton-Kiel
  • Pizza & Books; Einstein Middle School; advised by Anne Dame
  • Raiders of the ARCs; Carmel Clay Public Library; advised by Karen Steinberger
  • Reading Dragons; Kingsway Regional High School; advised by Heather Connor
  • Teens Know Best; Saint Paul Public Library; advised by Maureen Hartman
  • WHS Book Club; Wasco High School; advised by Richard Winters
  • Youth Action Library League (Y'ALL); Multnomah County Library; advised by Danielle Jones

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Taskforce chooses new groups every two years. This year’s members are: Chair Micki Waldrop, Kelly Brocklehurst, Sean Thomas Gilmartin, Elsa D. Ouvrard-Prettol, Delia Swanner, and Lauren Ellice Yager.

Any teen can suggest a title for the Teens’ Top Ten via the . For more information on the Teens’ Top Ten, including previous winners and tools for teachers and library staff, please visit .

Licensing of seal images is available for titles nominated, as well as titles that make the final list. More information on how to license them can be found online at: .

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 , or contact the YALSA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4390; or e-mail: yalsa@ala.org.

Contact:

Anna Lam

Communications Specialist

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)

alam@ala.org