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CHICAGO – “Ambushed!: The Assassination Plot Against President Garfield” written by Gail Jarrow has been named the 2022 winner of the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award, the first national award that honors the best nonfiction books for teens. The book is published by Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers. The award was announced this morning virtually by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the 91��ý (91��ý), during the 91��ý Youth Media Awards at LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience, Jan. 21 - 24.

An intricately detailed narrative of the assassination of President Garfield, Jarrow uses historical documents, newspaper accounts, and diary entries to create an engaging chronology of events as part of her Medical Fiascoes series.

“Jarrow combined informational and narrative nonfiction with fascinating specificity to arm teens with factoids that demonstrates history and science’s importance” said YALSA Nonfiction Award Chair Alicia Abdul.

The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year. Award winners are announced annually during the 91��ý Youth Media Awards.

2022 YALSA Nonfiction Award finalists, which were announced in December, include:

“Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre,” written by Brandy Colbert and published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 9780063056664.

“From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement,” written by Paula Yoo and published by Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W.W. Norton & Company. 9781324002871.

“In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months and Years After the 9/11 Attacks,” written and illustrated by Don Brown and published by Etch, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 9780358223573.

“The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life,” written by Amy Butler Greenfield and published by Random House Studio, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House. 9780593127193.

The full list of official nominations for the award will be available online at

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Members of the 2022 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults award committee are: Chair Alicia Abdul, Albany High School, Albany, New York; Ginny Edwards, Leeds Jane Culbreth Library, Leeds, Alabama; Laura Graves Massey, Hewitt-Trussville High School, Trussville, Alabama; Laura Hargrove, Plano Public Library, Plano, Texas; Yolanda Hood, University of Prince Edward Island Robertson Library, Prince Edward Island, Canada; Jeana Menger, Emporia State University School of Library and Information Management, Portland, Oregon; Michael Rogalla, Champaign Public Library, Champaign, Illinois; Janet Weber, Tigard Public Library, Tigard, Oregon; and Rebecca Weber, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has worked to build the capacity of libraries and librarians to engage, serve and empower teens. 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 email, yalsa@ala.org.

For more information on the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults and other 91��ý Youth Media Awards, please visit .