YALSA names 2015 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults

CHICAGO - The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2015 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults list.

The list is aimed for young adults ages 12-18 and is drawn from the previous two years of spoken-word releases and presented annually at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. The full list can be viewed at http://www.ala.org/yalsa/amazing-audiobooks.

The 2015 Amazing Audiobooks list is comprised of 27 fiction titles and 2 nonfiction and features recordings covering a wide range of interests for young adults from historical fiction, to horror, to realistic fiction.

In addition to the full list, the committee chose the following recordings as its top ten:

• "ACID" by Emma Pass, read by Fiona Hardingham with Nicholas Guy Smith and Suzan Crowley. Listening Library, 2014.
• "Curtsies and Conspiracies" by Gail Carriger, read by Moira Quick.  Blackstone, 2013.
• "Define Normal" by Julie Anne Peters, read by Christine Lakin.  Hachette, 2014. 
• "Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders" by Geoff Herbach, read by Nick Podehl. Brilliance Audio, 2014.
• "Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future" by A.S. King, read by Christine Lakin. Hachette Audio, 2014.
• "Half Bad" by Sally Green, read by Carl Prekopp.  Recorded Books, 2014.
• "Love Letters to the Dead" by Ava Dellaira, read by Julia Whelan. Brilliance Audio, 2014.
• "Revolution" by Deborah Wiles, read by Stacey Aswad and Francois Battiste with J.D. Jackson and Robin Miles. Listening Library, 2014.
• "Skink--No Surrender" by Carl Hiaasen, read by Kirby Heyborne. Listening Library, 2014.
• "William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Collection," by Ian Doescher, read by Danny Davis, Jonathan Davis, Ian Doescher, Jeff Gurner, January LaVoy, and Marc Thompson. Random House Audio, 2014.
   

"This was a great year for audiobooks!” said Chair Colleen Seisser. "Those who follow our list will be excited to see stellar productions with narrators who excel at bringing the stories to life, and also many examples of extra production soundscapes that uplifted fantastic books to amazing audiobooks."

Members of the 2015 Amazing Audiobooks Committee are: Chair Colleen Seisser, Mount Prospect Public Library, Mount Prospect, Illinois; Randee Jean Bybee, Rathdrum, Idaho; Emily F. Calkins, King County Library System, Burien Library, Burien, Washington; Kim Christofferson, Salt Lake City Public Library, Sweet Branch Library, Salt Lake City; Sarah Hashimoto, Jackson District Library, Jackson, Michigan; Linda L. Plevak, Northeast Lakeview College, Universal City, Texas; Daniel Gray Tackett, Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest, Vestavia Hills, Alabama; Cynthia S. Vanderbrink, Toledo Lucas County Public Library, Toledo, Ohio; Dr. Sylvia M. Vardell, Texas Woman's University, Denton, Texas; and administrative assistant Melanie Wachsmann, Lone Star College, Cyfair Branch, Cypress, Texas.

YALSA’s portfolio of book and media awards helps strengthen library services for and with teens by identifying quality, age appropriate resources for librarians and library workers to share with the teens in their communities.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has worked to build the capacity of libraries and library staff to engage, serve and empower teens.  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.