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WELCOME TO ALEX AWARD BOOKS

Each year, The American Library Association (ALA), the oldest and largest library association in the world, honors the best books published that year.

The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing.

AYear : 1998

"It's amusing, disturbing, and cheerful in the face of "Ugh!" and "Ah!"--the perfect book to trigger lively conversations. One thing's for certain: you'll never again complain that your ordinary day is just too ordinary." - This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"His memoir of a hardscrabble Southern youth pays moving tribute to his indomitable mother and struggles to forgive his drunken father. All Over but the Shoutin' is beautifully achieved on both these counts--and many more." - This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"Karin Cook depicts the inner lives of girls on the verge of adolescence with tremendous insight, and in Tilden, she has found a narrator both eloquent and observant. What Girls Learn explores notions of family and femininity and the transcendence of love, even in the face of loss." - This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title

"Throughout the assortment of pop-out and pull-out replicas, points are raised that will lead to classroom discussion. With its inclusion of documents such as a receipt for a slave woman or the freedom papers of a former slave, those discussions will be given an added dimension." - APeggy Bercher, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

"Ms. Turner's novel is well-written and from the heart, but many of its characters and situations seem familiar--the stock inventory of coming-of-age novels. Even the novel's secret fails to resonate--perhaps because the reader has guessed it long before Tempestt herself does." - This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"Take an excursion through time, add chaos theory, romance, plenty of humor, a dollop of mystery, and a spoof of the Victorian novel, and you end up with what seems like a comedy of errors but is actually a grand scheme "involving the entire course of history and all of time and space that, for some unfathomable reason, chose to work out its designs with cats and croquet mallets and penwipers, to say nothing of the dog. And a hideous piece of Victorian artwork."" - Sally Estes

AYear : 1999

"Before they've finally vindicated themselves--not a big surprise, since in scene after scene everybody gets shot but them--Jake and Carolyn have tracked the Newark Incident to the very highest levels of the government, and Gilstrap has ingeniously twisted his simple premise six ways from Sunday." - Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved

"This is Kim Stanley Robinson's first book since his award-winning Mars trilogy, and while some of the themes may be familiar to seasoned Robinson readers, the book is never less than engrossing. As usual Robinson does a masterful job with the setting of his story, and anyone interested in Antarctica won't want to miss this one." - Craig Engler

"Throughout, Birdie keeps alive her need to connect with her father and sister, and faces the knowledge that the liability of her sister's blackness to her mother and her own unwelcome whiteness to her father has brought the family to this sorry situation. It is her courage, her optimism, and her inherent loyalty that brings about a satisfying reunion for the sisters." - Frances Reiher, Fairfax County Public Library, VA