Young Adults' Choices for 2005

The 2005 Young Adults' Choices list is the 19th that U.S. teenagers (grades 7–12) have helped create. This project began in 1986, funded by a special grant given to the International Reading Association (IRA) and supervised by the Association's Literature for Young Adults Committee.

The goals of the project are to encourage young people to read; to make teens, teachers, librarians, and parents aware of new literature for young adults; and to provide middle and secondary school students with an opportunity to voice their opinions about books being written for them.

The 30 books on this year's list are the result of voting by students in five different regions of the United States. Trade books (books other than textbooks) published in 2003 were submitted by more than 50 publishers. Each book had to have at least two positive reviews from recognized sources such as The Horn Book, School Library Journal, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Booklist, Language Arts,or Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA). Submitted books were read by students in grades 7–12 between September 2004 and February 2005 in selected school districts throughout the United States. More than 11,000 ballots were counted for the books submitted for this year's project. Students marked, “I liked the book,”“It was OK,” or “I didn't like the book.” The results were announced in May at the 2005 Annual Convention of the International Reading Association in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

Publishers sent the books to the five team leaders in different regions in the United States. The team leaders' responsibilities included selecting the school districts and schools in which the project would take place; making sure the books were distributed to the schools; working with the teachers, librarians, supervisors, and principals to implement the program; and writing the annotations. They were also responsible for collecting the ballots and mailing them to the International Reading Association headquarters for the final tally.

The following schools participated in the 2005 project:

Team 1: Lisa Morris-Wilkey (team leader): Casa Grande, Arizona; two high schools, two middle schools, and one K-8 Catholic school; rural.

Team 2: Lorrie L. Gallo and Kathleen M. Broskin (team leaders): Marion and Indiana, Pennsylvania; two high schools, one middle school, and one junior high; rural.

Team 3: Barbara Rawls and Jeanne Welt (team leaders): Madison, Alabama; two middle schools; suburban. Mary Long (trainee): three high schools and five middle schools; suburban.

Team 4: Patrice Kraus, Kathy Meyer, and Julie Powell (team leaders): West Des Moines, Iowa; one junior high, two high schools, and one alternative high school; suburban and urban.

Team 5: Geraldine Barnes and Kim Ford (team leaders): Memphis, Tennessee; three high schools and three middle schools; urban, suburban, and rural. Barbara A. Sears (trainee): Clifton, Virginia; one high school and two middle schools; suburban.

The participating schools represented various types of students, economic levels, cultural groups, and geographic regions. The team leaders were enthusiastic and expressed appreciation for the opportunity to participate in this worthwhile and exciting project.

The committee wishes to thank Alida von Krogh Cutts and Mary Cash of the International Reading Association staff for helping to coordinate the project. Thanks are also extended to Natalie Babbitt for her logo design and to the International Reading Association for its continued support of the project. Gratitude and appreciation go to all of the students, teachers, librarians, school district administrators, and team leaders who participated in the project and made it a success.

Members of Literature for Young Adults Committee, cochaired by Deborah E. Krull and Cathy L. Denman, have written annotations for each title. Their initials indicate annotations written by individual committee members. Reviewers include Geraldine Barnes, Kim Ford, Mary Long, Julie Powell, Barbara Rawls, Lisa Morris-Wilkey, Kathy Meyer, Lorrie L. Gallo, Jeanne Welt, Kathleen M. Broskin, Patrice Kraus, Barbara A. Sears, and Carol Reinhard.

Bibliographic data are supplied for each title, including ISBN (International Standard Book Number), number of pages, and price. If a publisher has both a library and trade edition, the ISBN for the library edition is included. Publishers furnished information in May 2005, but prices are subject to change.

The annotated 2005 Young Adults' Choices list is downloadable from the International Reading Association website www.reading.org. To order bulk copies by phone with a credit card, call (in the USA and Canada only) 800-336-7323 or 302-731-1600 (for international orders), and by mail, write to Order Department, 800 Barksdale Road, PO Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714-8139, USA. E-mail questions about orders to customer service@reading.org.

After.

Francine Prose

After a nearby school shooting, Tom and his sophomore classmates react to the new, harsh security restrictions imposed by a grief counselor in order to control the students. Those who refuse to conform disappear to a detention camp from which no one returns. Tom risks his own life to protect their freedoms. LLG