The ALA Youth Media Awards were announced this morning at the Midwinter Conference in Dallas, TX. You can read the full press announcements here. Below are a few highlights related to YA media:

• The Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults goes to Susan Cooper (Dark is Rising series) **yippee**
• The Michael L. Prinz Award for YA literature goes to: “Where Things Come Back,” written by John Corey Whaley, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an
  imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. Honor Books include: “Why We Broke Up,” written by Daniel Handler, art by Maira Kalman and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group; “The Returning,” written by Christine Hinwood and published by Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Group Young Readers Group USA; “Jasper Jones,” written by Craig Silvey and published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.; and “The Scorpio Races,” written by Maggie Stiefvater and published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.
• Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of
  the disability experience winner in the teen category (ages 14-18) is: “The Running Dream,” written by Wendelin Van Draanen and published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

The Alex Awards, for the 10 YA novels most appealing to young people include:

1. “Big Girl Small,” by Rachel DeWoskin, published by Farrar, Straus
   and Giroux
2.  “In Zanesville,” by Jo Ann Beard, published by Little, Brown &
   Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
3. “The Lover’s Dictionary,” by David Levithan, published by Farrar,
   Straus and Giroux
4. “The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for
   Immigrant Teens,” by Brooke Hauser, published by Free Press, a division of
   Simon & Schuster, Inc.
5. “The Night Circus,” by Erin Morgenstern, published by Doubleday, a
   division of Random House, Inc.
6. “Ready Player One,” by Ernest Cline, published by Crown Publishers,
   an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
7. “Robopocalypse: A Novel,” by Daniel H. Wilson, published by
   Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.
8. “Salvage the Bones,” by Jesmyn Ward, published by Bloomsbury USA
9. “The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures,” by Caroline
   Preston, published by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
10. “The Talk-Funny Girl,” by Roland Merullo, published by Crown
    Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random
    House, Inc.

Happy Reading!