YALSA encourages teens to read the 26 nominees before the national Teens’ Top Ten vote, which will take place in August and September at www.ala.org/teenstopten. The winners will be announced during Teen Read Week, Oct. 17-23.
The Teens' Top Ten is a teen choice list, in which teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year
Abbott, Ellen Jensen. Watersmeet. Marshall Cavendish. 2009. (9780761455363).
Abisina is born into a colony of religious fanatics, where she is persecuted for her appearance,
kept alive only because her mother is the healer. But when a new leader arrives, he rids the
colony of the outcasts. Abisina escapes and is rescued by some dwarves, who help her journey to
Watersmeet to find her father.
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Wintergirls. Penguin/Viking Books. 2009. (9780670011100).
Lia sees her eating disorder as a way to avoid so much: her stepmother’s pressure to be a role
model for her new stepsister, her parents’ divorce, her mother constantly hounding over her
daughter’s eating habits whenever she finds the time in the rest of her life. But most importantly,
she sees it as a means to escape the death of her best friend, the one she ignored the day she died
from the same disease Lia is fighting herself.
Brown, Jennifer. Hate List. Hachette/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2009.
(9780316041447).
Valerie and her boyfriend Nick are constantly picked on by other kids at Garvin High. They
write a Hate List, and Nick participates in a Columbine type killing. Valerie survives and has to
live with the consequences.
Carter, Ally. Heist Society. Disney/Hyperion. 2010. (9781423116394).
Katarina is trying to get out of the family thievery business. When her father is suspected of
stealing a priceless art collection from an Italian mobster, she has to steal them back to save his
life—and she has no idea where they are.
Cashore, Kristin. Fire. Penguin/Dial. 2009. (9780803734616).
Fire is a monster, quite literally. She is extraordinarily beautiful and can control the minds of
humans. Soon she gets sucked into the kingdom’s political turmoil and encounters everything
from cold princes to brightly colored bunny rabbits.
Clare, Cassandra. City of Glass. Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry. 2009. (978-
1416914303).
Clary must dig deep within herself to complete the journey into the unfamiliar in the name of
family and love. Clary goes to the City of Glass to try to save her mother — even though it may
mean her own death.
Clayton, Emma. The Roar. Scholastic/Chicken House. 2009. (9780439925938).
Mika's world appears to be based purely on mystery and lies, though he seems to be the only one
who senses it. After his sister vanishes and a new government program that targets children rises,
Mika decides that the only hope of finding his sister may be in beating the government at their
own game.
Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. Scholastic/ Scholastic Press. 2009. (9780439023498).
In the sequel to The Hunger Games, Katniss is faced with the challenges of being a victor of the
Games, from keeping up the image of a romantic relationship with Peeta to trying to prevent any
rioting in the other districts. But when the Capitol announces a twist that will affect Katniss
forever, will she be able to survive re-entering the world of the Games?
Dessen, Sarah. Along for the Ride. Penguin/Viking. 2009. (9780670011940).
College-bound Auden lets academics drive her entire life until she moves to a beach town for the
summer to live with her father, stepmother, and newborn half-sister. Slowly she learns to break
out of her shell as she makes friends with the locals and falls for a trick bike rider.
Fisher, Catherine. Incarceron. Penguin /Dial. 2010. (9780803733961).
In a distant future, all the world's criminals are dumped in a vast, living prison called Incarceron,
with live forests and mechanical animals, climate-controlled weather, and everlasting dark walls
that stretch to nowhere. Seventeen-year-old Finn believes he should not be there and must rely
on help from the outside to escape.
Fitzpatrick, Becca. hush, hush. Simon & Schuster. 2009. (9781416989417).
Nora ends up sitting next to Patch in biology. Patch is a scary guy, a fallen angel, and he is
shrouded in mystery. But he has a knack for getting under Nora’s skin. Many people seem to be
out to get her and she is slowly starting to realize she is falling for Patch, even if he is trying to
kill her.
Forman, Gayle. If I Stay. Penguin/Dutton. 2009. (9780525421030)
After a drive with her family, Mia wakes up to find the car in pieces and the bodies of her family
by the side of the road. She is in a coma, but she can see everything happening around her,
almost as if she was a ghost. With her family gone, Mia has to decide if she should stay among
the living or if she should pass on.
Garcia, Kami and Margaret Stohl. Beautiful Creatures. Hachette/Little, Brown Books for
Young Readers. 2009. (9780316042673)
Lena isn't like the other girls in Gatlin, South Carolina. She's as different from them as a person
can get. She is a Caster. Ethan wants to be different. He hates life in Gatlin. So when he runs into
Lena, almost literally, something just clicks. Can an ancient curse, a shut-in uncle, and certain
doom keep them apart?
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd. Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci.
Hachette/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2009. (9780316008099).
Anyone who has ever been labeled or proclaimed themselves to be "geeks" will fall to the floor
laughing and fall in love with the many different short stories and illustrations by some of the top
young adult authors.
Golding, Julia. Dragonfly. Marshall Cavendish. 2009. (978-0761455820).
A princess from a country formed on rules is being forced to marry a prince from a different
country who just likes to live life. They dislike each other on sight— and then they are
kidnapped. Can they travel sback home, through enemy territory, without strangling each other?
Jinks, Catherine. The Reformed Vampire Support Group. Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
2009. (9780152066093).
Grumpy vampire Nina is in a support group so that she doesn't prey on humans. But things start
to look grimmer than ever when one of the vampires in the support group shows up dead. Will
Nina be able to get to the bottom of this crime before another vampire is attacked?
Lieb, Josh. I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President.
Penguin/Razorbill. 2009. (9781595142405).
A young boy (who happens to be an evil genius) wants to be student body president to attract his
father/arch-nemesis’ attention. After using his almost unlimited resources, he thinks he has the
election in the bag, when suddenly everything goes wrong that no amount of money can fix.
Ockler, Sarah. Twenty Boy Summer. Hachette/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2009.
(978-0316051583).
Anna joins her best friend Frankie’s family for a beach vacation in California. Frankie and Anna
make a bet to attract 20 boys in 20 days. Anna struggles with a painful secret and falls in love
with Sam — and isn’t sure she can finish their bet.
Patterson, James. Witch and Wizard. Hachette/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2009.
(9780316036245).
Siblings Whit and Wisty are suddenly pronounced a witch and a wizard by their oppressive
government. They are sent to prison, where they learn to use their powers with hopes to escape.
Peters, Julie Anne. By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead. Disney/Hyperion. 2010.
(9781423116189).
Daelyn Rice is determined to succeed in killing herself this time. Using a website for
“completers,” she reveals a history of bullying and torment that started in kindergarten. One day,
though, a boy sits with her as she is waiting to be picked up from school. While she makes it
known that she wants to be alone, he won't give up on her.
Pierce, Tamora. Bloodhound. Random House. 2009. (9780375814693).
Beka has grown and needs to take on new assignments. When her old partner gets hurt, she is
sent out on a new type of mission. Finding love and a culprit can be complicated in a big city—
but nothing is too hard for the Terrier!
St. Crow, Lili. Strange Angels. Penguin/Razorbill. 2009. ( 9781595142511).
Dru’s family kills mythical creatures. After a catastrophe befalls her parents, she wants revenge.
To find out what happened to her family, she’ll need to learn to trust others.
Stiefvater, Maggie. Shiver. Scholastic . 2009. (9780545123273).
Ever since being saved by a wolf as a child, Grace has been fascinated with the wolves around
her Minnesota home. But the wolves are becoming restless and need Grace's help to save them.
One of the wolves takes human form and falls in love with Grace — but as the weather grows
colder, he’ll turn back into a wolf, likely forever. Soon, he must make a life or death decision to
stay with the one he loves.
Tanigawa, Nagaru. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Hachette/Little, Brown Books for
Young Readers. 2009. (9780316039017).
Haruhi Suzumia is a high-school student who is bored by normal humans. She wants something
supernatural to happen, so she starts a club with a boy named Kyon. Little does she know that
everyone that signs up from her club is either a Time Traveler, Alien, or Esper.
Westerfeld, Scott. Leviathan. Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse. 2009. (9781416971733).
The prince of Austria-Hungary is on the run, his parents murdered. Deryn Sharp is a girl who
pretends to be a boy to live out her dream. One chooses to go on an adventure; the other is forced
into it. The pair are on opposite sides but must work together to escape from German troops.
Yep, Laurence. City of Fire. Tor/Starscape. 2009. (9780765319241).
Twelve-year-old Scirye vows to avenge her sister’s death and reclaim a stolen treasure for her
people by taking on the villainous dragon Badik and the strange Dr. Roland. She and her
companions travel to a Hawaiian island created by magic, where a goddess helps them in their
quest to stop Dr. Roland from achieving a great power.
