recommended reading

Need help finding your next great read? Look no further. (If you're still looking, you can always e-mail your teen librarian, Martha Sullivan at msullivan@gpld.org, or stop by to see her - she's excellent at finding the perfect book for searching readers.)

yalsa award winners

YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, gives out a bunch of awards every year for the best of the best in young adult literature. Here are their major awards, which you can click through to the current list of winners and nominees:

The Printz Award

The Michael L. Printz Award recognizes the best of the best in literary excellence. Each year, one winner and four honorees are selected from the young adult books published in the preceding year. The 2018 winner: We Are Okay by Nina LaCour.

The Alex Awards

This award recognizes ten books every year written for adults but with strong teen appeal. If you're looking for something a little above and beyond our YA section, this is the list for you. Includes both fiction and nonfiction.

The Morris Award

The William C. Morris Award is given every year to honor a debut novel by a first-time author, one winner and four honorees. These authors are definitely ones to watch out for. The 2018 winner: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.

The YALSA Nonfiction Award

YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year. A shortlist of five titles are selected and one winner announced. The 2018 winner: Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman.

martha's bookshelf

This month, Martha is recommending: The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton (check it out on Hoopla!).

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.

But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. 

My Favorite Authors YA Edition

Choose any number of authors from this list and we will place a hold for you on their new books before they are released.  While we cannot guarantee how near the top of the list you will be, we will notify you when your next great read is available for pickup.

Personal Reading Lists

Looking for your next great read? Fill out this form with your Geneva Public Library card number and reading preferences and our book experts will take care of the rest! Give us 24-48 hours to personalize a list of 5 books we think you'll love.