The American Library Association's Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults, formerly Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults, is a recommendation list of audiobooks presented yearly by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) division.
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) released the first list of Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults in 1999. In 2009, the list was renamed as Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults.
The list can be used to help young adult readers find suitable audiobooks, which "are an underused treasure in school libraries. Teacher librarians can use them to draw new readers into the library and find new ways to connect with teachers." However, finding quality audiobooks can be difficult as one must consider the audiobook's sound quality, pacing, variety, cultural authenticity, narrators (professional versus volunteer; computer versus human), as well as matching readers' interests, reading ability, the audiobook's length, and more. To help address these challenges, several librarians and organizations recommend parents and teachers use the Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults list to find audiobooks for young adults.
Criteria To be eligible for the list, the audiobook "must have been produced or released within the 24 months previous to the list’s release." The audiobooks cover a range of topics and are targeted toward individuals between the ages of 12 and 18. To land a place on the list, audiobooks are judged on the following criteria:
The audiobooks must appeal to young adults age 12 to 18. This includes book whose text versions may not be suitable to this demographic. If the material is adapted, it "must remain true to, expand, or complement the original work" The audiobook must effectively use voice, music, sound effects, and/or language The audiobook must be appropriate for audio presentation The audiobook must have a suitable match between the performer and the text. The audiobook must be professionally produced. All words within the audiobook must be pronounced correctly. The audiobook must be clearly recorded. The audiobook must include informative packaging.
Honorees After honoring all amazing audiobooks, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) selects ten books every year, which are "the best of the best." +American Library Association's Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults (Top 10 Audiobooks per Year)Award YearAuthorBook TitleReader(s)2011 and David LevithanWill Grayson, Will Grayson and Nick PodehlMuchachoThe Best Bad Luck I Ever HadThe Rock and the RiverFinnikin of the RockRapture of the DeepThe Knife of Never Letting GoDreamdark SilksingerPreciousOne Crazy Summer2012How They CroakedBeauty QueensChimeCarter’s Big BreakThe Wake of the Lorelei LeeFever CrumbAre These My Basoomas I See Before Me?Marbury LensThe Ring of SolomonThe Curse of the Wendigo2013The DivinersDiary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin FeverPersonal EffectsCrusherWonder, Nick Podehl, and Kate RuddInheritanceWarriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central HighCode Name Verity and Lucy GaskellThe Watch That Ends the Night, Phil Gigante, Christopher Lane, Laurel Merlington, and Angela DaweThe Isle of Blood2014Zombie Baseball BeatdownEtiquette & EspionageWilliam Shakespeare's Star WarsFull castIf You Could Be MineScowlerThe Boy on the Wooden BoxViva Jacquelina!: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Over the Hills and Far AwayCrap KingdomDodgerEleanor & Park and Sunil Malhotra2015Curtsies and ConspiraciesLove Letters to the DeadWilliam Shakespeare’s Star Wars Collection, Jonathan Davis, Ian Doescher, Jeff Gurner, January LaVoy, and Marc ThompsonHalf BadFat Boy vs. the CheerleadersSkink – No SurrenderGlory O’Brien’s History of the FutureACID with Nicholas Guy Smith and Suzan CrowleyDefine NormalRevolution and Francois Battiste with J.D. Jackson and Robin Miles2016Lair of DreamsWaistcoats & WeaponryHalf Wild and Kyla Garcia and Jay Kristofflluminae, Lincoln Hoppe, and Johnathan McClain and Christian CoulsonEcho, David De Vries, MacLeod Andrews, and Rebecca SolerWhat If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical QuestionsGabi, a Girl in PiecesLibrary of Souls and Daniel KrausTrollhunters2017Wink Poppy Midnight, Alicyn Packard, and Caitlin DaviesTraffick, Julia Whelan, Madeleine Maby, Rebekkah Ross, and Jacques RoyStar Wars: Ahsoka and Jay KristoffGemina, MacLeod Andrews, Steve West, and a full castKill the Boy BandAnna and the Swallow ManBeastOrbiting JupiterSalt to the Sea, Will Damron, Cassandra Morris, and Michael CrouchNimona, Rebecca Soler, January LaVoy, Peter Bradbury, Jonathan Davis, David Pittu, and Natalie Gold2018The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, as told to Elspeth Leacock and Susan BuckleyTurning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights MarchThe Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and Newt ScamanderFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (editor)Flying Lessons and Other StoriesVariousScytheThe Hate U GiveHonor GirlEnsemble CastThe Pearl ThiefThe Sun Is Also a Star, Raymond Lee, and Bahni Turpin2019The Poet X and Eugene YelchinThe Assassination of Brangwain SpurgeI Have Lost My Way, Michael Crouch, and Sunil MalhotraAkata WitchLuSunny and Kennilworthy WhispQuidditch Through the AgesThunderheadSadie, Fred Berman, Dan Bittner, Gabra Zackman, and a full castEducated2020With the Fire on HighInternmentShoutLet Me Hear a Rhyme, Korey Jackson, Adam Lazarre-White, and Nile BullockDig, Mike Chamberlain, Tonya Cornelisse and Kirby HeyborneHey Kiddo, Jeanne Birdsall, Richard Ferrone, and Jenna LamiaHeroineBecomingThe Fountains of Silence with Richard Ferrone, Neil Hellegers, Joshua Kane, Liza Kaplan, and Oliver WymanOn the Come Up2021Clap When You Land and Elizabeth AcevedoWe Are Not Free, Dan Woren, Ryan Potter, Ali Fumiko, Sophie Oda, Andrew Kishino, Christopher Naoki Lee, Grace Rolek, Erika Aishii, Brittany Ishibashi, Kurt Sanchez Kanazawa and Terry KitagawaLegendbornRaybearerA Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Melissa Calin, Michael Crouch, Gopal Divan, Robert Fass, Kevin R. Free, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Carol Monda, Patricia Santomasso, Shezi Sardar and Amanda Thickpenny and Omar MohamedWhen Stars Are ScatteredFull cast and Ibram X. KendiStamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You and Ibram X. KendiCemetery BoysKent State, Lauren Ezzo, Christina Delaine, Johnny Heller, Roger Wayne, Korey Jackson, and David de VriesThe Snow Fell Three Graves Deep: Voices from the Donner Party, Whitney Dykhouse, Teri Schnaubelt, Tim Gerard Reynolds, Lauren Ezzo, Eric G. Dove, Ramón de Ocampo, and Shaun Taylor-Corbett2022Firekeeper’s DaughterChlorine SkyApple: Skin to the CoreWhen You Look Like UsK-Pop ConfidentialLast Night at the Telegraph ClubSingled Out: The True Story of Glenn BurkeGame Changer and Jennifer Jill ArayaConcrete RoseHow Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe2023Azar on FireSkin of the SeaVinyl MoonFull castAin't Burned All the Bright and castAll My RageFull cast2024Imogen, ObviouslyWarrior Girl UnearthedPromise BoysFull castWe Deserve MonumentsCheck and MateLei and the Fire GoddessFull castWhat Happened to Rachel Riley?Full castZachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor2025, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi MeadowsMy Salty MaryDiet Soda ClubPick the Lock, Jorjeana Marie, and A. S. KingSomewhere Beyond the SeaSwarmEverything We Never Had, Jesse Inocalla, Manny Jacinto, and JB Tadena, by Joungmin Lee ComfortSnowglobe, Greta Jung, and Jeena YiTwenty-Four Seconds From Now…: A LOVE Story
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