The Best Books for Young Adults committee of the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, has chosen the following books as Top Ten Young Adult Books.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian By Alexie, Sherman Forney, Ellen 2007/09 - Little, Brown Young Readers 9780316013680 Check the Library Catalog 2008 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner 2008-2009 Tayshas Reading List 2007 National Book Award- Winner Young People's Literature Based on the authors own experiences, this first young adult novel by bestselling author Alexie features poignant drawings by acclaimed artist Ellen Forney that reflect the characters art as it chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy attempting to break away from the life he was destined to live. ...More

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier By Beah, Ishmael 2007/08 - Thorndike Press 9780786296408 Check the Library Catalog BookPage Notable Title In the more than 50 conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. In a rare and mesmerizing account, Beah tells of his experience as a child fighting a war in Sierra Leone. ...More

Before I Die By Downham, Jenny 2007/09 - David Fickling Books 9780385751551 Check the Library Catalog BookPage Notable Title 2008 Teen Top Ten Nomnee Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It's her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of 'normal' life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa's feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa's time finally runs out. ...More

Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath By Hemphill, Stephanie 2007/03 - Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers 9780375837999 Check the Library Catalog BookPage Notable Title In 1963, young American poet Sylvia Plath died by her own hand and passed into a myth that has since imprinted itself on the hearts and minds of millions. She was and is Sylvia Plath and Your Own, Sylvia is a portrait of her life, told in poems. ...More

Mister Pip By Jones, Lloyd 2007/08 - Dial Press 9780385341066 Check the Library Catalog 2008 ALA Notable 2008 Alex Award Winner 2008 Kiriyama Prize Fiction Winner Intense, beautiful, and fable-like, Jones' Mister Pip is a remarkable work of fiction that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the power of literature to transform lives. ...More

Skulduggery Pleasant By Landy, Derek 2007/04 - HarperCollins Academic 9780061231155 Check the Library Catalog Sidesplittingly funny, nail-bitingly spooky, and thrillingly original, this breakneck tale of magic and adventure marks the debut of a pair of heroes unlike any other before--a 12-year-old girl and an animated skeleton--who must save the world from an ancient evil. HarperCollins Childrens ...More

Tamar By Mal Peet 2007/02 - Candlewick 9780763634889 Check the Library Catalog BookPage Notable Title From the author of the acclaimed Keeper comes a powerfully moving, Carnegie Medal-winning story about love, lies, and secrets set against the daily fear and horror of Nazi-occupied Holland. ...More

American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China By Polly, Matthew 2007/02 - Gotham Books 9781592402625 Check the Library Catalog Alex Award Winner - 2008 Kansas Notable Book - 2008 Laced with humor and illuminated by cultural insight, this coming-of-age tale explores one young American's quest to become a kung fu master at China's legendary Shaolin Temple. 8-page photo insert. ...More

The Invention of Hugo Cabret By Selznick, Brian 2007/03 - Scholastic 9780439813785 Check the Library Catalog Winner - 2008 Caldecott BookPage Notable Title Orphan, clock keeper, thief: Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. Combining elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film, Caldecott Honor artist Selznick breaks open the novel form to create an entirely new reading experience in this intricate, tender and spellbinding mystery. ...More

The Arrival By Tan, Shaun Tan, Shaun 2007/10 - Arthur A. Levine Books 9780439895293 Check the Library Catalog BookPage Notable Title 2008 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner 2008 Great Graphic Novel In this wordless graphic novel, Tan captures the struggles and joy of the immigrant experience through clear, mesmerizing images which tell the story of a man who leaves his homeland and his family to build a better life. ...More