2023 Award Winning Books for Teens
Ages 12-18
Looking for great teen books? Look no further than YALSA's Book Awards and Selected Booklists.
While these books have been selected for teens from 12 to 18 years of age, the award-winning titles and the titles on YALSA's selected lists span a broad range of reading and maturity levels. We encourage adults to take an active role in helping individual teens choose those books that are the best fit for them and their families.
ALEX AWARDS
About the Alex Award
The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing. The Alex Awards were first given annually beginning in 1998 and became an official ALA award in 2002.
2023 Winners
EDWARD AWARD
About the Edwards Award
The Margaret A. Edwards Award, established in 1988, honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. The annual award is administered by YALSA and sponsored by School Library Journal magazine. It recognizes an author's work in helping adolescents become aware of themselves and addressing questions about their role and importance in relationships, society, and in the world.
2023 Winner
Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of many award-winning books, including Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks, All American Boys (with Brendan Kiely), Long Way Down, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (with Ibram X. Kendi), Stuntboy, in the Meantime (illustrated by Raúl the Third), and Ain’t Burned All the Bright (with artwork by Jason Griffin). The recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, an NAACP Image Award, and multiple Coretta Scott King honors, Reynolds is also the 2020-2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. He has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Night with Seth Meyers, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, and various media outlets. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC.
MORRIS AWARD
About the Morris Award
The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first given in 2009, honors a book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.
The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen written by Isaac Blum and published by Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, a division of Penguin Random House.
Yehuda "Hoodie" Rosen is a teen whose Orthodox Jewish community has just moved to a quiet, mostly gentile town, and the people - especially the Mayor - aren't especially welcoming. When Hoodie befriends Anna-Marie, the mayor's daughter, his community turns on him for siding with the enemy, especially after a series of escalating anti-Semitic crimes. Hoodie has to decide where he stands and figure out where he belongs.
PRINTZ AWARD
About the Printz Award
The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association.
All My Rage
By Sabaa Tahir
Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, a division of Penguin Random House
"Tahir deftly tackles Islamophobia, addiction, and abuse in this story of seniors who are struggling in a world that does not seem to want them.” said Printz Committee Chair Valerie Davis.
