Every year YALSA picks one book to represent the best nonfiction book for teens. One of these books will be the 2010 winner!
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream
by: Tanya Lee Stone
“In the early 1960s, the doctor in charge of testing NASA’s astronauts decided to find out if female pilots were capable of passing the grueling qualification tests required of male pilots. Feasible? Yes. Allowed? No. All testing of women’s potential for the Mercury program was done outside NASA’s purview and without their permission. The reasons why will stun readers.”
Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith
by: Deborah Heiligman
“After creating a list of pros and cons of marriage, science-minded Charles Darwin chooses to marry his strictly religious first cousin. Little does he know that he is about to embark upon the most loving, creative, and intellectually important relationship of his life.”
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice 
by: Phillip Hoose
“Hoose recounts the largely untold story of Claudette Colvin, who was arrested and jailed at the age of 15 after refusing to relinquish her seat on a bust to a white woman. Intereviews with Colvin create a vivid picture not only of the Montgomery bus boycott but also the Browder v. Gayle case, in which she was a key defendant.”
The Great and Only Barnum 
by: Candace Fleming
“Thrill to the audacity! Gasp at the hucksterism! Come one, come all to the jaw-dropping, larger-than-life biography of expert humbugger, relentless curiosity seeker, and unparalleled showman P.T. Barnum.
Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland
by: Sally M. Walker
“By presenting a detailed examination into the work of different types of forensic archaeology at excavations in both Jamestown, Virginia, and Colonial Maryland, readers are rewarded with both a picture of this fascinating work and an appreciation for what it contributes to our knowledge of history.”
Book summaries are provided by YALSA at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/nonfiction/nonfiction.cfm
YALSA Contest!
YAlSA wants YOU to make a book trailer for one of these books. What is a book trailer?!? A book trailer is just like a movie trailer but for a book. Its a book review in pictures.
Here’s what you need to know:
- The winner will receive a box of books plus $100 giftcard to a bookstore!
- Any teen or group of teens (4 maximum) aged 13 to 18 can enter.
- All videos must be original work
- There is no fee for submitting the entry
- The entry form must be submitted by Jan. 29, 2010
- Videos must be uploaded to YouTube by midnight on Jan. 17, 2010
For more information please visit: http://yalsa.ala.org/BookTrailerContest.pdf
If you decide to submit a video let teenspace know!