The 2010 Alex Award Winners

Every year YALSA aka Young Adult Library Services Association recognizes ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults.  2010′s award winners span from heart-wrenching and awe-inspiring memoirs to vampire-staking and spell-wielding fantasies.  here’s the list and short descriptions of each book.  Which can also be found here, on YALSA’s website.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

Young teen William, who taught himself enough physics and engineering to build a windmill and bring electricity to his drought-stricken village, discovered the magic of his Malawi homeland in the miracles of science.

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The Bride’s Farewell by Meg Rosoff

Rather than marry without love, Pell Ridley absconds with a favorite horse and her brother, Bean. Both are quickly lost, and Pell’s perilous journey to find Bean leads to discovery of the things she ran away from: family, love, and herself.

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Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr.

While still in the womb, voices warn Junior of his impending death by comet in this unusually structured coming-of-age story. He has 36 years. How will he spend them?

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The Good Soldiers by David Finkel

This eye-opening account of “the surge” in 2007 follows the troops of Battalion 2-16, revealing the gritty reality for all those good soldiers serving in Iraq.

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The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch and Liz Welch with Amanda Welch and Dan Welch

This heart-wrenching memoir, collaboratively written from four different points of view, chronicles the ups and downs of the Welch siblings, who struggled to define the notion of home after their parents died.

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The Magicians by Lev Grossman,

Fantasy and reality meld in unexpected and tragic ways when 17-year-old Quentin Coldwater trades his ho-hum Brooklyn existence for the magical society of Brakebills College.

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My Abandonment by Peter Rock

Based on a true story, 13-year-old Caroline and her questionably sane father live in a nature preserve on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. A haunting exploration of familial lore, survival, and hope.

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Soulless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel, by Gail Carriger

Wielding a parasol and hairpins, 25-year-old soulless spinster Alexia Tarabotti accidentally stakes a vampire lacking all common etiquette to open this delightfully dangerous romp.

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Stitches: A Memoir, by David Small

Replete with themes of anger, pain, and hope, and employing classic imagery from Alice in Wonderland, renowned illustrator Small chronicles the harrowing story of his childhood and adolescence in this dark graphic novel. A 2010 Best Book for Young Adults.

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Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, by Kevin Wilson

In a wholly original collection of stories, Wilson turns down the odd side streets of reality to explore rentable relatives, unscrupulous Scrabble workers, Mortal Kombat–fueled romancers, and the adventures of other wildly quirky characters.

Coming soon:

A post about 2011′s winners that were released early this week.

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