New YALSA Outstanding Books for the College Bound

In the wake of the high profile announcements of the Youth Media Awards, another elegant list emerged a little more quietly.
Every five years, a YALSA committee comprised of public, secondary, and academic librarians, selects titles for independent teen reading and lifelong learning in its Outstanding Books for the College Bound.
The list includes fiction, nonfiction and poetry, selected for readability, racial and cultural diversity, balance of viewpoints, variety of formats and genres.
There is something for every kid here and I know a bunch who would like to just read through a section. We can also use Outstanding Books for the College Bound to help high school teachers update their reading lists and develop new lit circles options.  For parents, it provides a strategy for making spring break and summer read suggestions.
The nonfiction focus may also be just what your subject-area teachers are looking for as they move beyond the text exemplars in Appendix B–great anchors for creating CCSS text sets.  And you likely already have many of these titles on your shelves
In the introduction to the list, the Committee shares:

The books on this list illuminate and explore the worlds and lives around us and those far away, where we have come from and where we may be going. Use these books to broaden your horizons and deepen your understandings, whether you are preparing for college or looking to expand your learning in other ways. Choose a list that covers an area you know little about, or choose a title from your favorite subject—either way you will find something to challenge and to inspire.

Have fun browsing through the following sections:

• Arts and Humanities
• History and Cultures
• Literature and Language Arts
• Science and Technology
• Social Sciences

Filed under: books, CCSS, Common Core, YALSA, young adult literature