2009 Alex Awards announced

January 26, 1:15 PMSeattle Books ExaminerDanielle Dreger-Babbitt

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The 2009 Alex Awards were announced this morning at the Youth Media Conference at the American Library Association conference in Denver. 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. 

The award is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust and Booklist. Edwards pioneered young adult library services and worked for many years at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore. Her work is described in her book Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts, and over the years she has served as an inspiration to many librarians who serve young adults. The  Alex Awards are named after Edwards, who was called “Alex” by her friends.

Previous winners of the awards include A Long Way Gone:  Memiors of a Boy Soldier, (2008), Water For Elephants (2007), and Anasi Boys (2006).

This year's winner include a few familiar faces and some new news ones.

The 2009 Alex Awards:

• “City of Thieves,” by David Benioff, published by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (9780670018703)

• “The Dragons of Babel,” by Michael Swanwick, a Tor Book published by Tom Doherty Associates (9780765319500)

•  “Finding Nouf,” by Zoë Ferraris published by Houghton Mifflin Company (9780618873883)

• “The Good Thief,” by Hannah Tinti, published by Dial Press, a division of Random House (9780385337458)

• “Just After Sunset: Stories,” by Stephen King, published by Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster (9781416584087)

• “Mudbound,” by Hillary Jordan, published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (9781565125698)

• “Over and Under,” by Todd Tucker, published by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press (9780312379902)

•  “The Oxford Project,” by Stephen G. Bloom, photographed by Peter Feldstein,  published by Welcome Books (9781599620480)

•  “Sharp Teeth,” by Toby Barlow, published by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins (9780061430220)

• “Three Girls and Their Brother,” by Theresa Rebeck, published by Shaye Areheart Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House (9780307394149)