NewsLeader - 2006 Fall

The Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers

Presenters:
The 2006-2007 Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers Committee

Julie Hatcher (Chair) holds an MLS from the University of South Florida , and a BS in Elementary Education from Western Michigan University . She is currently a Media Specialist at Mill Creek High School .  

Verley Sue Dotson is the Media Specialist at Greene County High School . She holds a M.A. in English and an EdS in Curriculum & Instruction from Virginia Tech. She also was named the building level Virginia ’s Library Media Specialist of the Year.

Amy Golemme holds a BS in Marketing from the Univ. of Miami ; and a MEd from UGA. She is a Media Specialist at Collins Hill High School .

Sadie Mattox is a Youth Services Librarian with the DeKalb County Public Library. She graduated with her MLS from Indiana University and quickly headed south! She is a member of the Great Graphic Novels for Teens Committee.

Sarah McGhee is the Youth Services Program Coordinator with the Chestatee Public Library. She graduated with her MLIS from the University of Alabama .   Kathy Pillatzki is the Assistant Director, Henry Co. Lib. System, in charge of collection Development. She served on GA Children's Services Quadrant Council 2003-2005. She holds her MLIS from Clark Atlanta University .  

Heather Newman holds a MLS from Indiana University and a BS in Elementary Education from Fort Hays State University .  She is currently the Librarian at Decatur High School .

Kathleen Woods is a Media Specialist at Columbia High School with Dekalb County Schools. She has her M.A. and M.L.S degrees.

Ellen Zander is a Reference Librarian at the West Georgia Regional Library. She received a Master's in Library and Information Science from Rutgers , the State University of New Jersey.

The Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers was established three years ago to help promote reading and literacy skills in teens. The criteria for this award were developed using modified guidelines developed for the Georgia Book Awards and the Kentucky Blue Grass Award. The Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers is supported by GLMA, GLA, GAE, the Georgia Department of Education, and Georgia Public Library Service.

Each year’s titles are researched and selected by a committee of four high school Media Specialists and four young adult public librarians. School media specialists, teachers, librarians and students are encouraged to submit titles for consideration.

Books are chosen by:

  1. Only titles published in the past five years are eligible.
  2. The focus of the list will be young adult fiction, but up to five books may be nonfiction and up to five books may be adult books that are appropriate for young adults.
  3. Titles must be in print.
  4. Books nominated should have literary and artistic merit and be free of negative stereotyping and be of interest to high school age readers.
  5. Consideration will be given to genre diversity, gender representation, racial/ethnic diversity, and diversity of cultural, social, political, economic and religious viewpoints.

In the fall, the committee meets to narrow the list to approximately 50-80 titles, which are then read by the committee members to narrow the list to the top 20 titles from which teens select the winner. The purpose of this project is to highlight and promote the best of young adult literature for Georgia high school age students. The voting will be done through high schools and public libraries. For each book read, students will give the book a rating from 0(low) – 4 (high). Each school and public library participating will tally the votes and submit the scores for all books using the forms provided by the first week of March each year. The committee will tally the votes and announce the Peach and two Honor books.

The winning author from the 2005-2006 nominees for the Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers is L.A. Meyer for Bloody Jack, an adventure story about a young girl who goes to sea on a British Navy sailing ship disguised as a boy.

The honor books this year are Imani in Never Say Goodbye by Jackie Hardrick, a fast moving story about real social issues confronting high school students in an urban school, and Shattering Glass by Gail Giles, a suspense filled story that explores the mechanics of social structure and the corruption of power in a group of high school boys.

This year’s twenty nominees are:

  • 47 by Walter Mosley
  • Acceleration by Graham McNamee
  • The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
  • The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon
  • Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac
  • A Crack in the Line by Michael Lawrence
  • Day of Tears by Julius Lester
  • Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
  • The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding
  • Home of the Braves by David Klass
  • Jude by Kate Morgenroth
  • Looking for Alaska by John Green
  • Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls by Bennett Madison
  • Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. LJ
  • Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson
  • Spellbound by Janet McDonald
  • Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadaversby Mary Roach
  • Tending to Grace by Kimberly Newton Fusco
  • Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples
  • Who Am I Without Him: Short Stories about Girls and the Boys in Their Lives by Sharon G. Flake