YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction

The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction is an award by the Young Adult Library Services Association of the American Library Association that annually "honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18)".[1] It was first given in 2010.[2] The award is announced at ALA's Midwinter Meeting.[3]

Recipients

The following books have been recognized:[4]

2020

Winner[5]

• Free Lunch by Rex Ogle

Finalists

• The Great Nijinsky: God of Dance by Lynn Curlee
• A Light in the Darkness: Janusz Korczak, His Orphans, and the Holocaust by Albert Marrin
• A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II by Elizabeth Win
• Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of "The Children's Ship" by Deborah Heiligman

2019

Winner

• The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees, by Don Brown.

Finalists

• Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam, by Elizabeth Partridge.
• Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt With Family Addiction, by Jarrett Krosoczka.
• The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor, by Sonia Sotomayor
• The Faithful Spy, by John Hendrix

Nominations[6]

1968: Today’s Authors Explore a Year of Rebellion, Revolution, and Change, edited by Marc Aronson Americanized: Rebel without a Green Card, by Sara Saedi. - ATTUCKS! Oscar Robertson and the Team that Awakened a City, by Philip Hoose Back From the Brink, Nancy Castaldo Becoming Kareem: Growing Up on and Off the Court, by Kareem Abdul Jabar Blacklisted, by Larry Dean Brimner Bonnie and Clyde: the Making of a Legend, by Karen Blumenthal Coco Chanel, by Susan Rubin Crash: The Great Depression and the Rise and Fall of America, by Marc Favraeu - Little Brown Books - D-Day: The World War II Invasion That Changed History, by Deborah Hopkinson Deep Dark Blue: A Memoir of Survival, by Polo Tate. Eleanor Roosevelt: Fighter for Justice, by Ilene Cooper Facing Frederick: the Life of Frederick Douglass, A Monumental American Man, by Tonya Bolden Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky, by David Bowles Google It! A History of Google, by Anna Crowley Redding. Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles, by Jessica Burkhart Life on Surtsey: Iceland’s Upstart Island, by Loree Griffin Burns. Mary Shelley: The Strange True Tale of Frankenstein’s Creator, by Catherine Reef Match Forward, Girl: From Young Warrior to Little Rock Nine, by Melba Patillo Beals More Deadly than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War, by Kenneth Davis My Family Divided: One Girl’s Journey of Home, Loss, and Hope, by Diane Guerrero Nevertheless, We Persisted, edited by Amy Klobuchar Notorious RBG: Life and Time of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by Irim Carmon Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide, by Isabel Quintero. Spooked!, by Gail Jarrow The Disappearing Spoon and other True Tales of Rivalry, Adventure, and the History of the World, by Sam Kean The Girl Who Drew Butterflies, by Joyce Sidman. The Grand Escape: the Greatest Prison Breakout of the 20th Century, by Neal Bascomb The Hyena Scientists, by Sy Montgomery. The Wilhelm Gustloff Story, by Michael Capek Things We Haven’t Said, edited by Erin Moulton Unpunished Murder: Massacre at Colfax and the Quest for Justice, by Laurence Goldstone Votes for Women! American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot, by Winifred Conkling Walking is a Way of Knowing, by Madhuri Ramesh

2018

Winner

• Heiligman, Deborah. Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers.

Finalists

• Aronson, Marc and Marina Tamar Budhos. Eyes of the World : Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and the Invention of Modern Photojournalism.
• Leatherdale, Mary Beth and Lisa Charleyboy. #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women.
• Sandler, Martin W. The Whydah : A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found.
• Slater, Dashka. The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives. .

Nominations[7]

Brockenbrough, Martha. Alexander Hamilton, Revolutionary. Green, Katie. Lighter Than My Shadow. Hennessey, Jonathan and art by Jack McGowan. The Comic Book Story of Video Games: The Incredible History of the Electronic Gaming Revolution. Jensen, Kelly, ed. Here We Are: 44 Voices Write, Draw and Speak About Feminism for the Real World. Levinson, Cynthia and Sanford Levinson. Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws that Affect Us Today. Losure, Mary. Isaac the Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton, Reveal’d. Sheinkin, Steve. Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team. Solomon, Andrew. Far From the Tree: How Children and Their Parents Learn to Accept One Another...Our Differences Unite Us (Young Adult Edition). Walden, Tillie. Spinning. Weatherford, Carole Boston and illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library.

2017

Winner

• Lewis, John and Andrew Aydin. Illus. by Nate Powell. March: Book Three.

Finalists

• Blumenthal, Karen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Woman Living History.
• Davis, Kenneth C. In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives.
• Osborne, Linda Barrett. This Land Is Our Land: A History of American Immigration.
• Turner, Pamela S. Illus. by Gareth Hinds. Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune.

Nominations[8]

Bascomb, Neal. Sabotage: The Mission to Destroy Hitler’s Atomic Bomb. Freedman, Russell. Vietnam: A History of the War. Marrin, Albert. Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience during World War II. Miller, Sarah. The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century. Rubin, Susan Goldman. Brown v. Board of Education: A Fight for Simple Justice. Stelson, Caren. Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story. Sweet, Melissa. Some Writer! The Story of E. B. White. Wallace, Rich and Sandra Neil Wallace. Blood Brother: Jonathan Daniels and His Sacrifice for Civil Rights. Woelfle, Gretchen. Answering the Cry for Freedom: Stories of African Americans and the American Revolution.

2016

Winner

• Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin

Finalists

• Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson
• Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir by Margarita Engle
• This Strange Wilderness:  The Life and Art of John James Audubon by Nancy Plain

Nominations[9]

Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights by Ann Bausum The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club Phillip Hoose Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary by Gail Jarrow The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Readers Edition by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip through the Motown Sound by Andrea Davis Pinkney Hot Pink: The Life and Fashions of Elsa Schiaparelli by Susan Goldman Rubin Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall by Anita Silvey Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir by Maggie Thrash

2015

Winner

• Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen

Finalists

• Laughing at My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw
• The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming
• Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business -- and Won! by Emily Arnold McCully
• The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin

Nominations[10]

Strike! The Farm Workers’ Fight for Their Rights by Larry Dane Brimmer Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp In The Pacific by Mary Cronk Farrell Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines by Paul Fleischman Because They Marched: The People’s Campaign for Voting Rights That Changed America by Russell Freedman Red Madness: How A Medical Mystery Changed What We Eat by Gail Jarrow Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin Leaving China: An Artist Paints His World War II Childhood by James McMullan The Freedom Summer Murders by Don Mitchell Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir by Liz Prince Freedom Summer: The 1964 Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi by Susan Goldman Rubin The White House Is Burning, August 24, 1814 by Jane Sutcliffe Boundaries: How The Mason-Dixon Line Settled A Family Feud And Divided A Nation by Sally M. Walker Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

2014

Winner

• The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World's Most Notorious Nazi by Neal Bascomb

Finalists

• Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design by Chip Kidd
• Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II by Martin W. Sandler
• Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers by Tanya Lee Stone
• The President Has Been Shot! The Assassination of John F. Kennedy by James L. Swanson

Nominations[11]

Tillie Pierce: Teen Eyewitness to the Battle of Gettysburg by Tanya Anderson Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty by Tonya Bolden Becoming Ben Franklin: How a Candle-Maker's Son Helped Light the Flame of Liberty by Russell Freedman Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder and Michael French March (Book One) by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, Illustrated by Nate Powell Fourth Down and Inches: Concussions and Football's Make-or-Break Moment by Carla Killough McClafferty Call of the Klondike: A True Gold Rush Adventure by David Meissner and Kim Richardson Women of the Frontier: 16 Tales of Trailblazing Homesteaders by Brandon Marie Miller Kennedy's Last Days: The Assassination That Defined a Generation by Bill O'Reilly Eruption!: Volcanoes and the Science of Saving Lives by Elizabeth Rusch Branded by the Pink Triangle by Ken Setterington Lincoln's Grave Robbers by Steve Sheinkin

2013

Winner

• Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal- the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

Finalists

• Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal
• Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose
• Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
• We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March by Cynthia Levinson

Nominations[12]

Chuck Close Face Book by Chuck Close The Amazing Harry Kellar: Great American Magician by Gail Jarrow Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World by Sy Montgomery Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure by Jim Murphy and Alison Blank The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity by Elizabeth Rusch Impossible Rescue: The True Story of an Amazing Arctic Adventure by Martin W. Sandler Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917 by Sally M. Walker Their Skeletons Speak: Kennewick Man and the Paleoamerican World by Sally M. Walker Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London by Andrea Warren

2012

Winner

• The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery by Steve Sheinkin

Finalists

• Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom and Science by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
• Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal
• Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) by Sue Macy
• Music Was IT: Young Leonard Bernstein by Susan Goldman Rubin

Nominations[13]

Can I See Your I.D.?: True Stories of False Identities by Chris Barton Unraveling Freedom: The Battle for Democracy on the Home Front During World War I by Ann Bausum How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship That Changed the World by Penny Colman Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication by Ann Downer Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming Father Abraham: Lincoln and His Sons by Harold Holzer Scribbling Women: True Tales From Astonishing Lives by Marthe Jocelyn Mysterious Bones: The Story of the Kennewick Man by Katherine Kirkpatrick World Without Fish by Mark Kurlansky Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire & Its Legacy by Albert Marrin The Many Faces of George Washington by Carla Killough McClafferty Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson Jane Austen: A Life Revealed by Catherine Reef Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air by Stewart Ross I. M. Pei: Architect of Time, Place, and Purpose by Jill Rubalcaba Wideness & Wonder: The Life and Art of Georgia O'Keeffe by Susan Goldman Rubin Witches!: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People, One True Story by Casey Scieszka Ghosts on the Fog: The Untold Story of Alaska’s WWII Invasion by Samantha Seiple Tom Thumb : the Remarkable True Story of a Man in Miniature by George Sullivan Terezin: Voices from the Holocaust by Ruth Thomson Raggin’ Jazzin’ Rockin’: A History of American Musical Instrument Makers by Susan VanHecke

2011

Winner

• Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing by Ann Angel

Finalists

• They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
• Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement by Rick Bowers
• The Dark Game: True Spy Stories by Paul Janeczko
• Every Bone Tells a Story: Hominin Discoveries, Deductions, and Debates by Jill Rubalcaba and Peter Robertshaw

Nominations[14]

Frederick Douglass: A Noble Life by David Adler FDR's Alphabet Soup: New Deal America by Tanya Bolden Lost Boy, Lost Girl: Escaping Civil War in the Sudan by John Bul Dau Watch This Space: Designing, Defending and Sharing Public Spaces by Hadley Dyer Sir Charlie Chaplin: the Funniest Man in the World by Sid Fleischmann The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy by James Giblin Sex: A Book for Teens: An Uncensored Guide to Your Body, Sex, and Safety by Nikol Hasler Teen Cyberbullying Investigated: Where Do Your Rights End and Consequences Begin? by Tom Jacobs We Are Not Beasts of Burden: Cesar Chavez and the Delano Grape Strike by Stuart Kallen Get Real: What Kind of World Are You Buying? by Mara Rockliff The Smart Aleck's Guide to American History by Adam Selzer The Good, the Bad and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us by Tanya Lee Stone Frozen Secrets: Antarctica Revealed by Sally Walker The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton: A Biography by Connie Wooldridge Simeon's Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till by Simeon Wright and Herb Boyd

2010

Winner

• Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman

Finalists

• Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone
• Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
• The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum by Candace Fleming
• Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally M. Walker

Nominations[15]

Rachael Ray: Food Entrepreneur by Dennis Abrams Mr. Lincoln's High-Tech War by Thomas B. Allen and Roger MacBride Allen Gay America: Struggle for Equality by Linas Alsenas The War to End All Wars: The Story of World War I by Jack Batten Denied, Detained, Deported: Stories from the Dark Side of American Immigration by Ann Bausum Beyond: A Solar System Voyage by Michael Benson Diego: Bigger Than Life by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand Gettysburg: The Graphic Novel by C. M. Butzer Leaving Glorytown: One Boy's Struggle under Castro by Eduardo F. Calcines Harry Houdini for Kids: His Life and Adventures with 21 Magic Tricks and Illusions by Laurie Carlson Mission Control, This is Apollo: The Story of the First Voyages to the Moon by Andrew Chaikin and Victoria Kohl The Word Snoop by Ursula Dubosarsky Say What? The Weird and Mysterious Journey of the English Language by Gena K. Gorrell Babe Ruth by Wilborn Hampton The Girls' Guide to Rocking: How to Start a Band, Books Gigs, and Get Rolling to Rock Stardom by Jessica Hopper The Secret of the Yellow Death: A True Story of Medical Sleuthing by Suzanne Jurmain 1968 by Michael T. Kaufman Harper Lee by Kerry Madden Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin The Mysteries of Beethoven's Hair by Russell Martin and Lydia Nibley Anne Frank: Her Life in Words and Pictures from the Archives of the Anne Frank House by Menno Metselaar and Ruud Van der Rol Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting by Jim Murphy Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story Of The Greatest All-Girl Swing Band In The World by Marilyn Nelson Encyclopedia of the End: Mysterious Death in Fact, Fancy, Folklore, and More by Deborah Noyes After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance by Anne Sibley O'Brien and Perry Edmond O'Brien Traveling the Freedom Road: From Slavery and the Civil War through Reconstruction by Linda Barrett Osborne Marching For Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Secrets behind What You Eat by Michael Pollan and Richie Chevat The Vermeer Interviews: Conversations with Seven Works of Art by Bob Raczka Ernest Hemingway: A Writer's Life by Catherine Reef The Anne Frank Case: Simon Wiesenthal's Search for the Truth by Susan Rubin The Secret Subway: The Fascinating Tale of an Amazing Feat of Engineering by Martin W. Sandler Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-year-old GI by Ryan Smithson The Duel: The Parallel Lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr by Judith St. George The Frog Scientist by Pamela S. Turner A Life in the Wild: George Schaller's Struggle to Save the Last Great Beasts by Pamela S. Turner Under Siege!: Three Children at the Civil War Battle for Vicksburg by Andrea Warren

References

1. YALSA. "YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults". Retrieved 30 March 2013.
2. "2010 Nonfiction Award". Retrieved 30 March 2013.
3. "YALSA Book Awards". Retrieved 30 March 2013.
4. "Previous Winners". Retrieved 30 March 2013.
5. "2020 Youth Media Award Winners". American Libraries Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
6. "2019 Nonfiction Award Nominations". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
7. "2018 Nonfiction Award Nominations". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2018-02-20. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
8. "2017 Nonfiction Award Nominations". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2017-01-25. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
9. "2016 Nonfiction Award Nominations". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2015-12-07. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
10. "2015 Nonfiction Award Nominations". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2015-02-05. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
11. "2014 Nonfiction Award Nominations". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2014-02-18. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
12. "2013 Nonfiction Award Nominations". Retrieved 30 March 2013.
13. "2012 Nonfiction Award Nominations". Retrieved 30 March 2013.
14. "2011 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award Nominations". Retrieved 30 March 2013.
15. "2010 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award Nominations". Retrieved 30 March 2013.