BEST OF THE BEST

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has selected the best books for young adults from the past decade. Prior to ALA's Annual Conference in Chicago, which took place June 23-29, 2005, participants chose 100 titles from YALSA's annual Best Books for Young Adults, Alex and Michael L. Printz awards lists.

The books that were chosen the "100 Best of the Best for the 21st century" have lasted, or should last, through the years, remaining the "Best of the Best" books for young adults.

1994

1. IN THE TIME OF BUTTERFLIES by Julia Alvarez (Algonquin)
   
2. AM I BLUE? Coming Out from the Silence, by Marion Dane Bauer (HarperCollins)
   
3. COOL SALSA: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States, edited by Lori M. Carlson (Henry Holt)
   
4. CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY by Karen Cushman (Clarion)
   
5. THE EAR, THE EYE AND THE ARM by Nancy Farmer (Orchard)
   
6. LETTERS FROM THE INSIDE by John Marsden (Houghton Mifflin)
   
7. WINTERDANCE: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod, by Gary Paulsen (Harcourt)
   
8. SOMETHING PERMANENT by Cyntha Rylant (Harcourt)
   
9. WHEN SHE HOLLERS by Cynthia Voigt (Scholastic)
   
10. I HADN'T MEAN
T TO TELL YOU THIS by Jacqueline Woodson (Delacorte)

1995

1. BABY BE-BOP by Francesca Lia Block (HarperCollins)
   
2. AN ISLAND LIKE YOU: Stories of The Barrio, by Judith Ortiz Cofer (Scholastic)
   
3. IRONMAN by Chris Crutcher (Greenwillow)
   
4. THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (Delacorte)
   
5. MIDDLE PASSAGE by Tom Feeling (Dial)
   
6. TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN by John Marsden (Houghton Mifflin)
   
7. COMPANIONS OF THE NIGHT by Vivian Vande Velde (Harcourt)
   
8. THE ROAD HOME by Ellen Emerson White (Scholastic)
   
9. LIKE SISTERS ON THE HOMEFRONT by Rita Williams-Garcia (Dutton)
   
10. FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF MELANIN SUN by Jacqueline Woodson (Scholastic)
    

1996

1. THE LOST YEARS OF MERLIN by T.A. Barron (Philomel)
   
2. GIRL GODDESS #9: NINE STORIES by Francesca Lia Block (Joanna Cotler Books)
   
3. A GIRL NAMED DISASTER by Nancy Farmer (Orchard)
   
4. MR. WAS by Pete Hautman (Simon & Schuster)
   
5. FAR NORTH by Will Hobbs (HarperCollins)
   
6. IN THE WILD by Jon Krakauer (Villard)
   
7. THE GOLDEN COMPASS by Philip Pullman (Knopf)
   
8. FALLING UP by Shel Silverstein (HarperCollins)
   
9. RATS SAW GOD by Rob Thomas (Simon & Schuster)
   
10. WRESTLING STURBRIDGE by Rich Wallace (Knopf)
    

1997

1. I HAVE LIVED A THOUSAND YEARS: Growing Up in the Holocaust, by Livia Bitton- Jackson (Simon & Schuster)
   
2. TANGERINE by Edward Bloor (Harcourt)
   
3. CORPSES, COFFINS, AND CRYPTS: A History of Burial, by Penny Colman (Henry Holt)
   
4. TENDERNESS by Robert Cormier (Delacorte)
   
5. THE PERFECT STORM: A True Story of Men Against the Sea, by Sebastian Junger (W.W. Norton)
   
6. BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE by Annette Curtis Klause (Delacorte)
   
7. ELLA ENCHANTED by Gail Carson (HarperCollins)
   
8. SWALLOWING STONES by Joyce McDonald (Delacorte)
   
9. HABIBI by Naomi Shihab Nye (Simon & Schuster)
   
10. THE DARK SIDE OF NOWHERE by Neal Shusterman (Little, Brown)
    

1998

1. ENDURANCE: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, by Caroline Alexander (Knopf)
   
2. HEROES by Robert Cormier (Delacorte)
   
3. THE SKIN I'M IN by Sharon G. Flake (Jump at the Sun)
   
4. WHIRLIGIG by Paul Fleischman (Henry Holt)
   
5. AMONG THE HIDDEN by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Simon & Schuster)
   
6. LAST DAYS OF SUMMER by Steve Kluger (Bard Books)
   
7. HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE by J.K. Rowling (Arthur A. Levine Books)
   
8. HOLES by Louis Sachar (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
   
9. THE KILLER'S COUSIN by Nancy Werlin (Delacorte)
   
10. IF YOU COME SOFTLY by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam)
    

1999

1. SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
   
2. ENDER'S SHADOW by Orson Scott Card (Tor)
   
3. THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE DONNER PARTY by Marian Calabro (Clarion)
   
4. THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen Chbosky (MTV)
   
5. WHEN ZACHARY BEAVER CAME TO TOWN by Kimberly Willis Holt (Henry Holt)
   
6. MONSTER by Walter Dean Myers (Amistad)
   
7. IN MY HANDS: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer, by Irene Gut Updike with Jennifer Armstrong (Knopf)
   
8. IMANI ALL MINE by Connie Porter (Houghton Mifflin)
   
9. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN by J.K. Rowling (Arthur A. Levine Books)
   
10. HARD LOVE by Ellen Wittlinger (Simon & Schuster)
    

2000

1. FEVER 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (Simon & Schuster)
   
2. HOPE WAS HERE by Joan Bauer (Putnam)
   
3. LIFE IS FUNNY by E.R. Frank (DK Publishing)
   
4. LAST BOOK IN THE UNIVERSE by Rodman Philbrick (Blue Sky Press)
   
5. THE BODY OF CHRISTOPHER CREED by Carol Plum-Ucci (Harcourt)
   
6. ESPERANZA RISING by Pam Munoz Ryan (Scholastic)
   
7. STARGIRL by Jerry Spinelli (Knopf)
   
8. HOMELESS BIRD by Gloria Whelan (HarperCollins)
   
9. PEDRO AND ME: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned, by Judd Winick (Henry Holt)
   
10. MIRACLE'S BOYS by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam)
    

2001

1. BREATHING UNDERWATER by Alex Flinn (HarperCollins)
   
2. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LARRY by Janet Tashjian (Henry Holt)
   
3. THE LAND by Mildred D. Taylor (Dial)
   
4. LIRAEL: DAUGHTER OF THE CLAYR by Garth Nix (Eos)
   
5. THE RAG AND BONE SHOP by Robert Cormier (Delacorte)
   
6. SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS by Ann Brashares (Delacorte)
   
7. TRUE BELIEVER by Virginia Euwer Wolff (Atheneum)
   
8. WHALE TALK by Chris Crutcher (Greenwillow)
   
9. YOU DON'T KNOW ME by David Klass (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
   
10. ZAZOO by Richard Mosher (Clarion)
    

2002

1. FEED by M.T. Anderson (Candlewick)
   
2. GINGERBREAD by Rachel Cohn (Simon & Schuster)
   
3. THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION by Nancy Farmer (Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books)
   
4. PHINEAS GAGE: A GRUESOME BUT TRUE STORY ABOUT BRAIN SCIENCE by John Fleischman (Houghton Mifflin)
   
5. AMERICA by E.R. Frank (Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books)
   
6. HOLE IN MY LIFE by Jack Gantos (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
   
7. SHATTERING GLASS by Gail Giles (Roaring Brook Press)
   
8. SON OF THE MOB by Gordon Korman (Hyperion)
   
9. THE LIGHTKEEPER'S DAUGHTER by Iain Lawrence (Delacorte)
   
10. LEFT FOR DEAD by Peter Nelson (Delacorte)
    

2003

1. A NORTHERN LIGHT by Jennifer Donnelly (Harcourt)
   
2. STIFF: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach (W.W. Norton)
   
3. BLANKETS by Craig Thompson (Top Shelf Productions)
   
4. AN AMERICAN PLAGUE: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, by Jim Murphy (Clarion)
   
5. THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Mark Haddon (Doubleday)
   
6. FAT KID RULES THE WORLD by K.L. Going (Grosset & Dunlap)
   
7. THE FIRST PART LAST by Angela Johnson (Simon & Schuster)
   
8. BOY MEETS BOY by David Levithan (Knopf)
   
9. GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER: The True Story of the Emmet Till Case, by Chris Crowe (Dial)
   
10. EAST by Edith Pattou (Harcourt)
    

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