Thursday, December 10, 2009

YALSA Nonfiction Award Finalists

The YALSA nonfiction award is for the best nonfiction book of the year published for young adults (ages 12-18). Th winner is announced at the ALA Midwinter Meeting Youth Media Awards. The following summaries are from the YALSA web-site.



Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream
By Tanya Lee Stone

In the early 1960s, the doctor in charge of testing NASA’s astronauts decided to find out if female pilots were capable of passing the grueling qualification tests required of male pilots. Feasible? Yes. Allowed? No. All testing of women’s potential for the Mercury program was done outside NASA’s purview and without their permission. The reasons why will stun readers.





Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of FaithBy Deborah Heiligman

After creating a list of the pros and cons of marriage, science-minded Charles Darwin chooses to marry his strictly religious first cousin. Little does he know that he is about to embark upon the most loving, creative, and intellectually important relationship of his life.







Claudette Colvin: Twice toward Justice
By Phillip Hoose

Hoose recounts the largely untold story of Claudette Colvin, who was arrested and jailed at the age of 15 after refusing to relinquish her seat on a bus to a white woman. Interviews with Colvin create a vivid picture not only of the Montgomery bus boycott but also the Browder v. Gayle case, in which she was a key defendant.





The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous and Stupendous Life of the Showman P. T. Barnum
By Candace Fleming and Illustrated by Ray Fenwick

Thrill to the audacity! Gasp at the hucksterism! Come one, come all to the jaw-dropping, larger-than-life biography of expert humbugger, relentless curiosity seeker, and unparalleled showman P. T. Barnum.






Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland
By Sally M. Walker

By presenting a detailed examination into the work of different types of forensic archaeology at excavations in both Jamestown, Virginia, and Colonial Maryland, readers are rewarded with both a picture of this fascinating work and an appreciation for what it contributes to our knowledge of history.

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