22 30 Best Teen Books Lists for 2013!

I compiled this list of 2013 Best Teen Books for my friend who asked about good books for a teen in her life, and I thought it would be helpful for others looking for a great teen read too.

And yes, we have many of these titles in our library collection, and we'll be ordering more!

*ALA - YALSA's 2013 Best Fiction for Young Adults, 2013 Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (added 01/01/14), YALSA Teen Book Award Winners (added 01/01/14), Great Graphic Novels Top 10 (added 01/01/14), 2013 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Top Ten (added 01/01/14)

Amazon's Best Books of the Year 2013: Teen and Young Adult

Arlington Public Library's Our 13 Top Young Adult Picks of 2013

Barnes and Noble's The Best New Books of 2013 for Teens

Bookish's The BestYoung Adult Books of 2013

Book Depository's Top Young Adult Fiction in 2013

The Boston Globe's Best Young Adult Books of 2013 (added 01/01/14)

Buzz Feed's The 21 Best YA Books of 2013

Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best 2013 for Teens

Goodreads' Choice Awards 2013  - Best Young Adult Fiction

Huffington Post's Top 10 Young Adult Books of 2013

International Reading Association's 2013 Young Adults' Choices 2013 Reading List, with bookmark on page 7.

Junior Library Guild Best Teen Books of 2013

Kirkus Reviews' Best Teen Books of 2013

Krista's Top 5 Books for 2013

Library Journal's 35 Going on 13: Best Teen Books for Adults, 2013; Extended List

Los Angeles Public Library's New Book List Best of 2013: Teen Books and Pinterest Collection LAPL Reads Best Teen Books of 2013

Mashable's 11 Best YA Books of 2013

Medina County District Library's Pinterest Collection Best Teen Books of 2013

Nerdy Book Club's 2013 Nerdy Awards for Young Adult Fiction Announced by Teri Lesesne
(added 01/02/14)

PopCrush's 10 Best Young Adult Books of 2013

School Library Journal's Best Books 2013 Adult Books 4 Teens, SLF Best 2013 Adult Books 4 Teens (added 01/01/14)

60secondRecap's Ten Best Teen Books for Teens: 2013 (added 01/01/14)

Tasha Saecker's Pinterest Collection 2013 Best Teen Reads

Teenreads' 2013 Teen Choice Book of the Year Nominees

Resources for parents and educators:

Reading is Fundamental Motivating Kids to Read: Teenagers and Reading
ReadWriteThink How to Help a Teen Choose a Book
Kids Health / Teens  How to Pick a Great Book

*From Beth Yoke of YALSA: "Just to clarify: YALSA's 2013 lists were announced in Jan. 2013 and focus on titles from 2012 and earlier.  The week of Jan. 27, 2014 YALSA will post online all of its 2014 lists of recommended reading, which are primarily titles from 2013.  To view these lists, go to www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists.  Additionally, at 8am, eastern, on Jan. 27, 2014, YALSA will announce the winners of its 6 book awards as part of the ALA Youth Media Awards.  Those can be viewed live from www.ala.org/yma." (G+ comment, in comments below. Article will be updated to reflect changes)

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@mauilibrarian2 

On G+

Our Alumni Keiki Christmas Storytelling Event -- With Resources

Once a year, I venture into the little people realm.

The 2013 Seabury Hall Alumni Keiki Christmas Storytelling event in our library, part of the larger Alumni Keiki Holiday Event, was a BLAST!

Post by Linda J. Lindsay.

I thought I'd share the program, for parents looking for ideas to celebrate Christmas with their children, via books and reading.

1. The Special Gift - I found this gem of a book at northpole.com. Here's the PDF for download and printing. I highlight-colored the drawings and added a ribboned, stiffened felt cover. I can easily picture a parent and child coloring and assembling this book on Christmas eve. Check out the printable instructions for three simple bookbinding techniques from ReadWriteThink.

2. Rudolph Color Song - I knew I wanted to do something with flannel board. So I scoured YouTube and discovered Miss Tracey of Littlestorybug.

(Miss Tracey has a neat Pinterest collection of her pre-school videos.) The Rudolph template I chose came from Loons and Quines @ LibraryTime.

I asked for keiki volunteers to put the noses on when asked and we did a slightly disorganized, FUN variation of Miss Tracey's rhyme. Lyrics / lyrics on slides.
3. We Wish You a Merry Christmas - My teacher friend Annie told me about the clapping, stamping, and turning version of this song. (Gotta get the kids moving, Annie advised.) Everyone participated, including parents.

4. Santa is His Name-O - I came across this goody from Super Simple Songs: the Santa version of the children's song B-I-N-G-O.


The hardest verse for us to do was the 4 claps ~ Clap--Clap--Clap-Clap--A. I didn't show the video because I wanted the keiki to have memories that came out of the great energy in the room. Most of the parents knew the B-I-N-G-O tune, so we sang a capella, with gusto!

5. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. We ended the program with a group read-aloud. Parents, older siblings -- everyone in the room who knew how -- read to the toddlers. It was awesome.

I had made mini-books for each family to take home, from DLTK's Print and Assemble Books. The illustrations in this version are wonderful!

• I created a Google slide presentation to put the templates together (NOT as easy as you think) for the mini-book. Instructions: print the slides double-sided, collated, then staple down the middle. 
• Per DLTK, the book is meant to be shared freely, but not sold.
• I put together a large version for the reading, and ribbon bound it. 

A good time was had by all at the Keiki Christmas Storytelling event, and I'm looking forward to next year.

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I hope these ideas spark your imagination for making Christmas memories with your growing reader! 

Merry Christmas!

(◕‿◕✿ ) 

@mauilibrarian2 

On G+

P. S. Got any ideas for our storytelling event next year? I would love to hear from you.