Alex Award (1998-2006)

Each year, ten adult books that will appeal to teens are chosen by a committee from the Young Adult Library Services Association. The choices represent outstanding adult fiction and non-fiction books that will interest many teen readers.

Click on the title to read a short summary of the book, and to place a hold.

The number in parentheses after each book is the year in which it was awarded the Alex Award.

Midnight at the Dragon Cafe by Judy Fong Bates (2006)

Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon (2006)

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (2006)

As Simple As Snow by Greg Galloway (2006)

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2006)

Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez (2006)

The Necessary Beggar by Susan Palwick (2006)

My Jim by Nancy Rawles (2006)

Jesus Land: A Memoir by Julia Scheeres (2006)

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls (2006)

Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America by Steve Almond (2005)

Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer by Lynn Cox (2005)

Donorboy by Brendan Halpin (2005)

Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson (2005)

Work of Wolves by Kent Meyers (2005)

Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett (2005)

My Sister’s Keeper by Jody Picoult (2005)

Thinner Than Thou by Kit Reed (2005)

Project X by Jim Shepard (2005)

Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan (2005)

Wonder When You’ll Miss Me by Amanda Davis (2004)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (2004)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2004)

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (2004)

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer (2004)

Stiff by Mary Roach (2004)

True Notebooks by Mark Salzman (2004)

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2004)

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (2004)

Leave Myself Behind by Bart Yates (2004)

One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry (2003)

My Losing Season by Pat Conroy (2003)

Seeing in the Dark by Timothy Ferris (2003)

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (2003)

The Year of Ice by Brian Malloy (2003)

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka (2003)

The Dive from Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer (2003)

The Fall of Rome by Martha Southgate (2003)

10th Grade by Joseph Weisberg (2003)

A Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks (2002)

An American Insurrection: The Battle of Oxford, Mississippi by William Doyle (2002)

Gabriel's Story by David Anthony Durham (2002)

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich (2002)

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger (2002)

The Wilderness Family: At Home with Africa's Wildlife by Kobie Kruger (2002)

Kit's Law by Donna Morrissey (2002)

The Rover by Mel Odom (2002)

Motherland by Vineeta Vijayaraghavan (2002)

Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker (2002)

Chang and Eng by Darin Strauss (2001)

Counting Coup by Larry Colton (2001)

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (2001)

Diamond Dogs by Alan Watt (2001)

Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley and Ron Powers (2001)

The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (2001)

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick (2001)

The Man Who Ate the 747 by Ben Sherwood (2001)

The Sand-Reckoner by Gillian Bradshaw (2001)

Soldier: A Poet's Childhood by June Jordan (2001)

High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places by David Breashears (2000)

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card (2000)

River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke (2000)

Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year by Esme Raji (2000)

The Reappearance of Sam Webber by Jonathan Scott Fuqua (2000)

Stardust by Neil Gaiman (2000)

The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain's Journey by Linda Greenlaw (2000)

Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child by Elva Trevino Hart (2000)

Plainsong by Kent Haruf (2000)

Imani All Mine by Connie Porter (2000)

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander (1999)

Getting In by James Finney Boylan (1999)

Needles by Andie Dominick (1999)

At All Costs by John Gilstrap (1999)

Space by Jesse Lee Kercheval (1999)

Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger (1999)

Legends: Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy edited by Robert Silverberg (1999)

Antarctica by Kim Stanley Robinson (1999)

Almost a Woman by Esmeralda Santiago (1999)

Caucasia by Danzy Senna (1999)

The Secret Family: Twenty-four Hours Inside the Mysterious Worlds of Our Minds and Bodies by David Bodanis (1998)

All Over But the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg (1998)

Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America by Rebecca Carroll (1998)

What Girls Learn by Karin Cook (1998)

Snow in August by Pete Hamill (1998)

The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger (1998)

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer (1998)

Lest We Forget: The Passage from Africa to Slavery and Emancipation by Velma Maia Thomas (1998)

Only Twice I've Wished for Heaven by Dawn Turner Trice (1998)

To Say Nothing of the Dog; or, How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last by Connie Willis (1998)