YALSA names 2022 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2022 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list.

The list of 55 titles is drawn from 66 official nominations, which were posted and discussed in blog posts on The Hub. The list identifies titles aimed at encouraging reading among teens who dislike to read.

In addition to the full list, the blogging team chose the following titles as its top ten:

• Amari and the Night Brothers. By B.B. Alston. Harper Collins/Balzer + Bray. $17.99 (9781725418295)
• The Canyon’s Edge. By Dusti Bowling. Little Brown and Company Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. $16.99 (9780316494694).
• Cheer Up! Love and Pompoms. By Crystal Fraiser. Art by Val Wise. Letterer Oscar O. Jupiter. Oni Press. $14.95 (9781620109557).
• The Crossroads at Midnight. By Abby Howard. Iron Circus Comics. $18.00 (9781945820687)
• The Girl from the Sea. By Molly Knox Ostertag. Scholastic/Graphix. $14.99 (9781338540581).
• Nubia: The Real One. By L.L. McKinney. Art by Robyn Smith. DC Comics. $16.99 (9781401296407).
• The Passing Playbook. By Isaac Fitzsimons. Dial Books. $18.99 (9781984815408).
• The Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures. By Christian Allaire. Annick Press. $19.95 (9781773214900).
• Teen Killers Club. By Lily Sparks. 2020, Penguin Random House/Crooked Lane Books. $18.99 (9781643852294).
• They Better Call Me Sugar: My Journey from the Hood to the Hardwood. By Sugar Rodgers. Black Sheep/Akashic Books. $14.95 (9781617759291).

The suggestion form for the 2023 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list is open. If you’d like to suggest a title to the blogging team for consideration as a nominee, please fill out the form.

“The 2022 Quick Picks team worked hard to put together this list of quality quick reads to reignite a love of reading in teens,” said Coordinator Molly Dettmann. “Our blogging team read hundreds of books and discussed them virtually, taking care to create a list that will be especially helpful in supporting reading for pleasure.”

YALSA’s portfolio of book and media awards helps strengthen library services for and with teens by identifying quality, age appropriate resources for librarians and library workers to share with the teens in their communities. Learn more about YALSA’s other book and media lists here.

The members of the 2022 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers Blogging Team are: Coordinator Molly Dettmann, Norman North High School, Norman, OK; Megan Baird, Main Library-Yuma County Library District, Yuma, AZ; Diana Ford, Severn School, Severna Park, MD; Laura Indick, Berkeley Carroll Middle School, Brooklyn, NY; Jayna Ramsey, Belmar Library – Jefferson County Public Library, Lakewood, CO; Ness Shortley, George Moses Horton Middle School, Pittsboro, NC; Sarah Sullivan, Nevins Memorial Library, Methuen, MA; Jennifer Sutton, Lake Park High School-East Campus, Roselle, IL; Carolyn Vidmar, Baltimore, MD; Emily Williams, Metropolitan Library System, Oklahoma City, OK; and with the help of administrative assistant Molly Moore, Forsyth County Public Library, Cumming, GA.

The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is to support library staff in alleviating the challenges teens face, and in putting all teens—especially those with the greatest needs—on the path to successful and fulfilling lives. For more information about YALSA or to access national guidelines and other resources go to www.ala.org/yalsa, or contact the YALSA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4390; or e-mail: [email protected].