The 2008 Alex Awards (Best Book Recommendations)

The 2008 Alex Awards

a list by Peter Steinberg, avid reader

Each year the American Library Association hands out the Alex Awards to ten adult books with specific teen appeal. Here are the winners for 2008. Enjoy.

onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/American_Shaolin_Flying_Kicks_Buddhist_Monks_and_the_Legend_of_Iron_Crotch_An_Odyssey_in_the_New_China');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1592402623'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/American_Shaolin_Flying_Kicks_Buddhist_Monks_and_the_Legend_of_Iron_Crotch_An_Odyssey_in_the_New_China');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1592402623'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China by Matthew Polly Amazon says: Bill Bryson meets Bruce Lee in this raucously funny story of one scrawny American's quest to become a kung fu master at China's legendary Shaolin Temple. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/American_Shaolin_Flying_Kicks_Buddhist_Monks_and_the_Legend_of_Iron_Crotch_An_Odyssey_in_the_New_China');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1592402623'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/American_Shaolin_Flying_Kicks_Buddhist_Monks_and_the_Legend_of_Iron_Crotch_An_Odyssey_in_the_New_China');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1592402623'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 384 page hardcover \|$17.16 \|53 reviews This book also appears on The America Library Association's 2008 List of The Top 10 Best Books for Young Adults


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Bad_Monkeys');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0061240419'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Bad_Monkeys');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0061240419'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff Amazon says: Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. She tells police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil; her division is called the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons -- "Bad Monkeys" for short. This confession earns Jane a trip to the jail's psychiatric wing, where a doctor attempts to determine whether she is lying, crazy -- or playing a different game altogether. What follows is one of the most clever and gripping novels you'll ever read. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Bad_Monkeys');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0061240419'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Bad_Monkeys');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0061240419'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 230 page paperback \|$13.60 \|50 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Essex_County_Volume_1_Tales_From_The_Farm');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1891830880'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Essex_County_Volume_1_Tales_From_The_Farm');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1891830880'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">Essex County Volume 1: Tales From The Farm by Jeff Lemire onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Essex_County_Volume_1_Tales_From_The_Farm');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1891830880'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Essex_County_Volume_1_Tales_From_The_Farm');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1891830880'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 112 page paperback \|$9.95 \|2 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Genghis_Birth_of_an_Empire');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0385339518'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Genghis_Birth_of_an_Empire');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0385339518'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Genghis_Birth_of_an_Empire');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0385339518'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Genghis_Birth_of_an_Empire');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0385339518'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 458 page hardcover \|$16.50 \|40 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_God_of_Animals');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1416533249'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_God_of_Animals');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1416533249'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_God_of_Animals');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1416533249'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_God_of_Animals');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1416533249'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 320 page hardcover \|$16.50 \|94 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/A_Long_Way_Gone_Memoirs_of_a_Boy_Soldier');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0374105235'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/A_Long_Way_Gone_Memoirs_of_a_Boy_Soldier');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0374105235'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah Amazon says: Wars are now fought now by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived. In "A Long Way Gone," Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/A_Long_Way_Gone_Memoirs_of_a_Boy_Soldier');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0374105235'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/A_Long_Way_Gone_Memoirs_of_a_Boy_Soldier');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0374105235'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 240 page hardcover \|$14.96 \|377 reviews This book also appears on: Peter Steinberg's Reading List The America Library Association's 2008 List of The Top 10 Best Books for Young Adults The New York Times' 50 Notable Books of 2007 (Non-Fiction) Time Magazine's Top 10 Books of 2007 (Non-Fiction)


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Mister_Pip');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0385341067'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Mister_Pip');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0385341067'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Mister_Pip');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0385341067'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/Mister_Pip');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0385341067'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 272 page hardcover \|$13.60 \|49 reviews This book also appears on The America Library Association's 2008 List of The Top 10 Best Books for Young Adults


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_Name_of_the_Wind');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/075640407X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_Name_of_the_Wind');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/075640407X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_Name_of_the_Wind');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/075640407X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_Name_of_the_Wind');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/075640407X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 662 page hardcover \|$16.47 \|347 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_Night_Birds');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1569474621'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_Night_Birds');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1569474621'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">The Night Birds by Thomas Maltman onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_Night_Birds');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1569474621'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_Night_Birds');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1569474621'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 304 page hardcover \|$19.20 \|3 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_Spellman_Files');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1416532390'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_Spellman_Files');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1416532390'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_Spellman_Files');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1416532390'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/The_2008_Alex_Awards/The_Spellman_Files');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/1416532390'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 368 page hardcover \|$16.50 \|90 reviews

Know any books we should add to the list above? .