The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has announced the finalists for the 2013 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult Fiction.  Established in 2008 to honor the wishes of young adult author Amelia Elizabeth Walden, the award allows for the sum of $5,000 to be presented annually to the author of a young adult title selected by the ALAN Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Committee as demonstrating a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit. The 2013 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award finalists are:

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (S & S)

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King (Little, Brown)

Endangered by Eliot Schrefer (Scholastic)

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Dutton)

            The winner will be announced on Monday, July 29.  The winning title and finalists will be honored on Monday, November 25, at the 2013 ALAN Workshop in Boston, MA, and will be invited to participate in a panel discussion. Thirty publishers submitted titles for consideration, and the 2013 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee considered nearly 300 young adult titles throughout the process. It was comprised of eleven members representing the university, K-12 school, and library communities. For more information on the award, please visit ALAN Online: The Official Site of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents.