These books are recommended for young adults ages twelve through eighteen.

Damned Strong Love by Lutz Van Dijk. A gay Polish teenager falls in love with an occupying German soldier in 1941 and is tortured and imprisoned because of their relationship.

Farm Team by Will Weaver. Billy is tied down running the family farm after his father goes to prison, so he starts the Farm Team, a ragtag group of local baseball players who try to whip the town team in the big game.

From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson. Melanin Sun and his mom live a peaceful life together in the city, until Melanin discovers his mom's new boyfriend is a girl. In Search of Color Everywhere: A Collection of African-American

Poetry Compiled by E. Ethelbert Miller. This book includes some of my favorites.

Ironman by Chris Crutcher. A confrontation with a teacher forces Bo to attend an anger management program, where he learns to deal with the cause of his anger, his cruel father. You shouldn't let anyone tell you that you can't reach your goal.

Middle Passage by Tom Feelings. These paintings make me want to cry. I understood why some slaves chose death over life.

Othello: A Novel by Julius Lester. Doomed love and jealousy are themes in this retelling of Shakespeare's story; but there's a twist. Some things that should have changed over the centuries still haven't.

Road Home by Ellen White. A combat nurse in Vietnam comes to terms with her experiences as she readjusts to life back in the States. A thick book that reads really fast.

Thwonk by Joan Bauer. Teen photographer A.J. is visited by Jonathan, a wily cupid who pierces the heart of the high school hunk and brings him to A.J. on his knees. A never-put-down book and a lighter way of looking at love.

Tomorrow, When the War Began John Marsden. A group of Australian teens find that an invasion occurred while they were on a camping trip.

The Watsons Go To Birmingham by Christopher Curtis. Kenny Watson's older brother, Byron, is fast becoming a juvenile delinquent. The family drives from Detroit to Birmingham, so Grandma can straighten him out. A moving and touching story, yet so humorous.

BEST BOOKS were selected by a committee of the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association.

The complete list of 1996 Best Books for Young Adults can be found in a flyer at your public or school library, the March 15, 1996, Booklist magazine, or the "http://www.ala.org" ALA Home Page