YALSA’s 2015 Hub Reading Challenge Begins!

2015_reading_challenge_logoIt’s now February 9th, so it’s time to officially kick off YALSA’s 2015 Hub Reading Challenge! We hope this challenge will encourage you to read/listen to more great books than you might have otherwise — and to discover something new in a genre or category you might not have tried.

Challenge objective Read/listen to 25 of the titles on our list of eligible titles [pdf] to finish the challenge. The list includes YA novels, audiobooks, graphic novels, and books for adults, so there’s plenty to choose from. Bonus objective: read/listen to all eligible titles to conquer the challenge! [Please note: at the time of this writing, we are still awaiting the 2015 Great Graphic Novels for Teens top ten list to round out the list of Hub Challenge eligible titles. The list will be updated with that info as soon as it’s available!] 

Challenge rewards Beyond experiencing the best of the best that YA lit has to offer, everyone who finishes the challenge will be invited to submit a response to a book they read for the challenge. The response can be text, graphics, audio, video and will be published on The Hub. Furthermore, everyone who finishes the challenge will be entered into a random drawing for our grand prize: a YALSA tote bag full of 2014 and 2015 YA lit! (If the winner is a teacher or librarian or something similar, we’ll also include a few professional development titles.)

Challenge conquerors will receive an elite digital badge to show off how well-read they are. (And don’t forget major bragging rights and the undying awe and respect of everyone, everywhere.)

Challenge guidelines

  • The challenge begins at 12:01AM EST on February 9 and ends at 11:59PM EST on June 21.
  • Eligible books are the YA titles that were named winners or honor titles for the Schneider Family Book Award and the Stonewall Book Award and those on YALSA’s 2015 Best of the Best list (2015 winners and honor books for the Alex Award, Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, Margaret A. Edwards Award, Michael L. Printz Award, Odyssey Award, and William C. Morris Award, as well as the 2015 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks, Best Fiction, Great Graphic Novels, Popular Paperbacks, and Quick Picks.) Middle grade titles recognized by these lists and awards are not included in the list of eligible titles for this challenge.
  • Format matters: a title that has been recognized for both the print version and the audiobook version can be both read and listened to and count as two books, but a book that has won multiple awards or appears on multiple lists in the same format only counts as one title. If a book was recognized as a print version, listening to the audiobook does not count.
  • Books must be read/listened to (both begun and finished) within the challenge time period. If you’ve already read/listened to a title, you must re-read/listen to it for it to count. The only exception is for titles you read for the Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge; whether or not you finished that challenge, you may count that reading toward your 25 titles.
  • Just about everyone who doesn’t work for ALA is eligible to participate. Non-ALA/YALSA members are eligible. Teens are eligible. Non-US residents/citizens are eligible. (More eligibility questions? Leave a comment or email us.)
  • Once you finish the challenge, we’ll contact you with details about creating and publishing your response.
  • The grand prize winner will be selected by 11:59pm EST on June 23. The winner will be notified via email.

How to participate

  • Comment here announcing your intention to participate. If you’re going to be tracking what you read/listen to on your blog or on Goodreads, LibraryThing, YouTube or some other site, include a link to your blog/shelf/channel/profile in your comment. If you’re not tracking your reading online, keep a list some other way.
  • You may register for the challenge by leaving a comment here and starting your reading any time during the challenge period.
  • Make it a social experience! Share your challenge progress and get to know other participants by using the hashtag #hubchallenge on Twitter.
  • Every Sunday, we’ll publish a check-in post. Leave a comment to talk about what you’re reading for the challenge. If you’ve reviewed those titles somewhere online, include links to those reviews! Otherwise, let us know what you thought of the books in the comments.
  • There will be an finisher form embedded in each check-in post, so once you’re done with the challenge, fill out the form with your name and contact information. This is how you’ll receive your Finisher’s Badge, how you’ll be contacted about your reader’s response, and how you’ll be entered into the drawing for our grand prize. Please fill out the form only once.
  • If you’ve conquered the challenge, let us know in the comments and we’ll send you your Conqueror’s Badge.

Sound good? If you have any questions or problems, let us know in the comments or via email. Otherwise, grab this Participant’s Badge, put it on your blog or in your email signature, and start reading!

2015 reading challenge logo - participant

Published by

Allison Tran

Past Member Manager for YALSA's The Hub. Passionate about information literacy, social media, and connecting readers with books they'll love.

208 thoughts on “YALSA’s 2015 Hub Reading Challenge Begins!”

  1. I’m ready. Since we have all the Sharon Draper books here at my library, this first week will be reread week (been a couple of years since I read these). Finished the Morris Award books this weekend – really glad we can count those toward the challenge. There are 5 less titles than last year on the list.

    1. It’s on the Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults list, just not Top 10. So it seems to me that it should count as YA. But there’s always at least one title that causes disagreement. I guess this is the one for this year. I haven’t listened to the audio, but I’m reading the book now and really enjoying it.

  7. I’m in and have already started collecting titles. I’m off today because I worked on Saturday, and I’m looking forward to getting a good start on the Challenge. I’ll be tracking on my blog, linked in my profile, and on Goodreads: Hub-2015-Challenge.

    I have a head start since I completed the Morris and Nonfiction Challenge. But I’m still going to try to read 25 other books for this challenge. I’ll do my usual mini-goal of reading at least one from every list. I’ll also probably not re-read any of the titles I’ve already read. I may actually skip listening to Five, Six, Seven, Nate! even though that means not doing the Odyssey Award at all. I was less than impressed with Better Nate Than Ever and don’t expect to care for the sequel. Then again, I have a 1-hour commute each way and go through audio books pretty quickly. We’ll see.

  9. I’m in! I conquered the challenge last year and the year before that, so I’m planning to do the same thing this year. :)

    1. Just finished rereading Maus by Spiegelman. It’s a graphic novel so, of course, it was a one day read. I read it first about 5 years ago. I forgot how terrible the tale was but as a graphic novel, one of the best.

  11. I’m in! This will be my second year. I was very excited to finish 25 right on time last year, so I’m hoping to do the same or better!

  14. Skipped the challenge last year, but looking forward to giving it a try this year! I’m excited because I already own quite a few of these titles and now I have a good excuse to move them to the top of the TBR stack….

  15. I thought This Day in June by Gayle Pittman won the YA Stonewall award this year? Is it on the list and I just missed it? Or am I thinking of the wrong thing?

  22. I’m in. Any chance of getting the list as a Excel file after the graphics are locked? Would like to be able to resort it…

    1. Also, as Maus selection in Popular Paperbacks is a boxed set of 2 volumes, will that count as one or two titles?

  23. I’m in! I’m so glad I finished 5 books during the Morris/NF challenge because now I’m well on my way to finishing the challenge for the second year in a row!

    I’m going to try to keep track on my blog, but since I get lazy and stop posting after about 5 books, my GoodReads shelf will be my main record of progress: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3591728-jennie?shelf=2015-hub-challenge-unread. I’m also on the Twitter: @bobcatbrarian.

    I’m starting with I’ll Give You the Sun which I’ve held off on in anticipation of the challenge.
    Happy reading, everyone!

  24. I’m in! I have a head start this year because of the Morris/Nonfiction challenge so I feel really good about my ability to complete it.

  26. I’m in! First time doing a reading challenge, or any sort of reading within a sort of community. Excited to try something new!

  27. I’m in! I have a small stack ready and waiting.
    Also, I love the format of the list this year, grouped by award. I often try to knock out a particular award, so this makes it so easy. Thanks!
    I’ll post progress at milesofbooks.tumblr.com

  33. I’m in and tracking on Goodreads:
    https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/9321469-margaret?shelf=yalsa-hub-challenge-2015.
    I finished both the Morris and Nonfiction challenge lists this time, so that’s a good head start.

    One question under the “format matters” clause: Amazing Audiobooks cited Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Collection. Will it be acceptable to check off that one title by listening to the three separate recordings of A new hope, The Empire striketh back, and The Jedi doth return? I do my audiobook listening via downloadables, and to the best of my ability to tell there isn’t a downloadable version of the three packaged together.

    Prithee, couldst thou clarify this most thorny conundrum?

  35. YEAH! So excited to start this challenge and REALLY glad I got started with the Morris/Nonfiction challenge. I’m SO in! :D

  40. I’m back – with a good story. I put All the Light We Cannot See on hold at the public library. There are 153 books available and I am #600 in line!!!!

  47. I’m in!! This year I’m going to focus on posting what I read on more social media…
    goodreadys, instagram, twitter, facebook!
    @timkenhslibrary

  50. I’m in. This is my third year to participate. I have a massive pile of titles already and now just have to start working my way through them. My holds list was full, but so many already came that I have openings! As usual the audiobooks are the hardest ones for me. We just don’t seem to buy that many of the ones on the list. Graphic novels are a personal challenge for me as I am a verbal person and not a visual one, but every year I read at least three to six of them and most years find at least two of them to be very interesting.

  53. I’m going to try this…I’m looking forward to the titles that fell through the cracks last year. It’ll be difficult to tackle this and try to keep up on this year’s titles!

  54. Here we go again. I look forward to this challenge every year. it gives me the opportunity to read outside my “comfort” zone. My zone is getting larger every year. I will keep track of my books on my blog “Books and Things” which can be found at gloriajc.tumblr.com.

  60. I’m in, and excited to have all the Morris titles under my belt already. Hopefully I can convince some of my students to join in too!

  66. I love this challenge. It gets me reading from genres and formats that are not usually on my go to list, and then I get to knowledgeably chat with students and faculty about award winning books! It’s a great motivator!

  68. I’m in. I only finished 1 book during the Nonfiction Challenge, but it’s worth a little something at least.

    I’ll be tracking on my website/blog. nhsacademictoolbox.weebly.com

  74. I’m back for another Hub Challenge! Woohoo!!

    I’ll be tracking my reads on Twitter, @hari_vert, and will try to tag them with #hubchallenge.

  87. I was a lurker last year, but this year I’m ready for the challenge. Started reading Tomboy during my lunch today! I have a school website, so I may create a blurb about the challenge and keep it updated there.

    Thanks for the incentive to read even more!

  90. Yay! I’m in for year 4 of this challenge! Not sure if I will finish this year, as I just started a new job and I am not actually working with teens any more, but I still love YA and will give it a shot!

  94. I’m in! I am going to try to do the whole list this year, but it depends on whether or not I can find everything. We shall see…. but I am excited and have several of the titles in my library. I will be tracking on Goodreads.

  99. I’m excited to participate! I’ve got the 5 nonfiction books completed from the Morris/Nonfiction Challenge and I’ll start this one with Everything I Never Told You and and will continue with other Alex award winners. I’m having trouble finding many of the audio selections, any suggestions? I’ll keep track of my books on Twitter.

  111. I’m in! Year 3 for me, can’t wait to get started, although this feels like the year I’ll have trouble completing the challenge. LOTS going on… Wish me luck:)

  117. I’m in! Finished The Crossover today and have a stack ready. I’ll be keeping track on Goodreads under Justine Johnson.
    Looks like the Great Graphic Novels Top 10 list is out now–true? If so, can we get an updated PDF of the reading list?
    Looking forward to this!

  119. I think I forgot to leave a comment last week, but I did start Monday; I also will be keeping track on Goodreads!

    Let the reading begin!!

  121. I totally forgot to post last week! I’m in and have already finished two books for the challenge, but I’ll go talk about those on the check in post.

  125. This is my first time accepting this challenge. I read about it last year and decided to go ahead and participate this year. Keeping track on Goodreads seems like a smart way to manage the reading.

  126. I’m in! That Morris challenge head start definitely helps, and I always try to read all the Printz books anyways. Should be fun!

  127. So excited and up for the challenge! I am one of the media specialists for Marshall Public Schools. Encouraging staff and students to join me in the challenge.

    1. Great lis so far! I’ve completed Fault in our stars and Skink–No Surrender the audiobook. Could not stop listening to Skink–No Surrender fantastic audiobook. Currently starting ACID and Juvie.

  129. I’m in! Can’t wait to do this for a second year! Noticed that several of these titles I’ve already had the pleasure of reading several times, guess I’ll choose some I haven’t read yet and several more that are just so good you can’t stop reading them! So stoked!

  130. On the YALSA 2015 Hub Reading Challenge, Gail Carriger’s book is Curtsies and Conspiracies not ‘Curtseys.’

  143. Alright, I’m gonna do this! This will be my first year participating, so I’m excited. The only two books I’ve read on are listed as Amazing Audiobooks, so it’ll be an interesting experience, for sure…

  150. I have started this challenge in the past and have never completed it. Will try again this year!

    I am starting with Jackaby- several students have checked it out and brought it right back none of them have finished it yet, so I want to read it for myself.

  152. I’m in on the challenge. I’m excited to explore some new genres that I don’t normally read!

  154. I am ready to start this challenge! It’s going to be awesome to explore all of these different genres.

  158. I’m so ready, even if i am starting late. this is the first time i have done this so i cant wait to see the turn out.

  159. I know I’m super late to this, but I’m participating! I also am going to tell my TAB about the challenge too.

  160. I can’t remember if I already said I was participating, so here’s a just in case I didn’t! I did all 10 books of the Morris/Nonfiction challenge, so that just leaves 15 to go!

  161. I’m in, late to the party as usual. I’m done with all of the Morris and Nonfiction titles, though, so hopefully, I’m not that far behind.

    I’ll be keeping track on my blog and on Goodreads.

  163. Started a little late but looking forward to binge reading during spring break. So far I have read The Family Romanov and per the rules re-read All the Light We Cannot See and We Were Liars. 3 down, 22 to go.

  165. I’m participating. I just finished reading Lockwood & Co the Screaming Staircase….. I had to borrow my 6 year old son’s night light!

    1. So, I have read this much thus far:

      Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders
      In Real Life
      Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek
      Catching Fire
      Hole in My Life
      The Fault in Our Stars
      I Hunt Killers

      Will be tracking the rest (in real time, hopefully) on twitter: @catinthestacks

  167. I have already started reading and forgot to comment! Oh well…so far I’ve read six. Loving the audiobooks this year. And just moments ago I received a hold notification for The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place!

  168. Hi I am very excited to read these books and looking forward to the challenge.

  175. I’m participating. I actually started reading/listening when the challenge began. Lurker no more!

  184. I’m in. I’ll be keeping track in an old fashioned way: paper and pencil since we don’t have internet at home. Ha Ha.

  190. I finished! Read/listened to 25 titles! Thank you for holding the challenge each year. I would be more than happy to write a Reader’s Response!

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