The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents facts for kids

ALAN, The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents is a group for teachers in the United States. It's a special part of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). ALAN started in November 1973. It includes teachers, authors, librarians, publishers, and people who teach future teachers. Everyone in ALAN is very interested in books for young adults. ALAN runs itself and has meetings every November during the NCTE convention. It also publishes a magazine called The ALAN Review.

ALAN gives out two important awards. One is the ALAN Award, which honors people who have done great things for young adult literature. The other is the Ted Hipple Service Award. This award celebrates people who have helped the ALAN organization a lot.

The ALAN Award: Honoring Great Authors

Since it began, ALAN has given the ALAN Award. This award celebrates people who have made big contributions to young adult books. The person who receives the award can be a publisher, author, librarian, or scholar. They could also be someone who has served the ALAN group.

Each year, the ALAN Executive Board chooses an honoree. This person gets the ALAN Award at a special breakfast. This breakfast happens on a Saturday morning during the NCTE Convention.

Past ALAN Award winners

The Ted Hipple Service Award: Helping ALAN Grow

The Ted Hipple Service Award is given every year. It honors someone who has greatly helped the ALAN organization. This award is named after Ted Hipple. He was ALAN's first and longest-serving Executive Secretary. Ted passed away on November 25, 2004.

Ted helped shape ALAN for many years. He gave constant service and support. He was a Professor of Education at the University of Tennessee. There, he led the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Before that, he was a Professor of Education at the University of Florida. He earned his doctorate from the University of Illinois. He also taught English at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

Hipple Award winners

• 2014 Connie Zitlow
• 2013 Rick Williams
• 2012 Joan F. Kaywell, University of South Florida, ALAN Past President and Membership Secretary
• 2011 Gary Salvner, Youngstown State University, ALAN Past President and Executive Secretary
• 2010 Christopher E. Crowe, Brigham Young University, ALAN Past President
• 2009 Wendy Lamb, Wendy Lamb Books, Random House
• 2008 Jeanne McDermott, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
• 2007 Patricia Kelly, ALAN Past President
• 2006 Alleen Pace Nilsen, ALAN Past President
• 2005 Bill Subick, National Council of Teachers of English
• 2004 John Mason, Scholastic, Inc.
• 2003 M. Jerry Weiss, ALAN Past President
• 2002 Terry Borzumato, Random House Children's Books
• 2001 Don Gallo, ALAN Past President
• 2000 Ted Hipple, ALAN Executive Secretary and Past President

The Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award: Great Young Adult Books

Since 2009, ALAN has also given out the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. This award celebrates a book that is excellent in writing. It also needs to be popular and show a positive view of life. The winning book and honor books must be fiction. They must have been published in the United States in the year before nominations are asked for.

ALAN Presidents: Leaders of the Organization

These are the people who have served as President of ALAN over the years. They help guide the organization and its mission.