Nominee Requirements

Nominee Requirements

In order to be eligible as a nominee for the Rhode Island Teen Book Award, books must conform to the following:

1. The book must be of interest to teens in grades 9-12.

2. The book must be published within two years of the creation of the nominee list. For example, nominees for the 2026 award were selected by the committee in 2025. For inclusion on the 2026 nominee list, titles had to have been first published in the United States in 2025, 2024, or 2023.

3. The primary consideration of book selection should be quality, but level of young adult interest should also be considered. Only titles published with young adults being the primary audience shall be considered.

4. There are no restrictions based on the home country of the author or whether the author is still living.

5. Sequels are ineligible for nomination. 

Publisher Information

Publishers that are interested in becoming involved in the nominee selection process are welcome to contact the committee.

Titles that the publisher would like the committee to consider should be eligible according to the nominee requirements. Book titles will be shared with the committee at large. For full consideration, a committee member must second the publisher nominee. We will accept nominations for the 2027 RI Teen Book Award list until January 19, 2026.

Publishers are welcome to send copies for the committee to use as part of the review process. The committee should be notified prior to sending such a package so its arrival will be anticipated. The committee is made up of about 30 members. The publisher is welcome to send as many copies as it would like to ease access concerns.  Copies should be sent to the following address during the current nomination period that ends on January 19, 2026.

Rhode Island Teen Book Award Committee
c/o Joanne Gongoleski, Vice Chair
Narragansett High School
245 South Pier Road
Narragansett, RI 02882 

The committee does have access to some copies through the two state-wide library networks (OSL for the public libraries and RILINK for the school library media centers), but having additional copies reserved solely for use by the committee members allows for easy use by the committee members, and does not prevent the library copies from reaching their intended audience: Rhode Island's young adults. At the conclusion of the review period, copies will be donated to participating readers' chosen libraries. Advanced copies and uncorrected proofs will not be added to library collections.