BIDDEFORD — On Jan. 17, eight young adults from Biddeford, along with their advisors, boarded the Downeaster at the Saco train station and headed to Boston. This wasn’t a mere pleasure trip for the teenagers. They were on a mission. Their voices were going to influence what books their peers will be most inclined to read in the coming year.

Those in the group were members of the Best Books for Young Adults group, which meets monthly at the McArthur Public Library. The young people ”“ along with McArthur Teen Services Librarian Brooke Faulkner, the library’s Assistant Director Sally Leahey and Biddeford High School librarian Margaret McNamee ”“ attended the American Library Association convention in Boston.

At the convention, the nation’s librarians choose 90 books, from a list of more than 200, that are best for teens. They also come up with a top 10 list of selections to recommend to young adult readers.

The eight Biddeford students presented book reviews before the association’s Best Books for Young Adults committee and were among only 20 students to do so.

The librarians and the exhibitors are interested in the teens’ opinions, said McNamee, and found the group from Biddeford “articulate and composed and very funny.”

When the students presented, “I stood there beaming like a proud mama,” said Leahey.

For the students’ part, they enjoyed the trip to the convention.

“I loved going to Boston. It was very interesting to hear other people’s opinion on the books I’ve read,” said Margaret Kathryn LaFountain, who attends the eighth grade at Biddeford Middle School.

In her review, LaFountain said she discussed whether or not she liked the writing style, and if the book was believable.

Her brother, Liam LaFountain, a seventh grade student at Biddeford Middle School, said he also enjoyed the trip, where he presented a review about “Peril on the Sea.”

Hilary Lariviere said she enjoined the conference, and especially liked that those in the audience were taking notes about what she had to say.

Lariviere, whose favorite genre is fantasy, said she enjoys reading because, “I like how it kind of takes me away from everything. It’s a huge stress reliever.”

The Best Books for Young Adults group was started in 2004 by Leahey and former library Director Vicky Smith, who still participates. It was started in anticipation of sending some local young adults to present reviews to the convention the last time it was held in Boston, in 2005.

Initially the group began reading books on a list, said Faulkner. Then Leahey applied to the Young Adult Galley program, and the group now receives the galley’s list of books before they are published.

This is a highly competitive program, said Leahey, as only 15 libraries in the country are chosen to participate. They libraries receive galleys, which the students read and review, and act as nominators for the Teens’ Top 10 list of the best new books for young adults.

They are also responsible for creating a national list of new titles that is voted on by teens during Young Adult Library Services Association’s Teen Read Week, held each year in the third week of October.

The Biddeford group is participating in this program for their second two-year term, said Faulkner.

The Boston trip was not only fun but also produced some offers for the group. There was an offer from the School Library Journal Teen asking whether the students would write reviews for their on-line Journal. Only one group in the country is selected for this opportunity each year, according to McNamee.

At their meeting on Monday, the students decided to accept the offer to write eight to 10 reviews a month for the Journal for one year.

Another offer was from Penguin Publishers who met with students at the convention and asked for their opinions on book covers. The publisher would like to continue getting their opinions on covers by e-mail.

“You hear so much about kids not reading,” said Leahey. “This group continues to prove that teens are reading.”

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.