The American Library Association (ALA) today announced the 2023 Youth Media Award winners — the top books, digital media, video and audio books for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards – during LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience in New Orleans.
Award-winning genre books included:
Schneider Family Book Award, middle grade:
Hummingbird, written by Natalie Lloyd
The Schneider Family Book Awards “honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.”
Alex Awards
Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution, by R. F. Kuang
Daughter of the Moon Goddess, by Sue Lynn Tan
The Kaiju Preservation Society, by John Scalzi
The Alex Awards are adult books w/appeal for teen readers.
Also of genre interest are runners-up to the medalists, designated honor books.
Newbery Honor: The Last Mapmaker, written by Christina Soontornvat
Printz Honor:Scout’s Honor, written by Lily Anderson
Printz Honor, Stonewall and Sydney Taylor Award: When the Angels Left the Old Country, written by Sacha Lamb
Coretta Scott King Author Honor: Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler, written by Ibi Zoboi
The Sydney Taylor Book Award is “presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience,” Newbery awards and honors the best children’s books, Printz awards and honors the best YA books, Coretta Scott King awards and honors the best books for children and young adults that reflect the African-American experience.
Thanks to N. for identifying the works of genre interest. The complete press release containing all the award winners follows the jump.
The American Library
Association (ALA) today announced the top books, video and audio books for
children and young adults – including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King,
Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, Washington.
Results of genre
interest include:
A Newbery Honor Book, The Book of Boy was illustrated by Ian Schoenherr, son of famed sff artist John Schoenherr.
The Corretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award went to a story that begins with the Big Bang, The Stuff of Stars, illustrated by Ekua Holmes. And one of the King Illustrator Honor Books is a space race historical Hidden Figures, illustrated by Laura Freeman and written by Margot Lee Shetterly.
The Schneider Family Book Award for teens (ages 13-18) was won by Anger Is a Gift, written by Mark Oshiro, sff author, YouTuber, and a director of Con or Bust.
Four of the 10 Alex Awards for best adult books that appeal to teen audiences went to sff works:
The Black God’s Drums, by P. Djèlí Clark
Circe, by Madeline Miller
How Long ’Til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin
Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik
The Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults was won by sff author M.T. Anderson.
Neil Gaiman has won the 2020 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children’s literature, and will present a lecture at a winning host site.
The honor books for the Pura Belpré Awards, honoring a Latinx writer and illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience included Islandborn, illustrated by Leo Espinosa, and written by Junot Díaz.
Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked
the 1938 Invasion of America, written by Gail
Jarrow, was named a Robert F. Sibert Award Honor Book “for
most distinguished informational book for children.”
Toni Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone was a
finalist for the William C. Morris Award, given to a debut author writing for
teens.
The Sydney Taylor Book Award Older Readers category winner is Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster,
by Jonathan Auxier.
A list of all the 2019 award winners follows:
John Newbery Medal for the most
outstanding contribution to children’s literature:
Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
Newbery Honor Books
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
The Book of Boy written by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, illustrated by Ian Schoenherr
Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for
children:
Hello Lighthouse, illustrated and
written by Sophie Blackall
Caldecott Honor Books
Alma and How She Got Her Name,
illustrated and written by Juana Martinez-Neal
A Big Mooncake for Little Star, illustrated and written by Grace Lin
The Rough Patch, illustrated and
written by Brian Lies
Thank You, Omu!, illustrated and
written by Oge Mora
Coretta Scott King (Author)
Book Award recognizing an African-American author and
illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults:
A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919, written by Claire Hartfield
King Author Honor Books
Finding Langston, written by Lesa
Cline-Ransome
The Parker Inheritance, written by Varian
Johnson
The Season of Styx Malone, written by Kekla
Magoon
Coretta Scott King
(Illustrator) Book Award:
The Stuff of Stars, illustrated by
Ekua Holmes
King Illustrator Honor Book
Hidden Figures, illustrated by
Laura Freeman, written by Margot Lee Shetterly
Let the Children March, illustrated by
Frank Morrison, written by Monica Clark-Robinson
Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, written by Alice Faye
Duncan
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe
New Talent Author Award:
Monday’s Not Coming, written by Tiffany D. Jackson
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe
New Talent Illustrator Award:
Thank You, Omu!, illustrated and written by Oge Mora
Coretta
Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement:
Dr. Bracy is Professor of Library Science and Director of the Office of University Accreditation at North Carolina Central University (NCCU).
Michael
L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young
adults:
The Poet X, written by Elizabeth Acevedo
Printz Honor Books
Damsel, written by Elana K.
Arnold
A Heart in a Body in the World, written by Deb Caletti
I, Claudia, written by Mary
McCoy
Schneider
Family Book Award for books that
embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:
Rescue & Jessica A Life-Changing Friendship, written by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, illustrated by Scott Magoon and published by Candlewick Press, wins the award for young children (ages 0 to 10).
One honor book for young children was selected: The Remember Balloons” written by Jessie Oliveros, illustrated by Dana Wulfekotte and published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Children.
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle, written by Leslie Connor and published by Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, is the winner for middle grades (ages 11-13).
One honor book for middle grades was selected: The Collectors, written by Jacqueline West and published by Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Anger Is a Gift, written by Mark Oshiro and published by A Tor Teen Book, Tom Doherty Associates, is the winner for teens (ages 13-18).
One honor book for teens was selected: (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation about Mental Health, edited by Kelly Jensen and published by Algonquin Young Readers, an imprint of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing.
Alex
Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen
audiences:
The Black God’s Drums, By P. Djèlí Clark
The Book of Essie, By Meghan MacLean Weir
Circe, By Madeline Miller
Educated: A Memoir, By Tara Westover
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After, By Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil
Green, By Sam Graham-Felsen
Home After Dark, by David Small, illustrated by the author
How Long ’Til Black Future Month? By N. K. Jemisin
Lawn Boy, By Jonathan Evison,
Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik
Children’s
Literature Legacy Award honors an author or
illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a
period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for
children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all
children’s lives and experiences.
Walter Dean Myers
Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults:
M.T. Anderson
His books include: Feed; The Astonishing Life of Octavian
Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party; and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing,
Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves
2020 May
Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award recognizing an
author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children’s literature, who
then presents a lecture at a winning host site.
Neil Gaiman
Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children’s book originally published in a
language other than English in a country other than the United States, and
subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States:
The Fox on the Swing — Originally published in Lithuanian as “Laime Yra Lape,” the book was written by Evelina Daci?t?, illustrated by Aušra Kiudulait?, translated by The Translation Bureau and published by Thames & Hudson, Inc.
Four Honor Books also were selected:
Run for Your Life, published by Yonder, an imprint of Restless Books, Inc., written by Silvana Gandolfi and translated from the Italian by Lynne Sharon Schwartz;
My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder, published by Graphic Universe, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., written and illustrated by Nie Jun, originally published in Mandarin and translated from the French by Edward Gauvin;
Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure, published by NorthSouth Books, Inc., written and illustrated by Torben Kuhlmann and translated from the German by David Henry Wilson; and
Jerome By Heart, published by Enchanted Lion Books, written by Thomas Scotto, illustrated by Olivier Tallec and translated from the French by Claudia Zoe Bedrick and Karin Snelson.
Odyssey
Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or
young adults, available in English in the United States:
Sadie, written by Courtney Summers and narrated by Rebecca Soler, Fred Berman, Dan Bittner, Gabra Zackman, and more.
Odyssey Honor Audiobooks
Du Iz Tak produced by Weston Woods Studio, a division of Scholastic, written by Carson Ellis and narrated by Eli and Sebastian D’Amico, Burton, Galen and Laura Fott, Sarah Hart, Bella Higginbotham, Evelyn Hipp and Brian Hull;
Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist, produced by Live Oak Media, written by Susan Wood and narrated by Brian Amador;
The Parker Inheritance, produced by Scholastic Audiobooks, written by Varian Johnson and narrated by Cherise Booth; and
The Poet X, produced by HarperAudio, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers and written and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo.
Pura Belpré Awards honoring a Latinx writer and illustrator whose
children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural
experience:
Belpré Illustrator Award winner
Dreamers, illustrated and
written by Yuyi Morales
Belpré Illustrator Honor Books
Islandborn, illustrated by Leo
Espinosa, written by Junot Díaz
When Angels Sing: The Story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana, illustrated by Jose Ramirez, written by Michael Mahin
Pura Belpré Author Award winner
The Poet X, written by
Elizabeth Acevedo
Belpré Author Honor
Book
They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid’s Poems, written by David Bowles
Robert F. Sibert Informational
Book Award for most distinguished informational book for
children:
The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s
Art Changed Science, written by Joyce Sidman
Sibert Honor Books
“Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild,” written by Catherine Thimmesh and published by Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt;
Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked
the 1938 Invasion of America, written by Gail
Jarrow
The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees, written and illustrated by Don Brown
We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga,
written by Traci Sorell,
When Angels Sing: The Story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana, written Michael Mahin, illustrated by Jose Ramirez
Early Learning Digital Media
Award
Play and Learn Science, produced by PBS
Kids.
Honor recipients
Coral Reef, produced by Tinybop Inc., and
Lexi’s World, produced by Pop
Pop Pop LLC.
Stonewall Book Awards
Mike Morgan & Larry Romans
Children’s Literature Award given annually to English-language children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience:
Julián Is a Mermaid, written by Jessica
Love
Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Young
Adult Literature Award
Hurricane Child, written by Kheryn
Callender
Honor Books
Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World, written by Ashley Herring Blake
Picture Us in the Light, written by Kelly
Loy Gilbert
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
for the most distinguished beginning reader book is
Fox the Tiger, written and
illustrated by Corey R. Tabor
Geisel Honor Books
The Adventures of Otto: See Pip Flap, written and illustrated by David Milgrim
Fox + Chick: The Party and Other Stories, written and illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier
King & Kayla and the Case of the Lost Tooth, written by Dori Hillestad Butler, illustrated by Nancy Meyers
Tiger vs. Nightmare, written and illustrated by Emily Tetri
William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens:
Darius the Great Is Not Okay, written by Adib Khorram
Other Finalists
Blood Water Paint, written by Joy
McCullough
Check, Please!: #Hockey, written and
illustrated by Ngozi Ukazu
“Children of
Blood and Bone,” written by Tomi Adeyemi
“What the
Night Sings,” written and illustrated by Vesper Stamper
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults:
The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees, written and illustrated by Don Brown
Four other books
were finalists for the award:
The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor, written by Sonia Sotomayor
Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam, written by Elizabeth Partridge
The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler, written and illustrated by John Hendrix
Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction, written and illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.
Picture Book
Drawn Together, written by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat
Children’s Literature Category.
Front Desk, written by Kelly Yang
Young Adult Literature
Darius the Great is Not Okay, written by Adib Khorram
Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.
Younger Readers
All-of-a-Kind-Family Hanukkah,
by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Paul Zelinsky,
Older Readers
Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster, by Jonathan Auxier,
Teen Readers
What the Night Sings, by Vesper Stamper,
illustrated by the author
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has selected 10 adult books with special appeal to teen readers to receive the 2018 Alex Awards, including many genre works. The awards, sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust and Booklist, were announced at the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Denver on February 13.
Seanan McGuire has a book on the 2018 list, achieving a rare accomplishment —
Today I became the second person ever to receive two Alex Awards (the first was @neilhimself), and the first person to receive an Alex Award two years in a row.
“All Systems Red,” by Martha Wells, a Tor.com Book, published by Thomas Doherty Associates (9780765397539). Stuck on a distant planet with an exploratory crew, a Security Robot kills time watching soaps. After a group of scientists is killed, the robot (now calling itself “Murderbot”) must figure out how to save its crew from a similar fate.
“The Clockwork Dynasty,” by Daniel H. Wilson, published by Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC (9780385541787). Automata Elena and Peter are “born” in Peter the Great’s Russia… or are they? Can they really live in the power-hungry world of humans? And can they find the “breath of life” before it is too late?
“Down Among the Sticks and Bones,” by Seanan McGuire, a Tor.com Book, published by Thomas Doherty Associates (9780765392039). In this dark fable, twins Jillian and Jacqueline venture to a dangerous world where they must choose one of two paths. As they discover their true selves, they find that love and adventure are among the most hazardous things.
“Electric Arches,” by Eve L. Ewing, published by Haymarket Books (9781608468560). Wielding words and images like lasers, and bending genres to her will, Ewing’s poetry and prose tells stories both personal and universal. With humor and gravitas, this collection spotlights the joy, cruelty, and struggle of life.
“A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea,” by Melissa Fleming, published by Flatiron Books (9781250105998). This gripping account follows Doaa Al Zamel’s journey to Egypt and her harrowing days at sea as she leaves her war-torn home for the promise of a better life in Europe.
“Malagash,” by Joey Comeau, published by ECW Press (9781770414075). Already grieving for her dying father, Sunday plans to release a computer virus that memorializes his words and laugh. But she begins to realize that to fully understand him, she needs to embrace his relationships with other family members.
“Roughneck,” by Jeff Lemire, published by Gallery 13, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc. (9781501160998). In the snowy recesses of northern Canada, a down-and-out former hockey player must confront his past when his long-lost sister returns to town battling demons of her own. Can they save each other? Or will violence swallow them both?
“She Rides Shotgun,” by Jordan Harper, published by Ecco, a division of HarperCollins Publishers (9780062394408). Polly, an 11-year-old girl with “gunfighter eyes,” her teddy bear, and her estranged father suddenly find themselves struggling for survival in a world ruled by gangs. Fast-paced and thrilling, this will get even reluctant readers’ hearts racing.
“Things We Have in Common,” by Tasha Kavanagh, published by MIRA Books (9780778326854). Yasmin wants to be close to the most beautiful girl in her school, but surely a freak like her has no chance. Unless, that is, she can save her from the man who was staring at her from the woods.
“An Unkindness of Magicians,” by Kat Howard, published by SAGA Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. (9781481451192). The Wheel is turning and Sydney is determined to have fate spin her way. Meanwhile, magic is faltering and there are people who will do whatever it takes to save it.
The Alex Awards were created to recognize that many teens enjoy and often prefer books written for adults, and to assist librarians in recommending adult books that appeal to teens. A full list of official nominations will be available online here.
The award is named in honor of the late Margaret Alexander Edwards, fondly called “Alex” by her closest friends, a pioneer in providing library services to young adults. At Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Edwards used adult books extensively with teens to broaden their experience and enrich their understanding of themselves and their world.
The Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, announced its array of annual awards on February 2.
Although sf, fantasy and horror were shut out of the 2015 Newbery Medal, unrepresented among the medal winner or the honor books, the genres fared better in several other ALSC categories.
The winner of the 2015 Caldecott Medal, given to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children, was The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, illustrated and written by Dan Santat.
The 2015 Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences recognized three sf/fantasy novels:
Lock In, by John Scalzi (Tor)
The Martian, by Andy Weir (Crown Publishers)
“Wolf in White Van, by John Darnielle (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Honor books (runners up) for the 2015 Batchelder Award given to the most outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States, included Nine Open Arms, written by Benny Lindelauf, illustrated by Dasha Tolstikova, translated by John Nieuwenhuizen.