2015 ALSC Youth Book Awards

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.