ALA’s 2023 Youth Media Awards

This morning, the American Library Association announced the Youth Media Awards. The most popular being the Caldecott and Newbery Awards. But, in actuality, there are over 20 award announcements this morning! Today, I’m sharing the winners and honors and a little note about what each award is for and what it all means. But, as a reminder, and one I give every year, this is just the smallest sample of titles that were published over the course of last year. If your book never gets on an award list or acknowledged in any way, but a child connects with it, then it’s a winner in my book! For more information or to view the awards announcements, visit the ALA website.

John Newbery Medal Winner:

“The Newbery Medal honors the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.”

Winner

Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson

Honors

• Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango
• The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat
• Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee

Randolph Caldecott Medal

“The Caldecott Medal honors the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.”

Winner

Hot Dog by Doug Salati

Honors

• Ain’t Burned All the Bright illustrated by Jason Griffin, by Jason Reynolds
• Berry Song by Michaela Goade 
• Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement illustrated by Janelle Washington, written by Angela Joy
• Knight Owl by Christopher Denise

Coretta Scott King Award

“The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.”

Author Award

Winner

Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson

Honor Books

• Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler by Ibi Zoboi
• The Talk by Alicia D. Williams, illustrated by Briana Mukodiri Uchendu 
• Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile

Illustrator Award

Winner

Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual illustrated by Frank Morrison, by Carole Boston Weatherford

Honor Books

• Me and the Boss: A Story about Mending and Love illustrated by April Harrison, written by Michelle Edwards
• Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas
• Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile, written by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes

Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe New Talent Author Award

“The John Steptoe New Talent Award is established to affirm new talent and to offer visibility to excellence in writing and/or illustration which otherwise might be formally unacknowledged within a given year within the structure of the two awards given annually by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee.”

Author Award Winner – We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

Illustrator Award Winner – Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement illustrated by Janelle Washington, by Angela Joy

Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement

“The Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement is named in memory of beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton. The annual award is presented in even years to an African American author, illustrator or author/illustrator for a body of his or her published books for children and/or young adults, and who has made a significant and lasting literary contribution.”

Winner – Dr. Claudette McLinn

Michael L. Printz Award

“The Michael L. Printz Award annually honors the best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit, each year.”

Winner

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

Honor Books

• Scout’s Honor by Lily Anderson
• When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb
• Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer

Schneider Family Book Award

“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.”

Winners

• Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion by Shannon Stocker, illustrated by Devon Holzwarth (ages 0 to 10)
• Wildoak by C.C. Harrington (ages 11-13)
• The Words We Keep by Erin Stewart (ages 13-18)

Honor books for Young Children

• In the Blue by Erin Hourigan

Honor books for Middle Grades

• Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd
• Honestly Elliott by Gillian McDunn

Honor books for Teens

• Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester

Alex Awards

“The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.”

• A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin
• Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R. F. Kuang
• Chef’s Kiss by Jarrett Melendez, illustrated by Danica Brine
• Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
• I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
• Solito: A Memoir by Javier Zamora
• The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere. by James Spooner
• The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
• True Biz by Sara Nović
• Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser, illustrated by Robyn Smith

ALSC Children’s Literature Lecture

“The ALSC Children’s Literature Lecture is an annual event featuring an author, critic, librarian, historian, or teacher of children’s literature, of any country, who shall prepare a paper considered to be a significant contribution to the field of children’s literature.”

Winner – Rita Williams-Garcia

Children’s Literature Legacy Award

“The 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.”

Winner – James E. Ransome

Margaret A. Edwards Award

“The Margaret A. Edwards Award, established in 1988, honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature”

Winner – Jason Reynolds

Mildred L. Batchelder Award

“The Batchelder Award is given to an American publisher for a children’s book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States.”

Winner

Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II by Lia Levi, illustrated by Jess Mason, translated by Sylvia Notini

Honor Book

• Different: A Story of the Spanish Civil War by Mónica Montañés, illustrated by Eva Sánchez Gómez and translated by Lawrence Schimel
• Dragonfly Eyes by Cao Wenxuan and translated by Helen Wang
• João by a Thread by Roger Mello and translated by Daniel Hahn

Odyssey Award

“The Odyssey Award will be awarded annually to the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States.”

Winner

• Stuntboy, in the Meantime by Jason Reynolds (children)
• The Honeys by Ryan La Sala (YA)

Honor Books

• The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Mac Barnett
• Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo
• Inheritance: A Visual Poem by Elizabeth Acevedo
• The First Helping (Lunch Lady Books 1 & 2) by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Pura Belpré Awards

The Belpré Award honors a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose works best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.”

Illustrator Awards

Winner

Where Wonder Grows illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia, by Xelena González

Honor Books

• The Coquíes Still Sing illustrated by Krystal Quiles, written by Karina Nicole González
• A Land of Books: Dreams of Young Mexihcah Word Painters by Duncan Tonatiuh
• Magic: Once Upon a Faraway Land by Mirelle Ortega
• Phenomenal AOC: The Roots and Rise of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez illustrated by Loris Lora, written by Anika Aldamuy Denise
• Srta. Quinces by Kat Fajardo
• Still Dreaming / Seguimos soñando illustrated by Magdalena Mora, written by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez

Author Awards

Winner

Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega

Honor Books

• The Coquíes Still Sing by Karina Nicole González, illustrated by Krystal Quiles
• The Notebook Keeper: A Story of Kindness from the Border by Stephen Briseño, illustrated by Magdalena Mora
• Tumble by Celia C. Pérez

Young Adult Award

Winner

Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado

Honor Books

• Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester
• High Spirits by Camille Gomera-Tavarez
• The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award

“The Sibert Medal honors the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published during the preceding year.”

Winner

Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams’s Photographs Reveal About the Japanese American Incarceration by Elizabeth Partridge and illustrated by Lauren Tamaki

Honor Books

• Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy, illustrated by Janelle Washington
• A Seed Grows by Antoinette Portis
• Sweet Justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
• The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs by Chana Stiefel, illustrated by Susan Gal

Stonewall Book Award

“The Stonewall Book Awards are presented to English language books that have exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience.”

Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s Award

Winner

Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild, illustrated by Charlene Chua

Honor Books

• In the Key of Us by Mariama J. Lockington
• Kapaemahu by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, illustrated by Daniel Sousa
• The Real Riley Mayes by Rachel Elliott
• Strong by Rob Kearney & Eric Rosswood, illustrated by Nidhi Chanani

Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Award

Winner

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

Honor Books

• I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
• Kings of B’more by R. Eric Thomas
• Man o’ War by Cory McCarthy
• The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award

“The Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal honors the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children’s literature known as beginning reader books published in the United States during the preceding year.”

Winner

I Did It! by Michael Emberley

Honor Books

• Fish and Wave by Sergio Ruzzier
• Gigi and Ojiji by Melissa Iwai
• Owl and Penguin by Vikram Madan
• A Seed Grows by Antoinette Portis

William C. Morris Award

“The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first given in 2009, honors a book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.”

Winner

The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen by Isaac Blum

Finalists:

• The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson
• Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne
• The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes
• Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

“YALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year.”

Winner

Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile 

Honor Books

• Abuela, Don’t Forget Me by Rex Ogle
• American Murderer: The Parasite that Haunted the South by Gail Jarrow a
• A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome by Ariel Henley
• Unequal: A Story of America by Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature

“The goal of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature is to honor and recognize individual work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit.”

Picture Book Winner

From the Tops of the Trees by Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Rachel Wada

Honor Books

Nana, Nenek & Nina by Liza Ferneyhough

Children’s Literature Winner

Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee

Honor Books

Troublemaker by John Cho

Youth Literature Winner

Himawari House by Harmony Becker

Honor Books

The Silence that Binds Us by Joanna Ho

Sydney Taylor Book Award

“The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.”

Picture Book Winner – The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs by Chana Stiefel, illustrated by Susan Gal

Middle Grade Winner – Aviva vs. the Dybbuk by Mari Lowe

Young Adult Winner – When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

Silver Medalists

• Big Dreams, Small Fish by Paula Cohen
• The Very Best Sukkah: A Story from Uganda by Shoshana Nambi, illustrated by Moran Yogev
• Sitting Shiva by Erin Silver, illustrated by Michelle Theodore
• Honey and Me by Meira Drazin
• Black Bird, Blue Road by Sofiya Pasternack
• Ellen Outside the Lines A. J. Sass
• My Fine Fellow: A Delicious Entanglement by Jennieke Cohen
• Some Kind of Hate by Sarah Darer Littman
• Eight Nights of Flirting by Hannah Reynolds

American Indian Youth Literature Awards

“The American Indian Youth Literature Awards are presented every two years (even years).  The awards were established as a way to identify and honor the very best writing and illustrations by and about American Indians.  Books selected to receive the award will present American Indians in the fullness of their humanity in the present and past contexts.” 

Click here for the most recent winners.