Story highlights
The winners of the Newbery, Caldecott, Printz and other prestigious awards were announced
Your guide to the best new children’s and young adult literature is here.
The winners of the 2016 Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, Coretta Scott King and other prestigious youth media awards were announced Monday morning by the American Library Association.
Diverse authors and titles from 2014, such as “The Crossover” by Kwame Alexander and “Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson, were highlighted with many awards, causing the audience to cheer the choices by the committees.
The Caldecott Medal went to “The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend,” illustrated and written by Dan Santat, which follows the journey of an imaginary friend in search of his perfect match.
The Newbery Medal was awarded to “The Crossover” by Kwame Alexander, a story about family and brotherhood told through verse by 12-year-old twin basketball players Josh and Jordan Bell.
Young adult author David Levithan, whose groundbreaking work on gender and sexuality includes “Boy Meets Boy,” “Love is the Higher Law,” “How They Met, and Other Stories,” “Wide Awake” and “The Realm of Possibility,” was honored with the Margaret A. Edwards Award for his significant contributions to young adult literature.
The ALA Youth Media Awards were announced during the organization’s winter meeting in Boston and selected by a national judging committee of librarians and other children’s literature experts.
Here’s the list of winners:
John Newbery Medal for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature
“Last Stop on Market Street,” written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson
Honor books:
“El Deafo,” written and illustrated by Cece Bell
‘Lemony Snicket’ author sorry for ‘racist’ joke at National Book Awards
Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children
“Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear,” illustrated by Sophie Blackall and written by Lindsay Mattick
Honor books:
“Nana in the City,” illustrated and written by Lauren Castillo
“The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art,” illustrated by Mary GrandPré and written by Barb Rosenstock
“Sam and Dave Dig a Hole,” illustrated by Jon Klassen
“Viva Frida,” illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales
“The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus,” written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet
“This One Summer,” illustrated by Jillian Tamaki and written by Mariko Tamaki
Coretta Scott King awards for an African-American author and illustrator
Author award: Rita Williams-Garcia for “Gone Crazy in Alabama”
Illustrator award: Christopher Myers for “Firebird,” written by Misty Copeland
Honor books:
Illustrator Christian Robinson for “Josephine: The Dazzling life of Josephine Baker,” written by Patricia Powell
Illustrator Frank Morrison for “Little Melba and Her Big Trombone,” written by Katheryn Russell-Brown
Author Kwame Alexander for “The Crossover”
Author Marilyn Nelson for “How I Discovered Poetry,” illustrated by Hadley Cooper
Author Kekla Magoon for “How It Went Down”
Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe New Talent Award
Author award: Ronald L. Smith for “Hoodoo”
Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for lifetime achievement for illustrator/author
Jerry Pinkney, whose award-winning works include the 2010 Caldecott Award-winning “The Lion and the Mouse”
Margaret A. Edwards Award, for an author’s significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature
Sharon M. Draper for “Tears of a Tiger,” “Forged by Fire,” “Darkness Before Dawn,” “The Battle of Jericho,” “November Blues” and “Copper Sun.”
Diversity in young adult fiction
May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture, recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children’s literature
Author Jacqueline Woodson will deliver the 2017 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. Woodson is the 2014 National Book Award winner for her New York Times bestselling memoir “Brown Girl Dreaming” and the author of more than two dozen books for young readers.
Pura Belpré awards for a Latino writer and illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
Author award: Margarita Engle for “Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir”
Illustrator award: Rafael López for “The Drum Dream Girl”
Author: Marjorie Agosin for “I Lived on Butterfly Hill,” illustrated by Lee White
Honor books:
Illustrator Susan Guevara for “Little Roja Riding Hood,” written by Susan Middleton Elya
Illustrator John Parra for “Green is a Chile Pepper,” written by Roseanne Greenfield Thong
Illustrator Duncan Tonatieuh for “Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation”
Author Juan Felipe Herrera for “Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes”
Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, honoring an author or illustrator whose books, published in the U.S., have made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children
Jerry Pinkney
Stonewall Book Award, the Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award for books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience
“This Day in June,” written by Gayle E. Pitman and illustrated by Kristyna Litten
Honor books:
“Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out,” written and photographed by Susan Kuklin
“I’ll Give You the Sun,” written by Jandy Nelson
Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
Young children’s book: “Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah,” written by Laurie Ann Thompson and illustrated by Sean Qualls
Middle grade book: “Fish in a Tree,” written by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and “The War that Saved My Life,” written by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Teen book: “The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B,” written by Teresa Toten
An interview with Ann M. Martin on “Rain Reign”
Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults
“Bone Gap,” written by Laura Ruby
Honor books:
“And We Stay” by Jenny Hubbard
“The Carnival at Bray” by Jessie Ann Foley
“Grasshopper Jungle” by Andrew Smith
“This One Summer” by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for beginning reader book
“You Are (Not) Small,” written by Anna Kang and illustrated by Christopher Weyant
Honor books:
“Mr. Putter and Tabby Turn the Page,” written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Arthur Howard
“Don’t Throw It to Mo!” written by David A. Adler and illustrated by Sam Ricks
William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens
“Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda,” written by Becky Albertalli
Finalists:
“The Carnival at Bray,” written by Jessie Ann Foley
“The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim,” written by E.K. Johnston
“The Scar Boys,” written by Len Vlahos
“The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender,” written by Leslye Walton
Meet the Morris Award finalists
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for informational books for children
“The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus,” written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Honor books:
“Brown Girl Dreaming,” written by Jacqueline Woodson
“The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia,” written by Candace Fleming
“Josephine: The Dazzling life of Josephine Baker,” written by Patricia Powell and illustrated by Christian Robinson
“Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands,” illustrated and written by Katherine Roy
“Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras,” written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
“Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War,” written by Steve Sheinkin
Finalists:
“Laughing at My Nightmare,” written by Shane Burcaw
“The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia,” written by Candace Fleming
“Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business – and Won!” written by Emily Arnold McCully
“The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights,” written by Steve Sheinkin
Mildred L. Batchelder Award for a book 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
“Mikis and the Donkey,” written by Bibi Dumon Tak and illustrated by Philip Hopman
Honor books:
“Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust,” written by Loic Dauvillier and Greg Salsedo, illustrated by Marc Lizano
“The Wonderful Fluffy Little Squishy,” written (in French) and illustrated by Beatrice Alemagna and translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick
Odyssey Award for best audiobook for children and young adults
“H.O.R.S.E.: A Game of Basketball and Imagination,” produced by Live Oak Media, written by Christopher Myers and narrated by Dion Graham
Honor audiobooks:
“Five, Six, Seven, Nate,” produced by Simon & Schuster Audio, narrated and written by Tim Federle
“The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place,” produced by Listening Library, written by Julie Berry, narrated by Jayne Entwistle
“A Snicker of Magic,” produced by Scholastic, written by Natalie Lloyd, narrated by Cassandra Morris
Andrew Carnegie Medal for children’s video
“That Is NOT a Good Idea,” produced by Weston Woods Studios Inc.
Alex Awards for 10 adult books that appeal to teens
“All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr
“Bellweather Rhapsody” by Kate Racculia
“Bingo’s Run” by James A. Levine
“Confessions” by Kanae Minato, translated by Stephen Snyder
“Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng
“Lock In” by John Scalzi
“The Martian” by Andy Weir
“The Terrorist’s Son: A Story of Choice” by Zak Ebrahim with Jeff Giles
“Those Who Wish Me Dead” by Michael Koryta
“All Involved,” by Ryan Gattis