2018 Youth Media Awards from the American Library Association
At eight in the morning on February 12th, people from around the US were waiting on the edge of their seats as the announcements were made. This is the Academy Awards for those of us who love children's books. Dozens of books received awards. I ((Rebecca) was glued to the live stream as the announcements were made, gleeful as some of my favorites won prizes, surprised by the winners I didn't expect, and excited to dig into reading more books while writing about them for you.
Publishers send me hundreds of books, hoping I'll select them to review on the site. After sorting through them and reading some, I pass them on to others. In preparation for the awards, I surrounded myself with some of the contenders by ordering piles of books through the local library. Interlibrary loan is a wonderful thing! At the moment, I have 40 library books in piles around my reading spot and another 12 on order through the library. I also have about ten audio books borrowed on my tablet with more on order. It's an embarrassment of riches, and now I get to tell you about some of the winners.
So far I've written up complete teacher's guides for the Newbery winner and the Caldecott winner (you'll find links below) and will keep adding more guides, reviews and annotations over time, so watch this spot.
John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature
Newbery Winner
Grades 3 - 7
Hello Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly. Illustrated by Isabel Roxas. Novel. 320 pages.
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In this Newbery Award winner we follow three misfits and a bully, at the beginning of summer vacation, as their lives intersect in a suburban neighborhood. Virgil is Filipino-American and painfully shy. Valencia is deaf and has been deserted by her so-called friends. Kaori is a Japanese-American, self-proclaimed psychic. When Chet, the neighborhood bully, tosses Virgil's backpack down an empty well, Virgil becomes trapped there, after going down to retrieve the backpack, which contains his guinea pig. Read More in our Featured Book Teachers Guide with discussion questions, extension activities, related books and links.
Newbery Honor Books (Runners Up)
Grades PreK - 3
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes. Illustrated by Gordon C. James. Picture Book. 32 pages.
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Grades 8 - 12
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. Novel in Verse. 320 pages.
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Grades 7 - 12
Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson. Novel. 264 pages.
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Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children
Caldecott Winner
Grades PreK - 2
Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell. Picture Book. 48 pages.
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A young girl gets lost in a snowstorm on her way home from school. Simultaneously, a wolf pup gets separated from its pack. When the girl finds the pup, she must decide whether or not to help the pup find the pack, which she can hear howling farther away. In this mostly wordless book (except for sound effects), we are immersed in a story of courage and the joy of returning to one's family. The richly textured ink and watercolor illustrations won this title the Caldecott Award. Read More in our Featured Book Teachers Guide with discussion questions, extension activities, related books and links.
Caldecott Honor Books (Runners Up)
Grades PreK - 1
Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper. Picture Book. 40 pages.
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Grades PreK - 3
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes. Illustrated by Gordon C. James. Picture Book. 32 pages.
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Grades 1 - 3
A Different Pond by Bao Phi. Illustrated by Thi Bui. Picture Book. 32 pages.
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Grades 2 - 7
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin. Nonfiction. 56 pages.
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Coretta Scott King Book Awards recognizing African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults
Coretta Scott King Author Winner
Grades 7 - 12
Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson. Novel. 264 pages.
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Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books (Runners Up)
Grades PreK - 3
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes. Illustrated by Gordon C. James. Picture Book. 32 pages.
Find this book: Amazon
Grades 8 - 12
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. Novel in Verse. 320 pages.
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Grades 8 - 12
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Novel. 464 pages.
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Coretta Scott King Illustrator Winner
Grades 3 - 7
Out of Wonder by Kwame Alexander. Illustrated by Ekua Holmes. Poetry. 56 pages.
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Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books (Runners Up)
Grades PreK - 3
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes. Illustrated by Gordon C. James. Picture Book. 32 pages.
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Grades 1 - 3
Before She Was Harriet: The Story of Harriet Tubman by Lesa Cline-Ransome. Illustrated by James E. Ransome. Picture Book Biography. 32 pages.
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Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award to affirm new talent, Author
Grades 5 - 6
The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay. Novel. 304 pages.
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Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award to affirm new talent, Illustrator
Grades 1 - 2
Mama Africa!: How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song by Kathryn Erskine. Illustrated by Charly Palmer. Picture Book Biography. 48 pages.
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Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Eloise Greenfield is the winner of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.
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Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults
Printz Winner
Grades 8 - 12
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour. Novel. 240 pages.
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Printz Honor Books (Runners Up)
Grades 8 - 12
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Novel. 464 pages.
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Grades 8 - 12
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. Novel in Verse. 320 pages.
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Grades 8 - 12
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. Novel. 544 pages.
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Grades 8 - 12
Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Helligman. Nonfiction. 464 pages.
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Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
Schneider Award Winner Ages 0-8
Grades 3 - 7
Silent Days, Silent Dreams by Allen Say. Picture Book Biography. 64 pages.
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This picture book is a fictionalized biography of James Castle, the self-taught, deaf, and likely-autistic artist. The author fills in a lot of the unknowns of the artist's childhood by imagining how it might have been. The illustrations are in the style of the artist, and I, Rebecca, found them deeply moving and evocative of the isolation that Castle must have felt. Read More.
Schneider Award Winner Ages 9-13
Grades 3 - 7
Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess by Green Shari. Novel in Verse. 240 pages.
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Schneider Award Winner Ages 14-18
Grades 7 - 9
You're Welcome Universe by Whitney Gardner. . 304 pages.
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Laura Ingalls Wilder 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
The 2018 winner is Jacqueline Woodson, whose award-winning works include “Brown Girl Dreaming,” “After Tupac & D Foster,” “Locomotion” and “Show Way.”
Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults
The 2018 winner is Angela Johnson. Her books include “Heaven,” “Looking for Red,” “The First Part Last” and “Sweet, Hereafter,” all published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing; “Bird,” published by Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers and “Toning the Sweep,” published by Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.
2019 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
Debbie Reese will deliver the 2019 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. Dr. Reese is a longtime advocate for Native representation and is a former teacher and university professor. She earned her PhD in Education from the University of Illinois, where she also helped establish the Native American House and American Indian Studies program. Dr. Reese also holds an M.Ed degree in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University. She is tribally enrolled at Nambe Owingeh Pueblo in New Mexico.
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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
Batchelder Winner
Grades 4 - 8
The Murderer's Ape by Jakob Wegelius. Novel. 624 pages.
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Batchelder Honor Books (Runners Up)
Grades 1 - 3
Malala: Activist for Girl's Education by Raphaële Frier. Picture Book Biography. 48 pages.
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Grades 1 - 3
When a Wolf Is Hungry by Christine Naumann-Villemin. Picture Book. 34 pages.
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Grades K - 3
You Can't Be Too Careful! by Roger Mello. Picture Book. 36 pages.
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More 2018 ALA Awards
Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States: “The Hate U Give,” produced by HarperAudio, is the 2018 Odyssey Award winner. The book is written by Angie Thomas and narrated by Bahni Turpin.
Five Odyssey Honor Audiobooks also were named: “The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage,” produced by Listening Library, an imprint of the Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group, written by Philip Pullman and narrated by Michael Sheen; “A Boy Called Christmas,” produced by Listening Library, an imprint of the Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group, written by Matt Haig and narrated by Stephen Fry; “Long Way Down,” produced by Simon & Schuster Audio and written and narrated by Jason Reynolds; “Trombone Shorty” produced by Live Oak Media, written by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and narrated by Dion Graham and “The Wizards of Once” produced by Hachette Audio, written by Cressida Cowell and narrated by David Tennant.
Pura Belpré Awards honoring Latino writers and illustrators whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience: “La Princesa and the Pea,” illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, is the Belpré Illustrator Award winner. The book was written by Susan Middleton Elya and published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Two Belpré Illustrator Honor Books also were named: “All Around Us,” illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia, written by Xelena González and published by Cinco Puntos Press and “Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos,” illustrated by John Parra, written by Monica Brown and published by NorthSouth Books, Inc., an imprint of NordSüd Verlag AG.
“Lucky Broken Girl,” written by Ruth Behar, is the Pura Belpré Author Award winner. The book is published by Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Two Belpré Author Honor Books also were named: “The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora,” written by Pablo Cartaya and published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC and “The First Rule of Punk,” written by Celia C. Pérez and published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children: “Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961,” written by Larry Dane Brimner, is the Sibert Award winner. The book is published by Calkins Creek, an imprint of Highlights.
Four Sibert Honor Books also were named: “Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix,” written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee, illustrated by Man One and published by Readers to Eaters Books; “Grand Canyon,” written and illustrated by Jason Chin and published by Roaring Book Press, a Neal Porter Book; “Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask about Having a Disability,” written by Shane Burcaw, illustrated by Matt Carr and published by Roaring Brook Press and “Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem,” written by Patricia Newman and published by Millbrook Press, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
Stonewall Book Award–Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult 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: “Little & Lion,” written by Brandy Colbert and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group Inc. and “The 57 Bus,” written by Dashka Slater and published by Farrar Straus Giroux for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC are the 2018 recipients of the Stonewall Book Awards–Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award.
Two Stonewall Honor Books were also named: “As the Crow Flies,” written and illustrated by Melanie Gillman and published by Iron Circus Comics and “The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue,” written by Mackenzi Lee and published by Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished book for beginning readers is “Charlie & Mouse,” written by Laurel Snyder and illustrated by Emily Hughes. The book is published by Chronicle Books.
Five Geisel Honor Books also were named: “I See a Cat,” written and illustrated by Paul Meisel and published by Holiday House; “King & Kayla and the Case of the Missing Dog Treats,” written by Dori Hillestad Butler, illustrated by Nancy Meyers and published by Peachtree Publishers; “My Kite Is Stuck! And Other Stories,” written and illustrated by Salina Yoon and published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books; “Noodleheads See the Future,” written by Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, illustrated by Tedd Arnold and published by Holiday House and “Snail & Worm Again,” written and illustrated by Tina Kügler and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens: “The Hate U Give,” written by Angie Thomas, is the 2018 Morris Award winner. The book is published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Four other books were finalists for the award: “Dear Martin,” written by Nic Stone and published by Crown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC; “Devils Within,” written by S. F. Henson and published by Sky Pony Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing; “Saints and Misfits,” written by S. K. Ali and published by Salaam Reads, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and “Starfish,” written by Akemi Dawn Bowman and published by Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults: “Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers,” written by Deborah Heiligman, is the 2018 Excellence winner. The book is published by Godwin Books/Henry Holt, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.
Four other books were finalists for the award: “#NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women,” edited by Mary Beth Leatherdale and Lisa Charleyboy and published by Annick Press; “Eyes of the World: Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and the Invention of Modern Photojournalism,” written by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos and published by Henry Holt, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group; “The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives,” written by Dashka Slater and published by Farrar Straus Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and “The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found,” written by Martin W. Sandler and published by Candlewick Press.
