Today is the next to last day of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, featuring the event we’ve all been waiting for (well, I have, at least) — the announcements of the 2012 Youth Media Awards!

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature:

• Dead End in Norvelt written by Jack Gantos and published by Farrar Straus Giroux

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:

•  A Ball for Daisy, written and illustrated by Chris Raschka, published by Schwartz & Wade

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book

• Tales for Very Picky Eaters, written and illustrated by Josh Schneider, published by Clarion Books

Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences:

• Big Girl Small by Rachel DeWoskin, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard, published by Little, Brown & Company
• The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens by Brooke Hauser, published by Free Press
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, published by Doubleday
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, published by Crown Publishers
• Robopocalypse: A Novel by Daniel H. Wilson, published by Doubleday
• Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, published by Bloomsbury
• The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures by Caroline Preston, published by Ecco
• The Talk-Funny Girl by Roland Merullo, published by Crown Publishers

Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience

• Middle School: Close To Famous, written by Joan Bauer and published by Viking
• Middle School: Wonderstruck: A Novel in Words and Pictures, written by Brian Selznick and published by Scholastic Press
• Teen: The Running Dream, written by Wendelin Van Draanen and published by Alfred A. Knopf

Stonewall Children’s and 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 transgendered experience

• Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright, published by Simon & Schuster BFYR

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award recognizing an African American illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults

• Shane W. Evans, illustrator and author of Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom, a Neal Porter Book, published by Roaring Brook Press

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African American author of outstanding books for children and young adults

• Kadir Nelson, author and illustrator of Heart and Soul: The Story of African Americans, published by Balzer + Bray

William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens

• Where Things Come Back, written by John Corey Whaley and published by Antheneum Books for Young Readers

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults

• The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery written by Steve Sheinkin and published by Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults

• Where Things Come Back written by John Corey Whaley, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award honoring a Latino illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience

• Duncan Tonatiuh, illustrator of Diego Rivera: His World and Ours, written by Duncan Tonatiuh and published by Abrams Books for Young Readers

Pura Belpré (Author) Award honoring a Latino writer whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience

• Guadalupe Garcia McCall, author of Under the Mesquite, published by Lee and Low Books Inc.

Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States

• Rotters, produced Listening Library, an imprint of Random House Audio Publishing Group, Random House, Inc., written by Daniel Kraus and narrated by Kirby Heyborne

Robert F. Sibert Medal for most distinguished informational book for children

• Melissa Sweet, author and illustrator of Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade, published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children