Awards season continues with the American Library Association Youth Media Awards!
Each year, ALA honors books, audiobooks, and other outstanding materials for children and teens. Selected by committees composed of librarians and other literature and media experts, the awards encourage original and creative work in the field of children’s and young adult literature and media.
The 2024 Youth Media Awards were announced Monday, January 22nd at LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience (LLX).
Here are some highlights (linked titles are in the CA Library collection):
Michael L. Printz Award
The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.
The 2024 Printz Award Winner is The Collectors: Stories, edited by A.S. King.
2024 Printz Honor Books:
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- Fire From The Sky by Moa Backe Åstot
- Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow (Get the eBook)
- The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption by Shannon Gibney (Get the Audiobook)
- Salt the Water by Candice Iloh (Get the Audiobook)
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18).
The 2024 Excellence in YA Nonfiction Award Winner is Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook).
2024 Excellence in YA Nonfiction Finalists:
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- America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History, written and illustrated by Ariel Aberg-Riger (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
- Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam, written and illustrated by Thien Pham (Get the eBook)
- From Here: A Memoir by Luma Mufleh (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
- Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself by Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge (Get the Audiobook)
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.
Neal Shusterman wins the 2024 Edwards Award for Courage To Dream: Tales of Hope In The Holocaust, Game Changer, the Arc of a Scythe series, the Unwind Trilogy, and other books available at CA Library.
William C. Morris Award
The William C. Morris YA Debut Award honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.
The 2024 Morris Award winner is Rez Ball by Byron Graves (Ojibwe).
2024 Morris Award finalists:
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- All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyerr (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
- Once There Was by Kiyash Monsef (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
- Saints of the Household by Ari Tison (Get the Audiobook)
- She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
Alex Awards
The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults.
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- Bad Cree by Jessica Johns (nehiyaw/Sucker Creek First Nation)
- Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
- Chlorine by Jade Song
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
- The Hard Parts: A Memoir of Courage and Triumph by Oksana Masters
- I Will Greet the Sun Again by Khashayar J. Khabushani
- Maame by Jessica George (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
- Starter Villain by John Scalzi (Get the eBook)
- The Talk by Darrin Bell
- Whalefall by Daniel Kraus (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
Coretta Scott King Book Awards
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.
The winner of the 2024 Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award is Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi (Get the eBook).
2024 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books:
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- Big, written and illustrated by Vashti Harrison (Get the eBook)
- How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee, written by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Frank Morrison (Get the eBook)
- Kin: Rooted in Hope, written by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford
2024 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award: Jade Adia for There Goes the Neighborhood.
- 2024 Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement: Christopher Paul Curtis.
Pura Belpré Awards
The Pura Belpré Awards are presented annually to Latino/Latina writers and illustrators whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
The 2024 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Award Winner is Ari Tison for Saints of the Household (Get the Audiobook).
2024 Belpré Young Adult Author Honor Books:
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- The Prince & The Coyote, written by David Bowles and illustrated by Amanda Mijangos
- Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey, written and illustrated by Edel Rodriguez
Asian/Pacific American Awards For Literature
Asian/Pacific American Awards For Literature honors and recognizes individual works about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit.
The 2024 Asian/Pacific American Award Winner for Young Adult Literature is I’d Rather Burn Than Bloom by Shannon C. F. Rogers (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook).
2024 Asian/Pacific American Honor Book for Young Adult Literature:
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- In Limbo by Deb JJ Lee (Get the eBook)
American Indian Youth Literature Awards
The American Indian Youth Literature Awards identify and honor the very best writing and illustrations by and about American Indians and Alaska Natives.
The 2024 American Indian Youth Literature Award For Young Adult Book is Rez Ball by Byron Graves (Ojibwe).
Sydney Taylor Book Awards
The Sydney Taylor Book Awards are presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.
The 2024 Sydney Taylor Gold Medal Book Award Winner for Young Adults is The Blood Years by Elana K. Arnold (Get the eBook).
Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medalists For Young Adults:
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- Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust, written by Neal Shusterman, illustrated by Andrés Vera Martínez
- Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
- Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe by Steve Sheinkin (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
- Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros (Get the Audiobook)
Schneider Family Book Awards
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.
The 2024 Schneider Award Winner for Teens is Forever Is Now by Mariama J. Lockington.
2024 Schneider Honor Books (Teens):
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- Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
- Tilly in Technicolor by Mazey Eddings (Get the Audiobook)
Stonewall Book – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Awards
The Stonewall Book – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Awards are given annually to English-language works of exceptional merit for children or teens relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience.
The 2024 Stonewall Young Adult Literature Award winner is Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook).
2024 Stonewall Honor Books:
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- Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
- Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)
- The Long Run by James Acker
- The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White (Get the eBook | Get the Audiobook)