Youth Media Awards 2013

Well, all the dust has settled, and the award winners announced. What do we think of the award winners this year?

The Newbery award went to The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. I wasn't surprised by this pick! I'd heard a lot of positive buzz about it. There's a lot of excitement in Atlanta for this book, since the gorilla in the story spends part of his life at the Atlanta Zoo.

The Caldecott went to This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen. The only thing that surprised me about this one is that such a popular book was chosen! I think it's a lot of fun, and kind of off the beaten track.

I love all of the Caldecott honor books as well:
Creepy Carrots! illustrated by Peter Brown, written by Aaron Reynolds
Extra Yarn illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett
Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
One Cool Friend illustrated by David Small, written by Toni Buzzeo
Sleep Like a Tiger illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Mary Logue was the only one that I hadn't heard of.

The Coretta Scott King Award went to Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America by Andrea Davis and Brian Pinkney. I really expected that Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis would win, but at least it got an honor.

The Printz Award for young adult fiction went to In Darkness by Nick Lake. All right, I'll just come out and say it. I feel like the Printz award is running away with itself. In Darkness seems like a dark horse. I certainly hadn't heard any buzz about it. It doesn't sound like the kind of book I'd normally pick up, but most reviewers had rated it highly, as a beautifully written, challenging work. I've heard a lot more positive things about Code Name Verity, one of the honor picks in this category.

I hadn't given much thought to the Schneider Award for books that address characters with disabilities until last year's debacle when the committee opted not to give any awards, stating they didn't feel there was anything worth recognizing that year. This year was totally different. Back to Front and Upside Down by Claire Alexander was the winner for the category for books for children under 10. It's a sweet little encouraging book about a student who may be dyslexic.

The Batchelder winner was My Family for the War by Anne C. Voorhoeve, translated by Tammi Reichel. I hadn't heard of this one, but it was translated from German, and I do think German books generally translate very successfully into English.

The Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award went to Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert illustrated by David Diaz and written by Gary D. Schmidt. No surprise there. David Diaz is a real favorite of mine.

The Geisel Award is for the most distinguished beginning reader book. I'm sad to say, I hadn't heard of the winner, Up, Tall and High! by Ethan Long, but it sounds charming. Sometimes I think the award could be renamed, "The Mo Willems Award" since the man seems to sweep it nearly every year with his wonderful Elephant and Piggie series. Let’s Go for a Drive! did get an honor. I was very surprised that Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean won an honor. I look at that book and think, "picture book" or even, "great storytime pick" but I don't think "beginning reader" even though it technically qualifies with it's simple and repeating vocabulary and fun to sing-along-to rhymes.

I was thrilled that Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, won the William Morris Award for a first-time author writing for teens. It's no secret that I have a special soft spot for dragons and this book was one of the best reinventions of dragonlore I've seen in a while.

This isn't a complete or comprehensive list, by any means. For a complete listing of award winners, check out the American Library Association website's official press release.