Youth Media Awards 2015

The ALA Youth Media Awards have been announced!

Here are some of the winners, and I've highlighted everything that I had a prediction about or was on my radar as a potential winner in red. Too bad I wasn't in a betting pool this year! I could have cleaned up.

Newbery

The Crossover - Kwame Alexander

Newbery Honor:

El Deafo - Cece Bell

Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson

Caldecott:

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend - Dan Santat

Caldecott Honor:

Nana in the City - Lauren Castillo

The Noisy Paint Box: The  Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art - Barb Rosenstock,  illustrated by Mary GrandPré

Sam & Dave Dig a Hole - Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Viva Frida - Yuyi Morales

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus - illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant

This One Summer - illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, written by Mariko Tamaki

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award:

Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson

King Author Honor:

The Crossover - Kwame Alexander

How I Discovered Poetry - Marilyn Nelson, illustrated by Hadley Hooper

How It Went Down - Kekla Magoon

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award:

Firebird - Misty Copeland, illustrated by Christopher Myers

King Illustrator Honor:

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker - Patricia Hruby Powell, illustrated by Christian Robinson

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone - Katheryn Russell-Brown, illustrated by Frank Morrison

Printz:

I’ll Give You the Sun - Jandy Nelson

Printz Honor:

And We Stay - Jenny Hubbard

The Carnival at Bray - Jessie Ann Foley

Grasshopper Jungle - Andrew Smith

This One Summer - Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award:

Viva Frida - Yuyi Morales

Belpré Illustrator Honor:

Little Roja Riding Hood - Susan Middleton Elya, illustrated by Susan Guevara

Green Is a Chile Pepper - Roseanne Greenfield Thong, illustrated by John Parra

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation - Duncan Tonatiuh

Sibert:

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus - Jen Bryant

Sibert Honor:

Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, & the Fall of Imperial Russia - Candace Fleming

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker - Patricia Hruby Powell, illustrated by Christian Robinson

Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands -  Katherine Roy

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation - Duncan Tonatiuh

Stonewall Award:

This Day in June - Gayle E. Pitman, Ph.D., illustrated by Kristyna Litten

Stonewall Honor:

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out - Susan Kuklin.

I’ll Give You the Sun - Jandy Nelson

Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress - Christine Baldacchio, illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant

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.

ALA Youth Media Awards 2012

ALA Midwinter in Dallas was a wonderful long weekend celebrating the core of what being a librarian is all about - books, books, books and more books!

Here are my thoughts and reflections on this year's big award winners.

The Newbery Award went to Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos, with Newbery Honors going to Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai and Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin.

Once again, I failed to call it - I'd heard so much buzz about Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, I assumed that it would win. And I must shamefacedly admit, that I haven't read Dead End in Norvelt, either! I did read Inside Out & Back Again, and felt in my heart that it was a Newbery contender. Hurrah! I'm so happy to see it honored. I've never even heard of Breaking Stalin's Nose.

Even though I haven't read Dead End in Norvelt, I can tell it's the "right sort" of book. Heartrending stories about kids in tough situations are to the Newbery Committee what heroic, drawn-out movie death scenes are to the Oscar Committee, right? I feel like there's a balance between winning books with a girl protagonist vs. a boy protagonist and we were "about due" for a "boy book" so I wasn't surprised to hear it had won.

This quote concerns me: "Who knew obituaries and old lady death could be this funny and this tender?” said Newbery Medal Committee Chair Viki Ash." Wow - that sentence does not have me rushing out to read this book. That sounds like a downer, quite frankly. But, I have read Hole in My Life, Gantos' autobiography for kids, which I found riveting. It's a cautionary tale about how he got caught up in drug trafficking, got caught and how serving time in prison gave him a big wake-up call and a second-chance just when he needed it. He wisely left out a lot of details about the political scene in the '60's, making it a much more accessible book for teens today. Knowing that Dead End in Norvelt is also a highly autobiographical work leaves me more interested. Shockingly, my library's reserve lists have not filled up on this title. Are people just slow to hear about the Newbery this year? Or is this book failing to draw them in?

The Printz award went to Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley. I hadn't even heard of this one. I hadn't heard of two of the Honor books in this category either: The Returning by Christine Hinwood and the somewhat critically reviewed Australian import, Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey. I had heard good things about the other two Printz Honor books: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman and Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater.

A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka is the Caldecott winner this year. I vaguely remember seeing it around, but I hadn't expected it to win big. Honors were given to Blackout by John Rocco, Grandpa Green by Lane Smith and Me... Jane by Patrick McDonnell. I've been a fan of John Rocco for years. I met him at a book talk he gave right after he wrote his first book, Wolf, Wolf! and have been rooting for him to win since then. Hoorah! I'm so happy he got the honor for this one. I think any book that celebrates less computer time and more face-to-face interactions is sure to hit a sentimental note for a lot of older readers who don't see their digital and their "real" lives as seamlessly interwoven as the younger generation does. Grandpa Green and Me... Jane are two picture books that I've been dying to get at my library, but as our budgets have dwindled, sadly, picture books are some of the "easiest" to cut, since not having them doesn't provoke as much outcry as not having ample copies of adult New York Times bestsellers titles, for example. Now that they've both won Honors, hopefully, I'll find it easier to lobby for their purchase!

ALA Youth Media Awards 2011

Color me surprised! What an interesting selection of winners.

The winner of the 2011 Printz award was Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.  I was glad to see a science-fiction title win.  It sounds quite steampunkish. I haven't read it yet, but am glad to see that I am number one in line for it at the library. Even though it's a grim, dystopian tale, I'm hoping that it isn't as cheerless as Philip Reeve's Hungry City Chronicles.

I was so happy that the Theodore Seuss Geisel award went to Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee. What a rare gem this book is. So well deserved.

For the Caldecott award, I was surprised to see Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein pick up an Honor.  I'd heard lots of buzz about A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Christian Stead and Erin Stead. If I'm totally honest, I hadn't been rooting for it, especially.  I was disappointed that Flora's Very Windy Day by Jeanne Birdsall and Matt Phelan didn't at least pick up an Honor.

For the Newbery award, talk about a dark horse! I'm amazed. I haven't even heard of this book, Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.  I was so ready for One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia to sweep the awards and pick up everything.  Still, One Crazy Summer did get the Scott O'Dell historical fiction award, the Coretta Scott King award, plus a Newbery Honor.  That's not too shabby!


Waiting to hear the awards felt so very odd to me this year.  When I'm not at the ALA conference in person, I'm used to being on the West Coast, and getting up at ridiculous hours of the early morning in order to hear who's won.  This year, I'm on the East Coast, and the awards were announced on the West Coast... meaning I had to wait all morning and into the afternoon to find out who the winners were.


My kudos to the award committee members, who give so much of their year to make these awards happen. I'm already looking forward to another year of reading, speculating and betting on next year's winners.

ALA Media Award Winners

The awards have been announced, and now it's time to tally what I've read, how close my guesses were and what I've got to read to catch up! I did get up verrry early to see the awards, but sadly between my Mac and Windows Media (the only source for the livefeed available) not getting along, and the site being overloaded, I didn't see them as I hoped. Luckily, I was able to follow along on Twitter. Getting up early had another advantage. I was able to put my name on the request list at my library, so I won't have long to wait to get my hands on books I haven't read yet.

I'm not surprised that Libba Bray won the Printz for Going Bovine. I haven't read it yet, but I've just finished reading her Gemma Doyle trilogy, and Going Bovine has been very high on my "next to read" list. I guess I've got no excuses now!

I see Rick Yancey scored an honor for his Monstrumologist, which I also had very good feelings about. I'd heard plenty of buzz about Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heilegman, and it's another on my "meaning to read" list. It won a Printz honor, as well as a non-fiction award. Punkzilla by Adam Rapp as well as Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973 by John Barnes, I'd not even heard of.

The Caldecott also, was not a surprise. What else could it be besides The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney? As I matter of fact, I have it checked out right now, and have been meaning to review it. What a marvelous book. There is a dearth of Aesops' Fables available and this one is so beautifully illustrated, I knew it was a shoe-in.

I haven't laid my eyes on All the World by Marla Frazee and Liz Garton Scanlon or Red Sings From Treetops: A Year in Colors by Pamela Zagarenski and Joyce Sidman. In part, I am a little agitated over this. I've read a lot less picture books this past year than ever before. Mostly because of shrinking budgets and a reduction in professional development opportunities. My library system's monthly book inspection (a luxury for most libraries, I know) has been slashed to bi-monthly, and slashed again to quarterly. This simply won't do! I've got to make more of a personal effort to read new picture books in the upcoming year.

The Newbery was a surprise winner (at least to me.) When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. I hate to say it, but I'd heard some buzz that it was a contender, and decided not to read it because I disliked the cover design. Terrible of me, I know, but with a "to be read list" as long as mine is, one has to start cutting somewhere. All right, back on to the "to be read list" it goes.

There's an honor for The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick, and that's a book I've been dying to get my hands on. I even almost went out and purchased it, but decided to wait it out and get from the library. I was immediately intrigued by the book because both of my parents are Civil War re-enactors and it sounded as funny and interesting as Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis, which I loved.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly was not doomed by my early predictions of success, and also received a Newbery honor. Hurrah! I predict this book, paired with Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith will be a favorite with teachers for many years to come.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice by Philip Hoose and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin are two more Newbery Honor books that hadn't really crossed my radar. I'll need to read those. For good measure, I'll probably also want to read the Coretta Scott King winner, Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson. Phew! I'll have my work cut out for me in the next few days ahead.