In case you missed it, the American Library Association announced the winners of the 2021 Youth Media Awards last week.
Tae Keller’s When You Trap A Tiger won the Newbery Medal for “most outstanding contribution to children’s literature.”
Carole Lindstrom’s We Are Water Protectors won the Caldecott Medal for “most distinguished American picture book for children.”
Click the “Read More” link to see the rest of the winners from this year’s Youth Media Awards, including the Coretta Scott King Book Award, the Printz Award, the Alex Award, and more!
Newbery Medal
For the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature
- Keller, Tae – When You Trap A Tiger
Honor Books
- Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker – Fighting Words
- Kelly, Erin Entrada – We Dream of Space
- Soontornvat, Christina – A Wish in the Dark
- Soontornvat, Christina – All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team
- Weatherford, Carole Boston – Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
Caldecott Medal
For the most distinguished American picture book for children
- Lindstrom, Carole – We Are Water Protectors
Honor Books
- Cabrera, Cozbi – Me & Mama
- Elliot, Zetta – A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart
- Latham, Irene – The Cat Man of Aleppo
- Underwood, Deborah – Outside In
Coretta Scott King Book Award (Authors)
Recognizing an African American author of outstanding books for children and young adults
- Woodson, Jacqueline – Before the Ever After
Honor Books
- Callender, Kacen – King and the Dragonflies
- Dionne, Evette – Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box
- Taylor, Mildred D. – All the Days Past, All the Days to Come
Coretta Scott King Book Award (Illustrators)
Recognizing an African American author illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults
- Weatherford, Carole Boston – R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul
Honor Books
- Cabrera, Cozbi – Me & Mama
- Doyon, Samara Cole – Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration
- Slade, Suzan – Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award
- Deonn, Tracy – Legendborn
Coretta Scott King/Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Dorothy L. Guthrie is an award-winning retired librarian, district administrator, author, and school board member. A respected children’s literature advocate, Guthrie promotes and affirms the rich perspectives of African Americans. Her work, Integrating African American Literature in the Library and Classroom, inspires educators with African American literature. Guthrie founded the first African American museum in her home, Gaston County, NC.
Printz Award
For excellence in literature written for young adults
- Nayeri, Daniel – Everything Sad is Untrue: (A True Story)
Printz Honor Books
- Chee, Traci – We Are Not Free
- Gansworth, Eric – Apple: Skin to the Core: A Memoir in Words and Pictures
- Iloh, Candice – Every Body Looking
- Yang, Gene Luen – Dragon Hoops
Schneider Family Book Award (Young Children – Ages 0-10)
For books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
- Scott, Jordan – I Talk Like A River
Honor Books
- Newman, Tracy – Itzhak: A Boy Who Loved the Violin
- Pimentel, Annette Bay – All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything
Schneider Family Book Award (Middle Grades – Ages 11-13)
For books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
- LeZotte, Ann Clare – Show Me A Sign
Honor Books
- Jamieson, Victoria – When Stars Are Scattered
- Kapit, Sarah – Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen
Schneider Family Book Award (Teen – Ages 13-18)
For books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
- Gregorio, I.W. – This is My Brain in Love
Alex Award
For the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences
- Anthony, Gretchen – The Kids Are Gonna Ask
- Backderf, Derf – Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio
- Barry, Quan – We Ride Upon Sticks
- Brosh, Allie – Solutions and Other Problems
- Danforth, Emily M – Plain Bad Heroines
- Jones, Stephen Graham – The Only Good Indians
- Klune, TJ – The House in the Cerulean Sea
- O’Brady, Colin – The Impossible First: From Fire to Ice – Crossing Antarctica Alone
- Onyebuchi, Tochi – Riot Baby
- Roanhorse, Rebecca – Black Sun
Children’s Literature Legacy 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 through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences.
The 2021 winner is Mildred D. Taylor, whose award-winning works include Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1977 Newbery Medal winner and a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book), The Land (2002 CSK Author Award winner), The Road to Memphis (1991 CSK Author Award winner), All the Days Past, All the Days to Come, and The Gold Cadillac, among other titles.
Margaret A. Edwards Award
For lifetime achievement in writing for young adults
The 2021 winner is Kekla Magoon. Her books include: X: A Novel (co-written by Ilyasah Shabazz), How It Went Down, The Rock and the River, and Fire in the Streets.
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
- Rodari, Gianni – Telephone Tales
Honor Books
- Billet, Julia – Catherine’s War
Odyssey Award
For best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States
- Wiles, Deborah – Kent State
Honor Audiobooks
- Acevedo, Elizabeth – Clap When You Land
- Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker – Fighting Words
- Jamieson, Victoria – When Stars Are Scattered
- Reynolds, Jason – Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You
Pura Belpré Award (Illustrator)
Honoring a Latinx illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
- Raul the Third – ¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat
Honor Books (Illustrator)
- Tello, Julio C. – Sharuko: El Arqueólogo Peruano/Peruvian Archaeologist
Pura Belpré Award (Children’s Author)
Honoring a Latinx writer whose children’s books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
- Cisneros, Ernesto – Efrén Divided
Honor Books (Children’s Author)
- Cuevas, Adrianna – The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez
- Mendez, Yamile Saied – Furia
Pura Belpré Award (Young Adult Author)
Honoring a Latinx writer whose children’s books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
- No Award Given
Honor Books (Young Adult Author)
- Rivera, Lilliam – Never Look Back
- Torres Sanchez, Jenny – We Are Not from Here
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award
For most distinguished informational book for children
Honor Books
- Rocco, John – How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure
- Slade, Suzanne – Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks
- Soontorvat, Christina – All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team
The Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award
Given to a digital media producer that has created distinguished digital media for an early learning audience
- Committee for Children – The Imagine Neighborhood
Honor Titles
- Sesame Workshop – Sesame Street Family Play: Caring for Each Other
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
- Shrivastav, Archaa – We Are Little Feminists: Families
Honor Books
- Callender, Kacen – Felix Ever After
- Johnson, Leah – You Should See Me in a Crown
- Khorram, Adib – Darius the Great Deserves Better
- Layne, Aliza – Beetle and the Hollowbones
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
For the most distinguished beginning reader book
- LaRochelle, David – See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog
Honor Books
- Higgins, Ryan T. – What About Worms?!
- Hunter, Anne – Where’s Baby?
- Lyons, Kelly Starling – Ty’s Travels: Zip, Zoom!
- Tatsukawa, Maya – The Bear in My Family
William C. Morris Award
For a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens
- McCauley, Kyrie – If These Wings Could Fly
Finalists
- Brown, Echo – Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard
- Hammonds, Reed Christina – The Black Kids
- Ibanez, Isabel – Woven in Moonlight
- Kenwood, Nina – It Sounded Better in My Head
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction
For young adults
- Fleming, Candance – The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh
Finalists
- Rocco, John – How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure
- Rusch, Elizabeth – You Call This Democracy? How to Fix Our Democracy and Deliver Power to the People
- Sabic-El-Rayess, Amra – The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival
- Soontornvat, Christina – All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
The award promotes Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and is awarded based on literary and artistic merit
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (Picture Book)
Honor Books
- Kim, Anna – Danbi Leads the School Parade
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (Children’s Literature)
The award promotes Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and is awarded based on literary and artistic merit
- Keller, Tae – When You Trap a Tiger
Honor Books
- Park, Linda Sue – Prairie Lotus
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (Youth Literature)
The award promotes Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and is awarded based on literary and artistic merit
- Fukuda, Andrew – The Light Between Us
Honor Books
- Hughes, Kiku – Displacement
The Sydney Taylor Book Award (Gold Medalists)
Presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience
- Feder, Tyler – Dancing at the Pity Party
- Newman, Leslea – Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale with a Tail
- Wolkenstein, M. Evan – Turtle Boy
The Sydney Taylor Book Award (Silver Medalists)
- Blankman, Anne – The Blackbird Girls
- Cohen, Tziporah – No Vacancy
- Copeland, Mychal – I Am the Tree of Life: My Jewish Yoga Book
- Hesse, Monica – They Went Left
- Pasternack, Sofiya – Anya and the Nightingale
- Yolen, Jane – Miriam at the River
Published on February 4, 2021.
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