I have been looking forward to this morning and anxiously awaiting the announcement of several Children and Young Adult book awards. The Young Media Awards are like the Oscars for many librarians, including myself. The awards took place at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting at San Diego, California. Although there are many awards honored today, I was looking forward to finding out the winners for the Caldecott, Newberry, Morris, and of course the Michael L. Printz Award. You can find the other winners on the Association for Library Services to Children website and the Young Adult Library Services website (YALSA).
The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of Randolph Caldecott, who was a nineteenth-century English illustrator. The award is given annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.
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| A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead and illustrated by Erin E. Stead. |
Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave by Laban Carrick Hill and illustrated by Bryan Collier
Interrupting Chicken written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein The Newberry Medal was named in the honor of John Newberry, who was an eighteenth century British bookseller. Like the Caldecott, it is also awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
Winner of the 2011 Newberry Medal is:
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| Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool |
Honorees of the 2011 Newberry are:
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Rick Allen
The William C. Morris YA Debut Award was first awarded in 2009 by YALSA. The award is given to a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.
Winner of the 2011 Morris Award is:
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| Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston |
Honorees of the 2011 Morris Award are:
Hush by Eishes Chayil
Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey
Hold Me Closer, Neromancer by Lish McBride
Crossing the Tracks by Barbara Stuber
The Michael L. Printz Award was named in the honor of Michael L. Printz, a school librarian in Topeaka, Kansas, who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association. The Michael L. Printz Award is an award given annually by the Young Adult Library Services Association to a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.
Winner of the 2011 Michael Printz Award is:
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| Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi |
Honorees of the 2011 Printz Award are:
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
Nothing by Janne Teller
Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
Stolen by Lucy Christopher
Well, the library associations have spoken. What do you think of these book awards? Will you read the books that have won and have been honored? I, personally, was a little suprised by Ship Breaker winning the Printz. It's a well written book, however, I didn't find anything really exceptional about it. I do have most of the other books already on my tbr pile. I guess, I will post them up higher just to see what made them so special.
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Always an exciting day! I wish The Cardturner had won the Printz, or at least been honored. I'm glad Hush was honored for the Morris award. I loved that one.
To tell you the honest truth I hadn't heard of Ship Breaker until the awards, the only one I've read from the honor list is Stolen, which I loved. I might read Please Ignore Vera Dietz, but we'll see. I think the Printz winner and honor books are usually not Teen favorites, but definitely librarian/adult favorites. You can't deny their literary worth though, I guess. BTW, I awarded your blog the "Stylish Blogger Award", see my blog for more info. http://www.nostalgiclibrarian.blogspot.com :)
Alison: I haven't read "The Cardturner" yet, but plan to. I also really enjoyed "Hush" and glad it was nominated.
Adriana: I do agree that most of the times the awards are more for librarians and adults. Although there are a few like "Looking for Alaska" that is embraced by teens and adults alike. Btw, thank you for the award!