2017 Awards for Youth Literature

2017 Awards for Youth Literature

The Newbery Medal will be awarded to The Girl Who Drank the Moon, written by Kelly Barnhill (Algonquin). Three Newbery Honor Books also were named: Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan, written and illustrated by Ashley Bryan (Dlouhy/Atheneum); The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog, written by Adam Gidwitz, illustrated by Hatem Aly (Dutton), and Wolf Hollow, by Lauren Wolk (Dutton).

The Caldecott Medal will be awarded to Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, illustrated and written by Javaka Steptoe (Little). Four Caldecott Honor Books were also named: Leave Me Alone!, illustrated and written by Vera Brosgol, (Roaring Brook); Freedom in Congo Square, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, written by Carole Boston Weatherford (Little Bee); Du Iz Tak?, illustrated and written by Carson Ellis (Candlewick); and They All Saw a Cat, illustrated and written by Brendan Wenzel (Chronicle).

The Coretta Scott King Book Award for writing goes to John Lewis and Andre Aydin’s March: Book Three, illustrated by Nate Powell (Top Shelf). Two King Author Honor Books were selected: As Brave as You, by Jason Reynolds (Dlouhy/Atheneum); and Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan, written and illustrated by Ashley Bryan (Dlouhy/Atheneum).

The Coretta Scott King Book Award for illustration goes to Javaka Steptoe for Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, illustrated and written by Javaka Steptoe (Little). Three King Illustrator Honor Books were selected: Freedom in Congo Square, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, written by Carole Boston Weatherford (Little Bee); Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan, illustrated and written by Ashley Bryan (Dlouhy/Atheneum); and In Plain Sight, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, written by Richard Jackson (Porter/Roaring Brook).

The Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award goes to Nicola Yoon for The Sun Is Also a Star (Delacorte).

Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop is the winner of the Coretta Scott King—Virginia Hamilton Practitioner Award for Lifetime Achievement.

The Pura Belpré Award for illustration goes to Raúl Gonzalez for Lowriders to the Center of the Earth, written by Cathy Camper (Chronicle). Two Belpré Illustrator Honor Books were named: Esquivel!: Space-Age Sound Artist, illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh, written by Susan Wood (Charlesbridge); and The Princess and the Warrior: A Tale of Two Volcanoes, illustrated and written by Duncan Tonatiuh (Abrams)

The Pura Belpré Award for writing goes to Juana Medina for Juana & Lucas, written and illustrated by Juana Medina (Candlewick). One Belpré Author Honor Book was named: The Only Road, by Alexandra Diaz (Wiseman/Simon).

The American publisher receiving the Mildred L. Batchelder Award for the most outstanding translation of a book originally published in a foreign language is Enchanted Lion Books for Cry, Heart, But Never Break, translated from the Danish by Robert Moulthrop, and written by Glenn Ringtved, and illustrated by Charlotte Pardi. Three Batchelder Honor Books were also selected: Over the Ocean, written and illustrated by Taro Gomi and translated from the Japanese by Taylor Norman (Chronicle); As Time Went By, written and illustrated by José Sanabria and translated from the German by Audrey Hall (NorthSouth); and The Ballad of a Broken Nose, written by Arne Svingen and translated from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson (McElderry).

The Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults goes to John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell for March: Book Three, written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell (Top Shelf). Four Printz Honor Books were also named: Asking for It, by Louise O’Neill (Quercus); The Passion of Dolssa, by Julie Berry (Viking); Scythe, by Neal Shusterman (Simon); and The Sun Is Also a Star, by Nicola Yoon (Delacorte).

The Robert F. Sibert Medal for most distinguished informational book for children goes to March: Book Three, written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell (Top Shelf). Four Sibert Honor Books were named: Giant Squid, written by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann (Porter/Roaring Brook); Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story, by Caren Stelson (Carolrhoda); Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience During World War II, by Albert Marrin (Knopf); and We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler, by Russell Freedman (Clarion).

The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for most distinguished beginning reader book goes to We Are Growing: A Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! Book, written by Laurie Keller (Hyperion) Four Geisel Honor Books were named: Good Night Owl, written and illustrated by Greg Pizzoli (Disney Hyperion); Oops, Pounce, Quick, Run! An Alphabet Caper, written and illustrated by Mike Twohy (Balzer + Bray); Go Otto Go! written and illustrated by David Milgrim (Simon Spotlight); and The Infamous Ratsos, written by Kara LaReau, illustrated by Matt Myers (Candlewick).

The Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience goes to Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille, written by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Boris Kulikov (Knopf) in the category for young children (ages 0 to 10). As Brave as You, by Jason Reynolds (Dlouhy/Atheneum) is the winner of the middle grade award (ages 11-13). When We Collided, by Emery Lord (Bloomsbury), is the winning book in the teen category (ages 13-18).

The Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award, for children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender experience, was given respectively to Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor, by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion), and If I Was Your Girl, by Meredith Russo (Flatiron). Three honor books were selected: When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore (Dunne/St. Martin’s Griffin); Unbecoming, by Jenny Downham (Fickling/Scholastic); and Pride: Celebrating Diversity & Community, by Robin Stevenson (Orca).

The Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children’s video goes to Ryan Swenar of Dreamscape Media, LLC, producer of Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children goes to Nikki Grimes.

The Odyssey Award for excellence in audiobook production goes to Anna and the Swallow Man, produced by Listening Library, an imprint of the Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group. The book is written by Gavriel Savit and narrated by Allan Corduner. Three Odyssey Honor Recordings were selected: Ghost, produced by Simon and Schuster Audio, written by Jason Reynolds and narrated by Guy Lockard; Dream On, Amber, produced by Recorded Books, written by Emma Shevah and narrated by Laura Kirman; and Nimona, produced by HarperAudio, written by Noelle Stevenson and narrated by Rebecca Soler, Jonathan Davis, Marc Thompson, January LaVoy, Natalie Gold, Peter Bradbury and David Pittu.

The 2018 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture will be delivered by author and editor Naomi Shihab Nye.

The Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults goes to Sarah Desson.

The William C. Morris Award for a book written by a first-time author for teens goes to The Serpent King, by Jeff Zentner (Crown). Four additional books were shortlisted: Girl Mans Up, by M-E Girard (HarperTeen/HarperCollins); Rani Patel in Full Effect, by Sonia Patel (Cinco Puntos); The Smell of Other People’s Houses, by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock (Lamb); and Tell Me Something Real, by Calla Devlin (Atheneum).

The YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award goes to March: Book Three, written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell (Top Shelf). Four other books were shortlisted for the award: Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Woman Living History, by Karen Blumenthal (Feiwel); In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives, by Kenneth C. Davis, (Holt); Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune, written by Pamela S. Turner, illustrated by Gareth Hinds (Charlesbridge); and This Land Is Our Land: A History of American Immigration, by Linda Barrett Osborne (Abrams).

The Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction goes to Full of Beans, by Jennifer L. Holm (Random House).

The Canadian Library Association’s 2016 Book of the Year for Children is The Nest, by Kenneth Oppel (HarperCollins Canada). Two Honor Books selected are MiNRS, by Kevin Sylvester (McElderry), and Young Man with Camera, by Emil Sher, illustrated by David Wyman (Levine). The Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award goes to Sydney Smith for Sidewalk Flowers, written by JonArno Lawson (Groundwood). One honor book was named: The Bus Rude, illustrated and written by Marianne Dubuc (Kids Can). The Young Adult Canadian Book Award goes to The Scorpion Rules, by Erin Bow (Simon Canada).

The Carnegie Medal was awarded to Sarah Crossan for One (Bloomsbury).

The Kate Greenaway Medal for distinguished illustration in a book for children was awarded to The Sleeper and the Spindle, illustrated by Chris Riddell, written by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury).

The 2017 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for outstanding nonfiction for children goes to Some Writer!: The Story of E.B. White, written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Honor books are: Animals by the Numbers: A Book of Animal Infographics, written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt); The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial, written by Susan E. Goodman and illustrated by E. B. Lewis (Bloomsbury); Giant Squid, written by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohmann (Roaring Brook); I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark, written by Debbie Levy and illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley (Simon); and ¡Olinguito, de la A a la Z!: Descubriendo el bosque nublado / Olinguito, from A to Z: Unveiling the Cloud Forest, by Lulu Delacre (Children’s Book Press).