by Kristine, Youth Services Librarian

Every January the American Library Association (ALA) announces its Youth Media Awards for the previous year. These awards go to books and digital media for children and young adults.

Some of the awards given are:

• The Newberry Medal for outstanding contribution to children’s literature

• The Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished picture book for children.

• The Coretta Scott King Awards recognizing African American authors and illustrators.

• The Michael L. Prinz award for excellence in literature for young adults

• The Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody and artistic expression of the disability experience.

• The Pura Belpre Awards honoring Latinex writers and illustrators

• The Stonewall Book Award books of exceptional merit relating to the LGBT experience.

These awards were announced on Monday and Mary Beth and I came in early to make sure we didn’t miss a minute. We clapped and cheered for all the amazing books, authors, and illustrators that were honored. Happily, we have most of these award winners in our collection and we would love to have children and teens read them all. Here are a few of the award winning titles you can check out today.

The Newberry Award

How to Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

Juvenile Fiction, grades 4-6

Caldecott Honor Book

The Cat Man of Aleppo by Karim Shamsi-Bashaand and Irene Latham, Illustrated by Yuko Shinizu

Picture Book, Grades 1-3

The Coretta Scott King Award

Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson

Juvenile Fiction, Grades 4-6

The Michael L. Printz Award

Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story) by Daniel Mayeri

Young Adult Fiction or Juvenile Fiction, Grades 4-6

Pura Belpre Award

Furia by Yamile Saled Mendez

Young Adult Fiction, Grades 10-12

Schneider Family Honor Book

When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

Juvenile Graphic Novel, Grades 4-6

Stonewall Honor Book

Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram

Young Adult Fiction, Grades 7-9

Let us know what you think of these books. We love hearing from our patrons.