Youth Media Awards

At the American Library Association's Mid-Winter meeting, the winners of the big literature awards for kids and young adults are announced.  I had speculated on the winners earlier this year on my Books for Teens Blog.  You can see that post here: Youth Media Awards.

In that post, I had expressed high hopes for You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.  While Strange the Dreamer was one of my favorite books last year, I honestly didn't think it was a contender.

Last Monday, the Youth Media Awards were announced.  To be honest, I was surprised!  I never expect to correctly call the awards, but I'm always happy when at least one of my choices ends up making one of the lists!

In case if you haven't seen the list, here it is:

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
We Are Okay by Nina LeCour

Honor Books:
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman


I have a more difficult time keeping up with the contenders for the Newberry and Caldecott Awards.  I feel fortunate if new books manage to pass through my hands during its publication year.  Picture Books and Children's Chapter Books run through our library so quickly I rarely get a chance to look at them while they're still new!

The Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:
Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell

John Newberry Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature: 
Hello Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly.


I admit that I was very disappointed that Sherman Alexie's book did not make it to the final rounds, not even an honorable mention.  So, I went searching to see if I had missed something.  Sure enough, I had.  He is the WINNER of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Non-Fiction.  Oops - my bad, I was looking in the YA section instead of in the Adult Collection.

I've got some books I need to read!  I haven't seen many of these books, and I hope to find some new friends! 


You can find the complete list of Youth Media Award Winners for 2018 here:
 http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2018/02/american-library-association-announces-2018-youth-media-award-winners