2015 Youth Media Award Winners Announced!

This morning marked one of the highlights of ALA’s Midwinter Meeting in Chicago: the winners and honor books for ALA’s Youth Media Awards were announced! It was an exciting year, with lots of surprises– including the first time a graphic novel for teens has been named a Caldecott Honor book! Too, the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement as a whole is feeling a big win this morning, as so many of the titles recognized feature characters of color or people with disabilities.

Here is the list of YA titles recognized this morning (children’s books have been omitted from this list because The Hub focuses on YA lit, but be sure to find the full list of winners on ALA’s website):

Alex Award for adult books with teen appeal

• All the Light We Cannot See,  written by Anthony Doerr  and published by Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster
• Bellweather Rhapsody, written by Kate Racculia and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
• Bingo’s Run, written by James A. Levin and published by Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company
• Confessions, written by Kanae Minato, translated by Stephen Snyder, and published by Mulholland Books, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
• Everything I Never Told You, written by by Celeste Ng and published by The Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group LLC, a Penguin Random House Company
• Lock In, written by John Scalzi, a Tor book published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
• The Martian, written by Andy Weir and published by Crown Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company
• The Terrorist’s Son: A Story of Choice, written by Zak Ebrahim with Jeff Giles and published by TED Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc
• Those Who Wish Me Dead, written by Michael Koryta and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group
• Wolf in White Van, written by John Darnielle and published by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux

Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in young adult literature

• Author: Sharon M. Draper

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature

• Winner: I’ll Give You the Sun, written by Jandy Nelson and published by Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Group USA, an imprint of Penguin Random House
• Honor: And We Stay, written by Jenny Hubbard and published by Delacorte Press, and imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., a Penguin Random House Company
• Honor: The Carnival at Bray, written by Jessie Ann Foley and published by Elephant Rock Books
• Honor: Grasshopper Jungle, written by Andrew Smith and published by Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Group USA, a Penguin Random House Company
• Honor: This One Summer, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, written by Mariko Tamaki and published by First Second

Randolph Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children:

• Honor: This One Summer, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, written by Mariko Tamaki and published by First Second

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African American  author of outstanding books for children and young adults:

• Honor: Kekla Magoon for How It Went Down, published by Henry Holt and Company, LLC

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award:

• When I Was the Greatest, written by Jason Reynolds and published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, and imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.

Odyssey Award for outstanding audiobooks for young adults

• Honor: Five, Six, Seven, Nate! produced by AUDIOWORKS (Children’s), an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, written by Tim Federle, and narrated by Tim Federle

Schneider Family Book Award for an artistic expression of the disability experience

• Teen winner: Girls Like Us, written by Gail Giles and published by Candlewick Press

Stonewall Book Award for outstanding LGBTQ titles

• Honor: Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, written and photographed by Susan Kuklin and published by Candlewick Press
• Honor: I’ll Give You the Sun, written by Jandy Nelson and published by Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Group USA, an imprint of Penguin Random House

William C. Morris Award for outstanding debut novels

• Winner: Gabi, a Girl in Pieces, written by Isabel Quintero, published by Cinco Puntos Press
• Finalist: The Carnival at Bray, written by Jessie Ann Foley, published by Elephant Rock Books
• Finalist: The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim, written by E.K. Johnston, published by Carolrhoda Lab™, an imprint of Carolrhoda Books, a division of Lerner Publishing Group
• Finalist: The Scar Boys, written by Len Vlahos, published by Egmont Publishing
• Finalist: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, written by Leslye Walton, published by Candlewick Press

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

• Winner: Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek written by Maya Van Wagenen, and published by Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group
• Finalist: Laughing at My Nightmare written by Shane Burcaw, and published by Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan’s Children’s Publishing Group
• Finalist: The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia written by Candace Fleming, and published by Schwartz & Wade, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
• Finalist: Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business—and Won! written by Emily Arnold McCully, and Published by Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers
• Finalist: The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights written by Steve Sheinkin, and published by Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan’ Children’s Publishing Group