The Odyssey Award
The Odyssey Award
Embedded Files
The Odyssey Award, established in 2008 by the American Library Association (ALA) in partnership with the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), recognizes the best audiobook produced for children or young adults each year. Named to evoke the epic journey of storytelling, the award highlights excellence in audiobook production, including narration, sound quality, and overall presentation. Its goal is to elevate the role of audio storytelling in literature for young listeners and to promote high-quality audiobooks as a powerful medium for engaging youth. The Odyssey Award is given annually, with honors typically announced at the ALA’s Youth Media Awards, and it often includes both a winner and a list of honor titles that exemplify exceptional audio production.
Reading List
Please read:
If you choose to explore this award, please select three books from the list below. You will be responsbile for sharing these books with your classmates as part of our module discussion.
Don't forget, you can learn a bit more about each book by checkout out our course inclusivity audit. Please also see my note about content warnings for specific titles.
⭐️ Jennifer Recommends: I've added stars to books that represent some of my favorites. You should feel no pressure to select titles that resonated with me.
Louder Than Hunger
John Schu
Read by Jeff Ebner and John Schu
2024
Heir
Sabaa Tahir
Read by full cast
2024
On The Wings of La Noche
Vanessa L. Torres
Read by Frankie Corzo
2025
A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe
Mahogany L. Browne
Read by full cast
2025
Everything Is Poison
Joy McCullough
Read by author
2025
Fable for The End of The World
Ava Reid
Read by Gail Shalan & Emily Lawrence
2025
The Diablo's Curse
Gabe Cole Novoa
Read by Vico Ortiz
2024
Looking For Smoke
KA Cobell
Read by full cast
2024
Flamboyants
George M. Johnson
Read by author
2024
The Otherwhere Post
Emily J. Taylor
Read by Barrie Kreinik
2025
After Life
Gayle Forman
Read by full cast
2025
Homebody
Theo Parish
Read by full cast
2024
(S)kin
Ibi Zoboi
Read by Bahni Turpin & Robin Miles
2025
Black Girl You Are Atlas
Renée Watson
Read by author
2024
Rising From The Ashes
Paula Yoo
Read by Kevin R. Free
2024
The Breath of the Dragon
Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee
Read by full cast
2025
Ruin Road
Lamar Giles
Read by J. D. Jackson
2024
The Rose Bargain
Sasha Peyton Smith
Read by full cast
2025
Want to read something that is not on this list?
If you would like to swap a book from this list for one of your own choosing, you must:
Contact Jennifer (via Canvas) at least a week in advance with your suggested swap. Remember! In order to qualify for substitution, the book you select must:
qualify for the given award
have been published in the previous 24 months
be written for a YA audience
Keep in mind that some books appear on multiple award lists.
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