Book Awards
Some of the most important awards given out for books written for children and young adults are listed below. For more awards, there is a list of book awards – international, national, and local – that may be found on the Horn Book website. The Cooperative Children's Book Center also has a list of awards
The American Library Association Awards are the most prominent of the children's and young adult book awards. They are announced at the ALA Midwinter meeting in January
- Newbery Award
- Named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the ALA, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
- 2012 Winner: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
- 2012 Honor books: Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai, Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin
- 2011 Winner: Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
- 2011 Honor books: Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm, Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus, Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
- 2010 Winner: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
- 2010 Honor books: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly,Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
- Batchelder Award
- Honors Mildred L. Batchelder, a former executive director of the Association for Library Service to Children. This award is for a children's book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States.
- 2012 winner: Soldier Bear by Bibi Dumon Tak
- 2011 winner: A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bondoux
- 2010 winner: A Faraway Island, published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, written by Annika Thor
- The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
- Award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association.
- 2012 Winner: Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
- 2011 winner: Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
- 2010 Winner: Going Bovine by Libba Bray
- Pura Belpré Award
- Presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
- 2012 Winner: Diego Rivera: His World and Ours by Duncan Tonatiuh
- 2011 Winner: The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan
- 2010 Winner: Return to Sender, written by Julia Alvarez
- Coretta Scott King Book Awards
- Given to African American authors and illustrator for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions, the Coretta Scott King Book Award titles promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream.
- 2012 winner: Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
- 2011 winner: One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
- 2010 winner: Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal, written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
- Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
- Awarded annually to the authors and illustrators of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the preceding year. It is named in honor of Robert F. Sibert, the long-time President of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc.
- 2012 winner: Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet
- 2011 winner: Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot , written by Sy Montgomery
- 2010 winner: Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, written by Tanya Lee Stone
The Alex Awards are given to 10 books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.
Awards given to writers by writers. Since 1996, independent panels of five writers have chosen the winners in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature. Awarded in November.
- 2012: Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
- 2011 winner: Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
- 2010 winner: Mockingbird by Katherine Erskine
- 2009 winner: Phillip Hoose, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are among the most prestigious honors in the field of children’s and young adult literature. The winning titles must be published in the United States but they may be written or illustrated by citizens of any country. The awards are chosen by an independent panel of three judges who are annually appointed by the Editor of the Horn Book. Awards are given out in June.
- 2012 awards: No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (fiction) and Chuck Close: Face Book, written and illustrated by Chuck Close (nonfiction)
- 2011 awards: Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones (fiction) and The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery by Steve Sheinkin (nonfiction)
- 2010 awards: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (fiction) and Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge (nonfiction)
- 2009 awards: Nation by Terry Pratchett (fiction) and The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming (nonfiction)
- 2010 awards: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge
These awards are given out by the Mystery Writers of America and include one for best Young Adult fiction.
- 2012 winners: Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Juvenile) and The Silence of Murder by Dandi Daley Mackall (Young Adult)
- 2011 winners: The Buddy Files: The Case of the Lost Boy by Dori Hillestad Butler (Juvenile) and Interrogation of Gabriel James by Charlie Price (Young Adult)
- 2010 winners: Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn (Juvenile) and Reality Check by Peter Abrahams
- 2009 winner: Paper Towns by John Green
Awarded by the Massachusetts Center for the Book in several categories, including Children's/Young Adult.
Massachusetts Children's Book Award
Massachusetts 4th-6th graders who have read five books from a Master List of 25 books vote for their favorite book.
Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction winners must be set in the New World (Canada, Central or South America, or the United States).
- 2013 winner: Chickadee by Louise Erdrich
- 2012 winner: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
- 2011 winner: One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia
- 2010 winner: The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan
- 2009 winner: Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12
The books that appear in these lists were selected as outstanding children's science trade books. They were selected by a book review panel appointed by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and assembled in cooperation with the Children’s Book Council (CBC).
Notable Social Studies Tradebooks for Young People
Books that appear in these annotated book lists were evaluated and selected by a Book Review Committee appointed by National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and assembled in cooperation with the Children's Book Council (CBC).
Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards