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Newberry Honor Books for 2025:
Across So Many Seas — Ruth Behar
Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All — Chanel Miller
One Big Open Sky — Lesa Cline-Ransome
The Wrong Way Home — Kate O’Shaughnessy
2025 Caldecott Medal Winner
2025 Caldecott Medal Winner
Chooch Helped by Andrea L. Rogers
Caldecott Honor Books for 2025:
Home in a Lunchbox — Cherry Mo
My Daddy Is a Cowboy — Stephanie Seales
Noodles on a Bicycle — Kyo Maclear
Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: a Life in the Mountains — Anita Yasuda
Young Reader's Choice Awards
Young Reader's Choice Awards
The Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Reader’s Choice Awards was established by a Seattle bookseller in 1940. Fourth through twelfth graders in the Pacific Northwest are eligible to vote.
The list of nominated titles is divided into three divisions: Grades 4-6, Grades 7-9, and Grades 10-12. St. Mary Magdalen participates in the first two divisions.
Students are encouraged to read at least two books in their division by March. Voting can be submitted before April 15. The winning title will be named sometime in May.
Grades 4-6:
Four Eyes by Rex Ogle (GN)
The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln
A Horse Named Sky by Rosanne Parry
The Grace of Wild Things by Heather Fawcett (CDN)
The Moth-Keeper by Kay O’Neill (GN)
The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan
The Otherwoods by Justine Pucella Winans
The Firefly Summer by Morgan Matson
Grades 7-9:
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Dreamer by Akim Aliu (GN) (CDN)
Tegan and Sara: Junior High by Tegan Quin (GN) (CDN)
Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The Infinity Particle by Wendy Xu (GN)
The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman
Confessions of a Candy Snatcher by Phoebe Sinclair
Sasquatch Reading Award
Sasquatch Reading Award
The Sasquatch Reading Award is sponsored by the Washington Library Media Association. It was started in 1998 and was designed as an award that would reach readers in grades 3-6.
Each year a list of twelve nominated titles is published. Students read at least two of the selected titles, and then they may vote on the one they liked best. Votes need to be submitted by April 1. The winning title will be announced in May. Students, teachers, and librarians can also nominate titles. The nominated titles must include an explanation of why it should be selected.
2026 Nominees:
Duel — Jessixa Bagley, illustrated by Aaron Bagley
The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto — Adrianna Cuevas
Good Different — Meg Eden Kuyatt
Grounded: A Novel — Aisha Saeed, S.K. Ali, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Huda Al-Marashi
Legends of Lotus Island: Guardian Test — Christina Soontornvat
Just a Pinch of Magic — Alechia Dow
The Lost Library — Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass
The Lost Year — Katherine Marsh
Operation Final Notice — Matthew Landis
Rewind — Lisa Graff
Roll for Initiative — Jamie Formato
Two Tribes — Emily Bowen Cohen
Children's Choice Picture Book Award
Children's Choice Picture Book Award
The Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award is sponsored by the Washington Library Media Association. It is a list of twenty books in picture book format, both fiction and non-fiction, which are considered to be good read-alouds for K-3.
Students may have the books read to them, or they may read them on their own. Votes for their favorite title need to be submitted by April 1.
2026 Nominee List
The Bakery Dragon — Devin Elle Kurtz
Buffalo Fluffalo — Bess Kalb
Built to Last — Minh Le
Cookie Time — Jessie Sima
A Crocodile Should Never Skip Breakfast — Colleen Larmour
A Flicker of Hope — Cynthia Harmony
I Know How to Draw an Owl — Hilary Horder Hippely
Jump for Joy — Kyle Lukoff
Log Life (Tiny Habitats) — Amy Hevron
The Man Who Didn't Like Animals — Deborah Underwood
The Midnight Panther — Poonam Mistry
My Friend Andy — Emma Chinnery
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic — Candace Fleming
Parrotfish Has a Superpower — Jill Esbaum
Tate's Wild Rescue — Jenny Turnbull
The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn — Shawn Harris
The Together Tree — Aisha Saeed
Ursula Upside Down — Corey R. Tabor
We Are Definitely Human — X Fang
Otter Award
Otter Award
The goal of the OTTER Award is to highlight titles that are both engaging and developmentally appropriate for readers transitioning into chapter books. With a motto of “books kids like, not books adults think kids should like,” student feedback is utilized when selecting the nominees. A maximum of six titles are selected each year. Voting occurs in May, and the results are announced in June.
2026 Nominees:
Bibsy Cross and the Bad Apple — Liz Garton Scanlon Bailey reddit.com+15wla.org+15wla.org+15
First Day, Worst Day (The Very Worst Ever, Book 1) — Andy Nonamus reddit.com+2wla.org+2wla.org+2
Orris and Timble: The Beginning — Kate DiCamillo wla.org+1wla.org+1
Shermy & Shake, the Not‑So‑Nice Neighbor — Kirby Larson wla.org+1wla.org+1
Welcome to Scare School (Scare School Diaries 1) — Jarrett Lerner reddit.com+5wla.org+5wla.org+5
Wildfire Rescue: A Branches Book (Disaster Squad #1) — Rekha S. Rajan wla.org+6wla.org+6wla.org+6
Towner Award
Towner Award
The Towner Award is named in honor of William "Bill" Towner who served as the Library Media Specialist at Kimball Elementary School in the Seattle School District until 1996. He was the WLMA Library Media Specialist of the Year in 1990. Voting is for students in grade 2 through 6 in Washington State. These books are non-fiction.
2026 Nominees:
Young Zoologist: Capybara — Julia Mata
José Feeds the World — David Ungar
Leafy Landmarks: Travels With Trees — Michelle Schaub
My Antarctica — G. Neri
Rats to the Rescue — Scott Riley & Sambat Meas
School of Magic — Altea Villa
Snake Milker and Other Animal Jobs — Stepanka Sekaninova
Volcanoes — Neil Cross Beckerman
Who Knew?: The Wonders of Biomimicry — Kathleen Madden
World Kitchen — Abigail Wheatley
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