I’ve been privy to lots of interesting conversations about our most recent ALA winners this week. And since it’s Friday and we’re all now able to step back and take into account what all just happened, here is a quick summary of some of the discussions, topics, and random facts surrounding the Youth Media Awards of 2016. Just so that you’re playing along at home, here is the announcement of who the winners were. First up . . .
Newbery
We’ll begin with the most surprising choice. Last Stop on Market Street, a picture book, won the Newbery. The question was then whether or not it is the first picture book to win the award. After all, A Visit to William Blake’s Inn won back in 1982, yes? And it also won a Caldecott Honor, just like Market Street. Yet William Blake’s Inn was poetry first, and picture book second. Market Street is straight up picture book text, context, you name it. So, in some ways, it is the first award winner, yes.
Next, there was a question as to whether or not Matt de la Pena is the first Latino to win the Newbery Award (not Honor but Award). And it was Roger Sutton who pointed out that maybe not. Remember, if you will, Paula Fox. As he wrote, “from Augusta Baker’s profile of Fox, written for The Horn Book to accompany her Newbery speech in 1974: ‘Paula Fox knew her share of pain as a child. A New Yorker by birth, half-Spanish, half-Irish-English, she was sent at the age of eight to live with her grandmother in Cuba’.” This is not something I’d heard before. Thank you, Roger!
Jon Scieszka tweeted this during the week as well:
You can read more about that night here, if you like. My sole regret is that the evening wasn’t taped. Matt killed in that tux.
Moving on, while Matt may not be the first Latino Award winner of the Newbery, it is certainly true that 2016 was the first time that there was a Latino winner of the Award and a Latino winner of an Honor in the same year. Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan was an early favorite in 2015. I remember the book well and I also remember its swag. Many galleys were sent out with little harmonicas. In my office, just because of who works there, we received about four of five of these harmonicas. They were cute but we weren’t entirely certain what to do with them. Someone should write a middle grade called A Confusion of Harmonicas.
Someone should also tap Norton Juster to play a harmonica at the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet the way he did the year Raschka’s The Hello, Goodbye Window won a Caldecott.
Many were quite thrilled that The War That Saved My Life received recognition, including myself. You can find my review of it here. It was particularly gratifying since back in the day I wanted her to win an award for Jefferson’s Sons.
Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson was a surprise win for many. If folks thought El Deafo‘s win last year was a fluke, Victoria’s latest Honor drills home that graphic novels are here to stay. It also means that the push for a separate Graphic Novel award may fall by the wayside. After all, they can apparently win Newberys now. For fun, take a trip in the wayback machine to 2009 when Victoria solicited cool children’s literature-related roller derby names on this site. My favorite remains Jacob Have I Shoved (with special honors going to Winnie-the-Pow!).
And speaking of Winnie . . .
Caldecott
I’m going to level with you. When I read Finding Winnie I had a lot to say about it. And though it was being published in October, I reviewed in May. I loved it so.
Sophie appeared at a Spring Little Brown & Company preview in early March of 2015 to talk about the book, as it happens. While doing so she showed a lot of the research she conducted for the art. Here are some of the tweets from that time:
On his post on The Relative Surprise-iness of the 2016 Youth Media Awards, Travis Jonker points out that Trombone Shorty wasn’t one of those books that made it onto a lot Mock Award lists. Looking at the ALSC blog that collects these Mock Awards, it wasn’t shut out. The 43rd annual Caldecott Read-In was held on January 9th at the Main Library for the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library (Ohio) predicted its Honor. It was also the Award winner on December 21, 2015, when over 900 students in grades K-5 voted for the Mock Caldecott at Falmouth Elementary School in Falmouth, Maine. Well done to both!
Far more people were familiar with Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, written by Carole Boston Weatherford. Now there’s a book that could have won a Newbery as easily as a Caldecott as well. The writing is so superb. I’m happy to report that both this book AND Trombone Shorty appeared on New York Public Library’s 100 Books for Reading and Sharing list for the year as well. Those NYPL librarians. They’ve got their fingers on the pulse.
As for Waiting by Kevin Henkes, note this screenshot from a Harper Collins preview on December 29, 2014:
Nailed It! Or, to be more precise, Somewhat Nailed It! I wasn’t entirely off anyway.
Other awards were interesting as well. For example, the recent Printz Award winner spoke at LENGTH on this site about her soon-to-be-award winning book. Here, I’ll save you the trouble. Voila:
On the Coretta Scott King side of things, Rita Williams-Garcia was kind enough to talk about her book here:
For further final fun, do be so good as to read Travis Jonker’s post on as well as the reaction tweets. Also consider the Heavy Medal thoughts on the Newbery Award winner and their commenters thoughts on all the winners here. And Calling Caldecott did the same here.
Congrats to this year's Youth Media Award winners! Here's a select few to start the celebration. Yay for Tamora, who is in our own rgz Circle of Stars. See the whole awards list here.
Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
"In Darkness," written by Nick Lake , is the 2013 Printz Award winner. The book is published by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers.
Four Printz Honor Books also were named: "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Saenz , published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division; "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein , published by Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group; "Dodger" byTerry Pratchett , published by HarperCollins Children's Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers; "The White Bicycle" by Beverley Brenna , published by Red Deer Press .
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults:
"Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon," written by Steve Sheinkin , is the 2013 Excellence winner. The book is published by Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group.
Four other books were finalists for the award: " Steve Jobs : The Man Who Thought Different," written by Karen Blumenthal , published by Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group; "Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95," written by Phillip Hoose , published by Farrar Straus Giroux , an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group; "Titanic: Voices from the Disaster," written by Deborah Hopkinson , published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic; and "We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March," written by Cynthia Levinson , published by Peachtree Publishers.
Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults: Tamora Pierce is the 2013 Edwards Award winner. Pierce was born in rural Western Pennsylvania in 1954. She knew from a young age she liked stories and writing, and in 1983, she published her first book, Song of the Lioness. She continues to write and even record her own audiobooks. She currently lives with her husband (spouse-creature) and a myriad of animals in Syracuse, New York.
PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1z33h)
Congratulations to the winners. And thanks to the hard working committee!
Printz Award Winner, 2012
Where Things Come Back, by John Corey Whaley, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Honor Books
Why We Broke Up, written by Daniel Handler, art by Maira Kalman and published by Little, Brown and Company
The Returning, written by Christine Hinwood and published by Dial Books
Because have I read any of the major award winners, other than Schneider winner The Running Dream? Nope.
Printz
Winner — Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Honors — Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler; The Returning by Christine Hinwood; Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey; The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Morris
Winner — Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Excellence in Nonfiction
Winner — The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin
Margaret A. Edwards
Winner — Susan Cooper
Batchelder
Winner — Eerdmans Books for Young Readers for Soldier Bear by Bibi Dumon Tak
Honor — Delacorte Books for The Lily Pond by Annika Thor
Odyssey
Winner — Listening Library for Rotters by Daniel Krauss
So, my predictions were quite wrong this year. Anyone else have any thoughts about the award winners and honor books? Or books you think got snubbed?
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By: Aesah J.,
on 1/29/2010
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An Interesting Approach to Exciting Youngsters About Reading
What better way to get kids interested in reading than to make them the star of their very own personalized book?
Mixtape: 10 Songs About Libraries and Librarians
Check out these fun songs about libraries and librarians, including artists such as Frank Zappa and Green Day. You can even listen in to discover why these songs made the list.
Little House on the Prairie Continues to Wow Audiences
Everyone’s beloved story is back with a new musical twist. Be sure to check out this new musical, based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s treasured classic storyline.
Baby-Sitters Club: Life After 30!
The acclaimed teenage gang gets a new twist as we ask the question: Where are they now? From Kristy Thomas to Stacey McGill, these projections will certainly bring back cherished memories.
The Caldecott, Newbery and Printz book awards go to…
John Pinkney’s exceptional illustrations were awarded the Caldecott Medal for capturing the true spirit of a classic fable. The Newbery Medal as well as the Printz Award were also given to some special talent for excellence in both children’s literature and young adult literature.
Books to Film: Martin Scorsese Continues the Trend
With the release of some truly spectacular new films based on classic children’s books, Brian Selznick’s “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” appears to be next in line.
By:
Mark G. Mitchell,
on 1/21/2010
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It’s been a landmark week for Austin children’s writers. Three of our gang scored top honors -- a Caldecott Honor, a Sibert Honor and a Newbery Honor — from the American Library Association.
Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Our Austin, Texas chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers (SCBWI) is a little dazed after last weekend’s 2010 award announcements. Austin’ s Jacqueline Kelly received a Newbery Honor for her YA novel The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate about a girl growing up at the turn of the 19th century. The picture book poem All the World penned by Liz Garton Scanlon of Austin and illustrated by Marla Frazee was named one of the two Caldecott Honor books. (Frazee’s second Caldecott Honor.)
"All the World" by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee
And The Day-Glo Brothers written by Chris Barton of Austin and illustrated with retro lines and Day-Glo colors by Tony Persiani won a Sibert Honor for children’s nonfiction. (From the ALA – “The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the preceding year.”)
Our SCBWI chapter claims all three of these writers and we’ll claim Frazee, too. So that makes four.
All four, as it just so happens had been scheduled to present at the Austin SCBWI regional 2010 conference “Destination Publication” next weekend (January 30) with an already honors heavy line-up of authors, editors and agents. Marla is giving the keynote address along with Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson (Hatti Big Sky)
Another Texan, Libba Bray won the Michael L. Printz Award
Full disclosure: Of this year’s Printz winner and honors, I’ve only finished Charles & Emma and read half of Going Bovine and The Monstrumologist. (Also, I apologize to any Spin Doctors fans who may be out there.)
It struck me, as I was commenting at Maureen’s a little while ago, that this year’s Printz winner and honors are very similar to the 2008 list.
The White Darkness = Going Bovine (winners, about crazy people road/ice trips, if that’s not a spoiler)
Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath = Charles & Emma
Repossessed = The Monstrumologist
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian = Marcelo in the Real World (lots of buzz, ultimately shut out)
And, okay, the comparison falls apart with 2008 honorees Dreamquake: Book Two of the Dreamhunter Duet and One Whole and Perfect Day and this year’s Punkzilla and Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance 1973.
Other Youth Media Awards thoughts:
Your thoughts?
ETA: Totally forgot about Jim Murphy winning the Margaret A. Edwards. I mentioned on Twitter that I found this an interesting pick, because they’ve never picked an author of primarily non-fiction before. I&r
SCBWI Winter Conference faculty member Libba Bray received the 2010 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults for her book Going Bovine!
Libba will kick of the conference with a keynote address called WRITING AS AN EXTREME SPORT.
You can still register for the Winter Conference where you can experience the wit and wisdom of award-winning author Libba Bray in person. Click here for the conference registration page.
By: Madeline Smoot,
on 1/14/2008
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Buried in the Slush Pile
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Ah, the award season is upon us. And I don't mean the Golden Globes, Academy Awards, or any other silly low profile affairs like those. I am of course referring to the children's book award season that begins with the announcement of the Newbery and Caldecott and other ALA awards and culminates with the prestigious Bluebonnet award presented at the TLA conference in late March. For those of you who have possibly not lived in Texas (or The Center of the World as we think of it here), you may not be familiar with the Bluebonnet Award. You can familiarize yourself here.
This morning the feeding frenzy began when ALA announced the winner of all of their major awards. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, a book I've never heard of, won the Newberry. White Darkness won the Printz, and in what I'm sure will be a controversial move, ALA awarded the Caldecott for "most distinguished American picture book for children" to The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a mid-grade novel. Personally, I feel a picture book award should go to a picture book, but no one asked me.
And, that, I have decided, is the problem. Yet again I am unable to participate in all the non-stop discussions on these books because I haven't read a single one of them. I tried to read Hugo Cabret, but didn't make it past the first set of pictures. The other 2 don't really sound all that interesting to me, so I doubt I'll be reading them. I have read some of the Honor books, but that's not as fun as discussing the actual winners. So if one of the books has disturbing imagery, or controversial plots, or even uses taboo words like booby, I know nothing about it. I'm spending another year in the dark concerning the winners.
But, I'm determined not to miss out on award mania entirely. Since I can't join the talks about the "official" award winners, I just decided to present some awards of my own. So, presenting the first 1st annual 2008 Slushie Awards. (Play suitable theme music here.) From now until I lose interest, I will periodically be presenting a Slushie to a book I think worthy of notice and attention. I will be taking nominations for both book and category ideas. And since no award is complete without a seal, I made one of those too:
So as to not take away from the other award winners' special day, I will not announce the first of the Slushies until tomorrow. You'll just have to wait in hair pulling anticipation until then.
By:
Paintgranny,
on 5/26/2007
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I haven't baked much bread recently - it's too much of a battle when the weather is cold. The tiny Hovel kitchen is draughty and the dough sulks. But now the temperatures are picking up I've been getting my kneading hands back in action and it is wonderful to have a decent loaf again. Even the deli bread is not as good as this baby made with flour from Matthews Mill down the road.
before and after
But, with our British climate being a bit unreliable, it's all change again - we are forecast rain. Lots of it. So like everyone else in the village I was up and down to the little supermarket this morning, to get my 'Times' before the heavens opened. It was a bright but cloudy morning and the shop was bustling. I was at the back of the queue with a couple of ladies I know. 'It's like the Pear Tree roundabout in here' I remarked; they laughed and agreed. (trivia note for Inspector Morse fans - you will hear the PTR mentioned in some episodes, as it is a notorious Oxford traffic jam area, used by locals and Lewis everywhere as a genuine - or not - excuse for being late) Naturally we discussed the weather. I remarked that I was going for a walk that morning so I hoped the rain would hold off. It was generally agreed that rain was a pesky nuisance. Now, one of the ladies has recently suffered the loss of her closest friend. They went everywhere together and even wore outfits which complimented or matched the other's. Let's call this lady Peggy and her friend, Ivy. Peggy leaned over her trolly, her eyes shining with memory. She had a story.
"But walking in the rain is lovely" she said. "Me and Ivy, we were walking in the fields across the way once, and we were wearing no more then this" - she plucked at her light knitted top, which seems to be de rigeur for elderly women in the country. "And then there was this cloudburst! We was drenched! And Ivy, she didn't care, she just laughed. And we went on with our walk, even though my glasses were running with rain. And do you know - we didn't even catch a cold! "I smiled at the thought of the two feisty old ladies striding across the wet fields in their summerwear. Laughing. And realised that after all there are worse things than getting wet.
So I hurried home and dragged Hercules off to the woods, parking him under his favourite hawthorn tree.
It being Saturday there was no one around but myself, the birds and a thousand fat squirrels. The birds were having a jamboree and didn't seem to mind me too much. I trod softly and cautiously, delighted when a blackcap warbled its bubbling song from a nearby holly bush. (the link has an audio clip of this modest little creature, singing its heart out). The woodpeckers were still thrumming away and cuckoos were - well, cuckooing. As they do. The elderflower is blossoming now, its wizened grey fingers offering the most delicate of posies. Winding round the slender limbs of the birch trees, the honeysuckle (always a bit of a strumpet I think) is blasting out a sensuous perfume from lascivious horns. It is almost-summer. But not quite. I was so close to some of the birds that I got rather frustrated with my poor old camera. It does its best, but by the time it has cranked itself up and puttered forth its puny zoom, the most I ever catch is a blob.
It's a robin. Really.
I returned to Hercules with a fragment of eggshell and a handful of elderflower blossom. The rain clouds were sliding in like fat slugs, and it was time for home and tea. It hadn't rained on me. But I wouldn't have minded if it had.
While writing this I have been watching live-streaming webcams of birds nests from the BBC nature site - the buzzards are incredible. There are microphones too, so turn your speakers on.
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Now, I just need to find the time to read the books.
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Very important question: do you and Jon just travel with spare red tuxes all the time? I feel like more backstory is needed here!
There’s an explanation all right!
Jon was slated to co-host the Children’s Book Choice Book Awards Gala alongside Oliver Jeffers. Then Mr. Jeffers has a clash of commitments (Bono needed him) so that meant Jon was left with a spare purple tux. He’d bought two, you see, and needed a co-host. And who likes purple tuxes (besides The Joker)? Me! So I got to co-host and somehow Jon, in his infinite charm and wisdom, managed to convinced Matt to wear a red version.
It was a good night.
I always love your round-ups, Betsy! And by the way, I happen to know that Pam herself can play a mean harmonica, so who knows what may happen at that banquet.
Great photo and I’m sure it was a great time – awesome tuxes!! I really appreciated the diversity in the selection process, and I’m particularly pointing out the novelty of the honorees and winners. Picture books with a deeper message, novels with graphic intensity and style, government secrets laid thread-bare, music and politics, personal memoirs. I’ve enjoyed your wrap-up column, with all it’s thoroughness – as usual! Thanks!