ALA Awards!!!!!

The American Library Association announced the Youth Media Awards this morning! (This is like the Oscars for us children's book folks.) The biggies are as follows:

Schneider Family Book Awards
Best Young Children's Book: A SPLASH OF RED, written by Jen Bryant illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Knopf)
Best Middle Grade Book: HANDBOOK FOR DRAGON SLAYERS by Merrie Haskell (HarperCollins)
Best Teen Book: ROSE UNDER FIRE by Elizabeth Wein (Disney-Hyperion)

Stonewall Book Award (LGBT)
3 Honor Books:
BETTER NATE THAN EVER by Tim Federle (S&S); BRANDED BY THE PINK TRIANGLE by Ken Setterington (2nd Story Press); TWO BOYS KISSING by David Levithan (Knopf/RH)
Winners:
BEAUTIFUL MUSIC FOR UGLY CHILDREN by Kirstin Cronn-Mills (Llewellyn/Flux)
FAT ANGIE by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo (Candlewick)

Coretta Scott King Book Awards (AA authors/illustrators)
Coretta Scott King~Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award:
Patricia and Frederick McKissack
New Talent Award: WHEN THE BEAT WAS BORN illustrated by Theodore Taylor III (winner)
Illustrator Honor: NELSON MANDELA illustrated by Kadir Nelson (Katherine Tegan Books)
Illustrator Winner: KNOCK KNOCK illustrated by Bryan Collier (Little Brown)
Author Honor Books: MARCH, BOOK ONE by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin (Top Shelf); DARIUS & TWIG by Walter Dean Myers (HarperCollins); WORDS WITH WINGS by Nikki Grimes (Wordsong)
Author Winner:
P.S. BE ELEVEN by Rita Williams-Garcia (HarperCollins)

Alex Awards (Teen Readers)
Margaret A. Edwards Award: Marcus Zusak
William C. Morris Award:
Honors: CHARM & STRANGE; SEX & VIOLENCE; DR. BIRD'S ADVICE FOR SAD POETS; BELLE EPOQUE; IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS
Winner: CHARM & STRANGE by Stephanie Kuehn (St. Martin's Press)
YALSA Award in Non-fiction:
Finalists: THE NAZI HUNTERS; GO (Chipp Kidd); IMPRISONED; COURAGE HAS NO COLOR (Tanya Lee Stone); THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN SHOT
Winner: THE NAZI HUNTERS by Neal Bascomb (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)

Michael L. Printz Award
4 Honor Books: ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell; KINGDOM OF LITTLE WOUNDS by Susann Cokal; MAGGOT MOON by Sally Gardner; NAVIGATING EARLY by Clare Vanderpool (Delacorte/RH)
Winner
MIDWINTER BLOOD by Marcus Sedgwick (Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan)

Pura Belpré Award (Latina)
3 Honor books for illustration: MARIA HAD A LITTLE LLAMA illustrated by Angela Dominguez; TITO PUENTE illustrated by Rafael Lopez; PANCHO RABBIT AND THE COYOTE illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh
Winner:
NINO WRESTLES THE WORLD by Yuyi Morales (Roaring Brook Press)
3 Honor Books for text: THE LIGHTNING DREAMER by Margarita Engle; THE LIVING by Matt de la Pena; PONCHO RABBIT AND THE COYOTE by Duncan Tonatiuh
Winner: YAQUI DELGADO WANTS TO KICK YOUR ASS by Meg Medina (Candlewick)

The Odyssey Award (Audio Books)
4 Honor Books: BETTER NATE THAN EVER; CREEPY CARROTS; ELEANOR & PARK; MATILDA
Winner: SCOWLER by Daniel Kraus (RH/Listening Library)

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award
To be delivered by Brian Selznick

Mildred L. Batchelder Award (foreign language)
3 Honors: THE BATHING COSTUME (Enchanted Lion Books); MY FATHER'S ARMS ARE A BOAT (Enchanted Lion Books); THE WAR WITHIN THESE WALLS (Eerdmans BFYR)
Winner: MISTER ORANGE by Truus Matti (Enchanted Lion Books)

Robert F. Sibert Medal (informational books)
4 Honor Books: A SPLASH OF RED; LOOK UP! BIRD WATCHING IN YOUR OWN BACK YARD; LOCOMOTIVE; THE MAD POTTER GEORGE E. OHR ECCENTRIC GENIUS
Winner: PARROTS OVER PUERTO RICO written by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore, illustrated by Susan L. Roth (Lee & Low)

Andrew Carnegie Medal (video production)
Winner: BINK & GOLLIE: TWO FOR ONE

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award (beginning readers)
3 Honors: BALL by Mary Sullivan; A BIG GUY TOOK MY BALL! by Mo Willems; PENNY AND HER MARBLE by Kevin Henkes
Winner: THE WATERMELON SEED by Greg Pizzoli (Disney-Hyperion)

And the biggest awards of all... drum roll please...
Randolph Caldecott Medal (best illustrated)
3 Honors: JOURNEY by Aaron Becker; FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO by Molly Idle; MR. WUFFLES by David Wiesner
Winner: LOCOMOTIVE by Brian Floca (Atheneum)

John Newbery Medal (most distinguished book for children)
4 Honors: DOLL BONES by Holly Black; THE YEAR OF BILLY MILLER by Kevin Henkes; ONE CAME HOME by Amy Timberlake; PAPERBOY by Vince Vawter
Winner: FLORA & ULYSSES by Kate DiCamillo!

Two dear friends are winners and I'd like to give them a shout-out especially!
Molly Idle for the Caldecott Honor Winning FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO, who I interviewed HERE!
Amy Timberlake for the Newbery Honor Winning ONE CAME HOME who I interviewed HERE!!!!