This week the American Library Association (ALA) revealed its much-anticipated 2021 Youth Media Award Winners! Each year, the ALA selects a winner for each of its many categories, as well as honorable mentions.
From the ALA blog: “Recognized worldwide for the high quality they represent, ALA awards guide parents, educators, librarians, and others in selecting the best materials for youth. Selected by judging committees of librarians and other literature and media experts, the awards encourage original and creative work.”
Here is the complete list of all 2021 winners and honor books, with links directly to each item in our online catalog. Click on the book title to access our online catalog and reserve a copy. Each catalog listing also includes suggested ages or reading levels, as well as a summary of the book.
The John Newbery Medal is awarded for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature.
2021 John Newbery Medal winner:
When You Trap a Tiger, written by Tae Keller
Five Newbery Honor Books:
- All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team, written by Christina Soontornvat
- BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom, written by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Michele Wood
- Fighting Words, written by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
- We Dream of Space, written by Erin Entrada Kelly, illustrated by Erin Entrada Kelly and Celia Krampien
- A Wish in the Dark, written by Christina Soontornvat
The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded for the most distinguished American picture book for children.
2021 Randolph Caldecott Medal winner:
We Are Water Protectors, illustrated by Michaela Goade, written by Carole Lindstrom
Four Caldecott Honor Books:
- A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart, illustrated by Noa Denmon, written by Zetta Elliott
- The Cat Man of Aleppo, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu, written by Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha
- Me & Mama, illustrated and written by Cozbi A. Cabrera
- Outside In, illustrated by Cindy Derby, written by Deborah Underwood
The Coretta Scott King Book Awards recognize an African-American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults.
Coretta Scott King Author Book Award winner:
Before the Ever After, written by Jacqueline Woodson
Three King Author Honor Books:
- All the Days Past, All the Days to Come, written by Mildred D. Taylor
- King and the Dragonflies, written by Kacen Callender
- Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box, written by Evette Dionne
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Book Award winner:
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, illustrated by Frank Morrison, written by Carole Boston Weatherford
Three King Illustrator Honor Books:
- Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita, written by Samara Cole Doyon
- Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks, illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera, written by Suzanne Slade
- Me & Mama, illustrated and written by Cozbi A. Cabrera
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award:
Legendborn, written by Tracy Deonn
The Michael L. Printz Award is given for excellence in literature written for young adults.
Michael L. Printz Award winner:
Everything Sad Is Untrue (A True Story), by Daniel Nayeri
Four Printz Honor Books:
- Apple (Skin to the Core), by Eric Gansworth
- Dragon Hoops, created by Gene Luen Yang, color by Lark Pien
- Every Body Looking, by Candice Iloh
- We Are Not Free, by Traci Chee
The Schneider Family Book Awards are given for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.
Schneider Family Book Award winner for young children (ages 0-10):
I Talk Like a River, written by Jordan Scott, illustrated by Sydney Smith
Two Honor Books for young children:
- All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything, written by Annette Bay Pimentel, illustrated by Nabi H. Ali
- Itzhak: A Boy who Loved the Violin, written by Tracy Newman, illustrated by Abigail Halpin
Schneider Family Book Award winner for middle grades (ages 11–13):
Show Me a Sign, written by Ann Clare LeZotte
Two Honor Books for middle grades:
- Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen!, written by Sarah Kapit
- When Stars Are Scattered, written by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, illustrated by Victoria Jamieson, color by Iman Geddy
Schneider Family Book Award winner for teens (ages 13–18):
This Is My Brain in Love, written by I. W. Gregorio
(No honor book for teens.)
The Alex Awards are given for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences. Here are this year’s ten winners:
- Black Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse
- The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune
- The Impossible First: From Fire to Ice—Crossing Antarctica Alone, by Colin O’Brady
- Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, by Derf Backderf
- The Kids Are Gonna Ask, by Gretchen Anthony
- The Only Good Indians, by Stephen Graham Jones
- Plain Bad Heroines, by Emily M. Danforth
- Riot Baby, by Tochi Onyebuchi
- Solutions and Other Problems, by Allie Brosh
- We Ride Upon Sticks: A Novel, by Quan Barry
The Mildred L. Batchelder Award is given for an outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States.
Mildred L. Batchelder Award winner:
Telephone Tales, written by Gianni Rodari, illustrated by Valerio Vidali, translated by Antony Shugaar; originally published in Italian as Favole al telefono
One Honor Book:
- Catherine’s War, written by Julia Billet, illustrated by Claire Fauvel, and translated from French by Ivanka Hahnenberger
The Odyssey Award is given for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States.
Odyssey Award winner:
Kent State, produced by Paul R. Gagne, written by Deborah Wiles, and narrated by Christopher Gebauer, Lauren Ezzo, Christina DeLaine, Johnny Heller, Roger Wayne, Korey Jackson, and David de Vries
Four Odyssey Honor Audiobooks:
- Clap When You Land, produced by Caitlin Garing, written by Elizabeth Acevedo, and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo and Melania-Luisa Marte
- Fighting Words, produced by Karen Dziekonski, written by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, and narrated by Bahni Turpin
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, produced by Robert Van Kolken, written by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, and narrated by Jason Reynolds with an introduction by Ibram X. Kendi
- When Stars Are Scattered, produced by Kelly Gildea and Julie Wilson, written by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, and narrated by Faysal Ahmed, Barkhad Abdi, and a full cast. (Item not yet owned in Clevnet … please check back later.)
The Pura Belpré Awards honor a Latinx writer and illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.
Pura Belpré Illustrator Award winner:
¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat, illustrated and written by Raúl Gonzalez
One Belpré Illustrator Honor Book:
- Sharuko: El Arqueólogo Peruano/Peruvian Archaeologist Julio C. Tello, illustrated by Elisa Chavarri, written by Monica Brown
Pura Belpré Children’s Author Award winner:
Efrén Divided, written by Ernesto Cisneros
Two Belpré Children’s Author Honor Books:
- The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez, written by Adrianna Cuevas
- Lupe Wong Won’t Dance, written by Donna Barba Higuera
Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Award winner:
Furia, written by Yamile Saied Méndez
Two Belpré Young Adult Author Honor Books:
- Never Look Back, written by Lilliam Rivera
- We Are Not from Here, written by Jenny Torres Sanchez
The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award is given for the most distinguished informational book for children.
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award winner:
Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera, written by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohmann
Three Sibert Honor Books:
- How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure, written and illustrated by John Rocco
- Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks, illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera, written by Suzanne Slade
- All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team, written by Christina Soontornvat
The Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award is given to a digital media producer that has created distinguished digital media for an early learning audience.
Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award winner:
- The Imagine Neighborhood, produced by Committee for Children. (More information here: https://www.cfchildren.org/blog/2020/03/welcome-to-the-imagine-neighborhood/)
One honor title:
- Sesame Street Family Play: Caring for Each Other, produced by Sesame Workshop. (Sesame Street Caring for Each Other website: https://www.sesamestreet.org/caring)
The Stonewall Book Award—Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award is presented annually to English-language children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender experience.
Stonewall Book Award—Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award winner:
We Are Little Feminists: Families, written by Archaa Shrivastav, designed by Lindsey Blakely. (Item not yet owned in Clevnet … please check back later.)
Four Honor Books:
- Beetle & The Hollowbones, illustrated and written by Aliza Layne
- Darius the Great Deserves Better, written by Adib Khorram
- Felix Ever After, written by Kacen Callender
- You Should See Me in a Crown, written by Leah Johnson
The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is presented for the most distinguished beginning reader book.
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner:
See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog, written by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka
Four Geisel Honor Books:
- The Bear in My Family, written and illustrated by Maya Tatsukawa
- Ty’s Travels: Zip, Zoom! written by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Nina Mata
- What About Worms!? written and illustrated by Ryan T. Higgins
- Where’s Baby? written and illustrated by Anne Hunter
The William C. Morris Award is presented to a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens.
William C. Morris Award winner:
If These Wings Could Fly, written by Kyrie McCauley
Four other books were finalists:
- Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard, written by Echo Brown
- The Black Kids, written by Christina Hammonds Reed
- It Sounded Better in My Head, written by Nina Kenwood
- Woven in Moonlight, written by Isabel Ibañez
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults:
The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh, written by Candace Fleming
Four other books were finalists:
- All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team, written by Christina Soontornvat
- The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival, written by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan
- How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure, written and illustrated by John Rocco
- You Call This Democracy?: How to Fix Our Democracy and Deliver Power to the People, written by Elizabeth Rusch
The Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature promotes Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and is given based on literary and artistic merit in three youth categories.
Picture Book winner:
Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist, written by Julie Leung, illustrated by Chris Sasaki
Picture Book Honor Book:
Danbi Leads the School Parade, written and illustrated by Anna Kim
Children’s Literature winner:
When You Trap a Tiger, written by Tae Keller
Children’s Literature Honor Book:
Prairie Lotus, written by Linda Sue Park
Youth Literature winner:
This Light Between Us, written by Andrew Fukuda
Youth Literature Honor Book:
Displacement, written by Kiku Hughes
The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.
Sydney Taylor Book Award Gold Medalists:
Picture Book category:
Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale with a Tail, by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Susan Gal
Middle Grades category:
Turtle Boy, by M. Evan Wolkenstein
Young Adult category:
Dancing at the Pity Party, written and illustrated by Tyler Feder
Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medalists:
Picture Book category:
- I Am the Tree of Life: My Jewish Yoga Book, by Mychal Copeland, illustrated by André Ceolin. (Item not yet owned in Clevnet … please check back later.)
- Miriam at the River, by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Khoa Le
Middle Grades category:
- No Vacancy, by Tziporah Cohen
- Anya and the Nightingale, by Sofiya Pasternack
- The Blackbird Girls, by Anne Blankman
Young Adult category:
- They Went Left, by Monica Hesse
Lifetime Achievement Awards:
The Coretta Scott King—Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement Award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton. Dorothy L. Guthrie is the 2021 winner. She is an award-winning retired librarian, district administrator, author, and school board member.
The Children’s Literature Legacy Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences. The 2021 winner is Mildred D. Taylor. See here for books by Mildred D. Taylor in our catalog.
The Margaret A. Edwards Award is presented for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults. The 2021 winner is Kekla Magoon. See here for books by Kekla Magoon in our catalog.
For more information on the ALA Youth Media Awards and notables, please visit their page at www.ala.org/yma.
For more information about checking out these books, or any other children’s or teen materials, contact our Children’s Desk at 330-653-6658, ext 1020.
Notes from Wonderland 