ALA youth media awards...

[owlectomy]

There will be more commentary later. A little squee below. Lack of squee does not indicate dislike -- there are a lot of books I haven't read.


Alex awards are for books written for adults that have crossover appeal to young adults.

City of Thieves
The Dragons of Babel
Finding Nouf
The Good Thief
Just After Sunset, Stephen King
Mudbound, Hillary Jordan
Over and Under, Todd Tucker
The Oxford Project, Stephen Bloom
Sharp Teeth
Three Girls and Their Brother

Have not read any of these, though I took Mudbound from the library...

Schneider Family awards are for books that depict disabilities.

Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum
Waiting for Normal, Leslie Connor
Jerk, California, Jonathan Friesen

Haven't read any of those, either.

Coretta Scott King awards are for African-American authors and illustrators.

New Talent award goes to Shadra Strickland, illustrator for "Bird."
Kadir Nelson gets an illustrator honor for "We Are The Ship." He is a genius.
Sean Qualls for "Before John was a Jazz Giant"
Jerry Pinkney for "The Moon Over Star." He is a genius.
Award goes to Floyd Cooper, "The Blacker the Berry."
Haven't read this, but I thought for sure Nelson would get the top award, or if not, Pinkney.

For authors, honor books:
Keeping the night watch, Hope Anita Smith (good one!)
The Blacker the Berry, Joyce Carol Thomas
Carole Boston Weatherford, Becoming Billy Holiday
Top award:
We Are the Ship, Kadir Nelson (YES! Amazing book.)

Odyssey award for audio books
Honor books: "Curse of the Blue Tattoo," L.A. Meyer
Elijah of Buxton, Christopher Paul Curtis
I'm Dirty, Kate and Jim McMullan
Martina the Beautiful Cockroach
Nation, Terry Pratchett
Award: Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. !!! Okay, I've heard Alexie speak, and he narrated this one himself, so I can totally believe that it is awesome. Otherwise I have no opinion, as I don't listen to audio books.

Margaret A. Edwards award for a "significant and lasting contribution" to Laurie Halse Anderson. YES.

William C. Morris award for a first Young Adult novel:
Finalists:
Graceling (What? Not the winner?)
Absolute Brightness (read it, thought it had some amazing strengths and amazing weaknesses, but indeed a great first novel.)
Madapple
Me, The Missing, And the Dead

Winner: A Curse Dark as Gold

PRINTZ AWARD HERE IT IS.
Honor books:
Octavian Nothing
Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks
Nation
Tender Morsels

BUT THEN WHAT WON?
Jellicoe Road, Melina Marchetta. Okay, weird, I'd heard the buzz about it but I haven't read it yet. I adore all the honor books with equal fervor, so I guess I'm happy, but none of them won?

Pura Belpre award for Latin@ authors and illustrators:
Honor books for illustration:
Papa and Me
The Storyteller's Candle
What can you do with a rebozo?
Illustrator award:
Just In Case

Honor books for author:
Reaching Out, Francisco Jimenez
Just In Case, Yuyi Morales
Storyteller's Candle, Lucia Gonzalez
Award book for author:
The Surrender Tree, Margarita Engle

Arbuthnot Honor Lecture
Kathleen T. Horning, "From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books"
Yay KT! KT is a superhero! Hey, she has the same degrees as I do!

Batchelder award for works in translation:
Honor books:
Garmann's Summer
Tiger Moon
Award:
Moribito, Nahoko Uehashi. Yay! Haven't read this, but Uehashi can write. Oh god, they butchered the pronunciation of her name.

Sibert medal for informational books:
Honor books:
Bodies from the Ice
What To Do About Alice
Award:
WE ARE THE SHIP, KADIR NELSON (!!)

Wilder award:
Ashley Bryan

Carnegie Medal for excellence in video:
... I don't actually care that much about the video award, so I zoned out on the title, but it was about the march on Washington for jobs and freedom.

Geisel award for easy readers
Honor books:
Chicken said, Cluck!
One Boy, Laura Seeger
Stinky, Eleanor Davis
Wolfsnail, Sarah Campbell
Award:
Are you ready to play outside, Mo Willis (Yay!)

Caldecott Medal
Honor books:
A couple of boys have the best week ever, Marla Frazee
How I learned Geography, Uri Shulevitz
A River of Words, the story of William Carlos Williams (gotta read this!)
Award:
The House in the Night

Newbery Medal
Honor books:
The Underneath, Kathi Appelt
The Surrender Tree, Margarita Engle
Savvy, Ingrid Law
After Tupac and D. Foster, Jacqueline Woodson (Yay!)
Award:
The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (Yay!)

Comments

[takumashii.livejournal.com]

By the way, two of the Printz honor books this year are white people writing about people of color -- in "Octavian Nothing," the main character is black, and in Terry Pratchett's "Nation," the main character is a Pacific islander. So it's not that they can't do it.

Well, the award isn't really for the writer, is it? It's to market the book to teachers and librarians and parents and booksellers, to bring it to their attention if it would have slipped under their radar. In that context it's really not a condescending pat on the head.

There is so much literature that's powerful precisely because it's really specific and truthful about describing a place, a way of life, an experience. So -- I don't think that what we have in common as human beings is about papering over those differences. It's about celebrating those specific details of what it means to be the Korean-American violinist who has a crush on the cute trumpeter and is trying to figure out whether she can be the person her parent wants her to be -- and you find your common humanity there, not in some bland idea of a generic person living in a generic place and time.