The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first given in 2009, honors a book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.
FINALISTS
Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown
The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed
If These Wings Could Fly by Kyrie McCauley
It Sounded Better in My Head by Nina Kenwood
Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez
WINNER
If These Wings Could Fly by Kyrie McCauley
The Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production is an annual award conferred by the American Library Association upon the publisher of “the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States”.
HONOR AUDIOBOOKS
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
WINNER
Kent State by Deborah Wiles
Kekla Magoon
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 by Quan Barry
Given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.
JOHN STEPTOE AWARD FOR NEW TALENT
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
ILLUSTRATOR AWARD
WINNER
RESPECT: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul by Frank Morrison, written by Carole Boston Weatherford
HONOR
Magnificent Homespun Brown by Kaylani Juanita, written by Samara Cole Doyon
Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks by Cozbi A. Cabrera, written by by Suzanne Slade
Me & Mama by Cozbi Cabrera
AUTHOR AWARD
HONOR
All the Days Past, All the Days to Come by Mildred D. Taylor
King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender
Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne
WINNER
Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
Dorothy L. Guthrie
The first and most enduring award for LGBTQIA+ books is the Stonewall Book Awards, sponsored by the American Library Association’s Rainbow Round Table. Since Isabel Miller’s Patience and Sarah received the first award in 1971, many other books have been honored for exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience.
HONOR BOOKS
Beetle and the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne
Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
WINNER
We Are Little Feminists: Families by Archaa Shrivastav
The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.
YOUNG CHILDREN’S
WINNER
I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott, illustrated by Sydney Smith
HONOR BOOKS
All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimentel, illustrated by Nabi Ali
Itzhak: A Boy Who Loved the Violin by Tracy Newman, illustrated by Abigail Halpin
MIDDLE GRADE
WINNER
Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte
HONOR BOOKS
Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen! by Sarah Kapit
When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
TEEN
WINNER
This Is My Brain in Love by I. W. Gregorio
The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. Scroll to the bottom for the Notable Books that were not shared at the YMA announcements.
PICTURE BOOK
WINNER
Welcoming Elijah by Leslea Newman, illustrated by Susan Gal
HONOR BOOKS
I Am the Tree of Life by Mychal Copeland, illustrated by Andre Ceolin
Miriam at the River by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Khoa Le
MIDDLE GRADE
WINNER
Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein
HONOR BOOKS
No Vacancy by Tziporah Cohen
Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman
YOUNG ADULT
WINNER
Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder
HONOR BOOK
They Went Left by Monica Hesse
NOTABLE BOOKS
PICTURE BOOKS
The Eight Knights of Hanukkah by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by Galia Bernstein
The Ninth Night of Hanukkah by Erica S. Perl, illustrated by Shahar Kober
The Polio Pioneer: Dr. Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine by Linda Elovitz Marshall, illustrated by Lisa Anchin
MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS
Beni’s War by Tammar Stein
Letters from Cuba by Ruth Behar
A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
We Had to Be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport by Deborah Hopkinson
YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
The Assignment by Liza Wiemer
The New Queer Conscience by Adam Eli
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
The Way Back by Gavriel Savit
Waking Brain Cells 