We Need Diverse Books has announced the winners of the 2026 Walter Dean Myers Awards. They are given in two age categories. Here are the winning books and honor books:

YOUNGER READERS

WINNER

The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes

HONOR

All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson

TEEN

WINNER

Champion by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Raymond Obstfeld, and Ed Laroche

HONOR

King of the Neuro Verse by Idris Goodwin