The finalists for the Kirkus Young Readers Prize are selected from all of the books given a starred review by Kirkus between November 1, 2013 and October 31, 2014.  For the Young Readers category, six books were selected: two in each age category of picture book, middle grade and teen. 

Here are the finalists:

 

Aviary Wonders Inc.: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual by Kate Samworth

El Deafo by Cece Bell

 

The Freedom Summer Murders by Don Mitchell

The Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza by Jack Gantos

 

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim by E. K. Johnston

The National Book Foundation has announced the longlist for the 2014 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.  The five finalists will be announced on October 15th with the winner named on November 19th at the National Book Awards ceremony.  Here are the ten titles on the longlist:

  

100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Girls Like Us by Gail Giles

  

Greenglass House by Kate Milford

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

Noggin by John Corey Whaley

 

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steven Sheinkin

Revolution by Deborah Wiles

 

Skink – No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen

Threatened by Eliot Schrefer

Another year of the Cybils is upon us!  Time to start going through your lists of favorites for the year and coming up with awesome nominations for the best books.  But before the nominations open, there is the annual call for judges!

If you are a blogger, this is a great way to get involved with the larger kid-lit online community.  It’s also a great way to read books that you missed and debate books with others who are just as passionate as you are.

Join in the fun, you will be glad you did!

The winners of the new Booktrust Best Book Awards have been announced.  The winners were selected by 12,000 schoolchildren in the UK, selecting titles from shortlisted titles in six categories.  Here are the winners in each category:

BEST PICTURE BOOK

Peck Peck Peck by Lucy Cousins

 

BEST STORY FOR AGES 6-8

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis

 

BEST STORY FOR AGES 9-11

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck by Jeff Kinney

 

BEST FACT FOR AGES 9-11

Operation Ouch!: Your Brilliant Body by Doctor Chris and Xand van Tulleken

 

BEST STORY FOR AGES 12-14

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The longlist for the 2014 Guardian Children’s Prize has been announced.  This UK prize has a list of books that are in stark contrast with the recent dark pick for the Carnegie Medal.  The shortlist will be announced in August with the winner announced on November 13th.

Here is the longlist:

  

The Dark Wild by Piers Torday

The Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby: Flora in Love by Natasha Farrant

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

  

The Lost Gods by Francesca Simon

Phoenix by SF Said

She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick

 

Shine by Candy Gourlay

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

The winners of the 2014 IRA Children’s and Young Adult Book Awards have been announced.  The award focuses on debut authors, considering only the first and second books by an author.  The authors must show early and “unusual promise in the children’s and young adults’ book field.”

 

PRIMARY FICTION WINNER

Dear Santasaurus by Stacy McAnulty, illustrated by Jef Kaminsky

PRIMARY FICTION HONOR BOOKS

  

Digby Differs by Miriam Koch

Jackie and Me: A Very Special Friendship by Tania Grossinger

Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier, illustrated by Suzy Lee

 

PRIMARY NONFICTION WINNER

War Dogs: Churchill & Rufus by Kathryn Selbert

 

INTERMEDIATE FICTION WINNER

Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff

INTERMEDIATE FICTION HONOR BOOKS

 

Paperboy by Vince Vawter

The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blakemore

 

INTERMEDIATE NONFICTION WINNER

Draw Out the Story: Ten Secrets to Creating Your Own Comic by Brian McLachlan

 

YOUNG ADULT FICTION WINNER

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

YOUNG ADULT FICTION HONOR BOOKS

 

Absent by Katie Williams

The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth Laban

The winners of the 2014 Cilip Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced.

 

The medals are the oldest children’s book awards and are voted on by librarians in the UK.  The Carnegie Medal is given to one outstanding book for children or young adults.  This year’s winner is Kevin Brooks for The Bunker Diary.  Brooks, author of ten teen novels, has been shortlisted for the medal three times before.

The Kate Greenaway Medal for excellence in illustration in a book for children was awarded to Jon Klassen for This Is Not My Hat.  Klassen becomes the first Canadian to win the award.  He was nominated for two titles in this year’s short list. 

The Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College has released their list of the best children’s books of the year for 2014.  The list takes into consideration literary quality, presentation quality and emotional impact.    Additional characteristics are also examined such as characterization, setting, plot, and diversity.

The list is broken into different categories.  The links below will lead to pdf versions of the list:

• Under Five
• Five to Nine
• Nine to Twelve
• Twelve to Fourteen
• Fourteen and Up

Timing of the lists is great for summer reading for children.  And the lists are wonderfully deep and long with lots to choose from.  Enjoy!