It’s that time of year again! The American Library Association has announced the winners of the 2024 Youth Media Awards. Materials for children and teens were selected by committees of literature and media specialists under different categories for their excellence. Check out some of the award winners below and click on the links to reserve your copies through the Monarch catalog. Scroll to the bottom of the post for a link to the full list of this year’s award recipients.
John Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. This year’s winner is The Eyes and the Impossible, written by Dave Eggers and illustrated by Shawn Harris.
“Johannes, a free dog, lives in an urban park by the sea. His job is to be the Eyes—to see everything that happens within the park and report back to the park’s elders, three ancient Bison. His friends—a seagull, a raccoon, a squirrel, and a pelican—work with him as the Assistant Eyes, observing the humans and other animals who share the park and making sure the Equilibrium is in balance. But changes are afoot. More humans, including Trouble Travelers, arrive in the park. A new building, containing mysterious and hypnotic rectangles, goes up. And then there are the goats—an actual boatload of goats—who appear, along with a shocking revelation that changes Johannes’s view of the world.”
Five Newbery Honor Books were also named this year:
- Eagle Drums, written and illustrated by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson
- Elf Dog and Owl Head, written by M.T. Anderson and illustrated by Junyi Wu
- Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir, written and illustrated by Pedro Martín
- Simon Sort of Says, written by Erin Bow
- The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams, written by Daniel Nayeri and illustrated by Daniel Miyares
Randolph Caldecott Medal
The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the ALSC to the artist of the most distinguished illustrated American children’s book. This year’s winner is Big, illustrated and written by Vashti Harrison.
“Praised for acting like a big girl when she is small, as a young girl grows, “big” becomes a word of criticism, until the girl realizes that she is fine just the way she is.”
Four Caldecott Honor Books were named this year:
- In Every Life, illustrated and written by Marla Frazee
- Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter, illustrated by Molly Mendoza and written by Aida Salazar
- There Was a Party for Langston, illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey, and written by Jason Reynolds
- The Truth About Dragons, illustrated by Hanna Cha and written by Julie Leung
Michael L. Printz Award
The Michael L. Printz Award is awarded to a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature by the Young Adult Library Services Association. This year’s winner is The Collectors: Stories, edited by A.S. King and written by M.T. Anderson, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, A.S. King, David Levithan, Cory McCarthy, Anna-Marie McLemore, G. Neri, Jason Reynolds, Randy Ribay and Jenny Torres Sanchez.
“An anthology of stories about remarkable people and their strange and surprising collections. From David Levithan’s story about a non-binary kid collecting pieces of other people’s collections to Jenny Torres Sanchez’s tale of a girl gathering types of fire while trying not to get burned to G. Neri’s piece about 1970’s skaters seeking opportunities to go vertical—anything can be collected and in the hands of these award-winning and bestselling authors, any collection can tell a story. Nine of the best YA novelists working today have written fiction based on a prompt from Printz-winner A.S. King (who also contributes a story) and the result is itself an extraordinary collection.”
Four Printz Honor Books were also named this year:
- Fire from the Sky, written by Moa Backe Åstot
- Gather, written by Kenneth M. Cadow
- The Girl I am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption, written by Shannon Gibney
- Salt the Water, written by Candace Iloh
Pura Belpré Awards
Pura Belpré Awards are awarded annually by the ALSC and REFORMA. They are awarded to a Latinx writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latinx cultural experience. This year, both the Pura Belpré Author Award and the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award go to Pedro Martín for Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir.
“Pedro Martín has grown up hearing stories about his abuelito—his legendary crime-fighting, grandfather who was once a part of the Mexican Revolution! But that doesn’t mean Pedro is excited at the news that Abuelito is coming to live with their family. After all, Pedro has 8 brothers and sisters and the house is crowded enough! Still, Pedro piles into the Winnebago with his family for a road trip to Mexico to bring Abuelito home, and what follows is the trip of a lifetime, one filled with laughs and heartache. Along the way, Pedro finally connects with his abuelito and learns what it means to grow up and find his grito.”
Three Belpré Youth Illustration Honor Books were also named this year:
- Mi papá es un agrícola/My Father, the Farmworker, illustrated by José B. Ramírez and written by J. Roman Pérez Varela
- Papá’s Magical Water-Jug Clock, illustrated by Eliza Kinkz and written by Jesús Trejo
- Remembering, illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia and written by Xelena González
Five Belpré Youth Author Honor Books were also named this year:
- Alebrijes, written by Donna Barba Higuera
- Aniana del Mar Jumps In, written by Jasminne Mendez
- Benita y las Criaturas Nocturnas, written by Mariana Llanos and illustrated by Cocoretto
- Papá’s Magical Water-Jug Clock, written by Jesús Trejo and illustrated by Eliza Kinkz
- Something Like Home, written by Andrea Beatriz Arango
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually by the ALSC to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in English during the preceding year. This year’s winner is The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity written by Nicholas Day and illustrated by Brett Helquist.
“On a hot August day in Paris, just over a century ago, a desperate guard burst into the office of the director of the Louvre and shouted, La Joconde, c’est partie! The Mona Lisa, she’s gone! No one knew who was behind the heist. Was it an international gang of thieves? Was it an art-hungry American millionaire? Was it the young Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, who was about to remake the very art of painting? Travel back to an extraordinary period of revolutionary change: turn-of-the-century Paris. Walk its backstreets. Meet the infamous thieves—and detectives—of the era. And then slip back further in time and follow Leonardo da Vinci, painter of the Mona Lisa, through his dazzling, wondrously weird life. Discover the secret at the heart of the Mona Lisa—the most famous painting in the world should never have existed at all.”
Four Sibert Honor Books were named this year:
- The Book of Turtles, written by Sy Montgomery and illustrated by Matt Patterson
- Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes, written by Traci N. Todd and illustrated by Shannon Wright
- Jumper: A Day in the Life of the Backyard Jumping Spider, written and illustrated by Jessica Lanan
- Shipwrecked!: Diving for Hidden Time Capsules on the Ocean Floor, written by Martin W. Sandler
Coretta Scott King Awards
The Coretta Scott King Awards are awarded to African-American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. They are administered by the ALA’s Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table.
This year’s King Illustrator Book winner is An American Story, illustrated by Dare Coulter and written by Kwame Alexander.
“From the fireside tales in an African village, through the unspeakable passage across the Atlantic, to the backbreaking work in the fields of the South, this is a story of a people’s struggle and strength, horror and hope. This is the story of American slavery, a story that needs to be told and understood by all of us. A testament to the resilience of the African American community, this book honors what has been and envisions what is to be.”
Three King Illustrator Honor books were named this year:
- Big, illustrated and written by Vashti Harrison
- Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes, illustrated by Shannon Wright and written by Traci N. Todd
- There Was a Party for Langston, illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey and Jarret Pumphrey, and written by Jason Reynolds
The King Author Book winner for this year is Nigeria Jones, written by Ibi Zoboi .
“Warrior Princess. That’s what Nigeria Jones’s father calls her. He has raised her as part of the Movement, a Black separatist group based in Philadelphia. Nigeria is homeschooled and vegan and participates in traditional rituals to connect her and other kids from the group to their ancestors. But when her mother—the perfect matriarch of their Movement—disappears, Nigeria’s world is upended. She finds herself taking care of her baby brother and stepping into a role she doesn’t want.
Nigeria’s mother had secrets. She wished for a different life for her children, which includes sending her daughter to a private Quaker school outside of their strict group. Despite her father’s disapproval, Nigeria attends the school with her cousin, Kamau, and Sage, who used to be a friend. There, she begins to flourish and expand her universe. As Nigeria searches for her mother, she starts to uncover a shocking truth. One that will lead her to question everything she thought she knew about her life and her family.”
Three King Author Honor Books were named this year:
- Big, written and illustrated by Vashti Harrison
- How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Frank Morrison
- Kin: Rooted in Hope, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford
*View the full list of all the 2024 award winners and honor selections here.
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