The American Library Association recently announced the winners of the 2026 Youth Media Awards. Materials for children and teens were selected by committees of literature and media specialists under different categories for their excellence. Take a look at some of this year’s winners below, which include publishers’ summaries. Be sure to click the link for any you’re interested in reading for yourself to reserve your copy through the Monarch catalog. The full list of this year’s winners is also linked at the bottom of this post.
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 All the Blues in the Sky, written by Renée Watson.
“Sage’s thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn’t predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life-and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all.
In accessible, engaging verse and prose, this is a story of a girl’s journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself. To read it is to see how many shades there are in grief, and to know that someone understands.”
Four Newbery Honor Books were also named this year:
- The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli, written and illustrated by Karina Yan Glaser
- A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez, written by María Dolores Águila
- The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story, written by Daniel Nayeri
- The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest, written by Aubrey Hartman and illustrated by Marcin Minor
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 Fireworks, illustrated by Cátia Chien and written by Matthew Burgess.
“Part poem, part portable fireworks display with a vertical gatefold, this POB picture book from the award-winning team of Matthew Burgess and Cátia Chien highlights the simple delights of a steamy July day in the city as two siblings eagerly await a spectacular fireworks display.
POP! As a hot day sizzles into evening, everyone on stoops and sidewalks looks skyward on this special summer night—the Fourth of July! Words and art blossom into flowers of fire across the sky, making this a perfect read for firework enthusiasts in cities and suburbs everywhere. POP! POP!”
Four Caldecott Honor Books were named this year:
- Every Monday Mabel, illustrated and written by Jashar Awan
- Our Lake, illustrated and written by Angie Kang
- Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale from a Little Cave, illustrated and written by Drew Beckmeyer
- Sundust, illustrated and written by Zeke Peña
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 Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories, edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith.
“Set at a classic drive-in restaurant that seems to exist in every Native community, this anthology unites the stories of teens from all kinds of backgrounds through the shared theme of Native joy, with stories and poems reflecting hope, healing, humor, love, friendship, romance, and joy. The road to Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In slips through every rez and alongside every urban Native hangout. The menu offers a rotating feast, including traditional eats and tasty snacks. But Sandy June’s serves up more than food: it hosts live music, movie nights, unexpected family reunions, love long lost, and love found again. That big green-and-gold neon sign beckons to teens of every tribal Nation, often when they need it most. Featuring the voices of both new and acclaimed Indigenous writers, and edited by bestselling Muscogee author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of interconnected stories serves up laughter, love, Native pride, and the world’s best frybread.”
Four Printz Honor Books were also named this year:
- Cope Field, written by T.L. Simpson
- The House No One Sees, written by Adina King
- Sisters in the Wind, written by Angeline Boulley
- Song of a Blackbird, written and illustrated by Maria van Lieshout
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’s Pura Belpré Author Award goes to The Pecan Sheller, written by Lupe Ruiz-Flores.
“In 1930s San Antonio, thirteen-year-old Petra dreams of going to college and becoming a writer.
But with her beloved father dead, two younger siblings to care for, and with a stepmother struggling to make ends meet, Petra has to drop out of school to shell pecans at a factory. Hoping it’s only temporary, she tries not to despair over the grueling work conditions. But after the unhealthy environment leads to tragedy and workers’ already low wages are cut, Petra knows things need to change. She and her coworkers go on strike for higher wages and safer conditions, risking everything they have for the hope of a better future.”
Three Belpré Youth Author Honor Books were also named this year:
- A Hero’s Guide to Summer Vacation, written by Pablo Cartaya
- The Island of Forgotten Gods, written by Victor Piñeiro
- A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez, written by María Dolores Águila
This year’s Pura Belpré Illustrator Award goes to Popo the Xolo, illustrated by Abraham Matias and written by Paloma Angelina Lopez.
“Nana is surrounded by family and takes joy in her many grandchildren. She’s also tired and feels pain. Soon she begins her transition from life into death, accompanied by her beloved Xolo dog, Popo.
Together they go on Nana’s journey, and by the end of the story, Nana’s family celebrates the many years of love they shared with her. A grandchild takes on caring for Popo in Nana’s memory.
Simultaneously published in English and Spanish, Popo the Xolo helps kids understand how loved ones live on in our memories. An unforgettable picture book that’s grounded in the importance of the 9 levels of Mictlān and the role Xolo dogs play in Indigenous cultural understandings of present-day Mexico.”
Two Belpré Youth Illustrator Honor Books were also named this year:
- A-Ztec: A Bilingual Alphabet Book, illustrated and written by Emmanuel Valtierra
- The Invisible Parade, illustrated by John Picacio, written by Leigh Bardugo and John Picacio
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 Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa, written by Sara Andrea Fajardo and illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal.
“High up in the Andes mountains of Peru, agricultural scientist Alberto Salas is on a quest. A quest… for potatoes.
Up and down the Andes mountains he goes, playing an epic game of paka paka con la papa, potato hide and seek. These potatoes are they have the power to feed, and save, the world.
Alberto doesn’t have a second to waste. The climate is changing and Alberto must find each and every one to save them before they go extinct.
The game is on!
Alberto races and peers and prods. Drives and trods and climbs. Will he find the potato he seeks? Will he win the game of paka paka con la papa?”
Five Sibert Honor Books were named this year:
- At Last She Stood: How Joey Guerrero Spied, Survived, and Fought for Freedom, written by Erin Entrada Kelly
- Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer, written by Quartez Harris and illustrated by Gordon C. James
- The History of We, written and illustrated by Nikkolas Smith
- Silenced Voices: Reclaiming Memories from the Guatemalan Genocide, written and illustrated by Pablo Leon
- A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, A Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out, written by Nicholas Day and illustrated by Yas Imamura
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 The Library in the Woods, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie and written by Calvin Alexander Ramsey.
“After a storm devastates the farm his parents have been renting, Junior moves with his family to Roxboro, North Carolina. The year is 1959, and the nine-year-old boy has to navigate the realities of the segregated South while adjusting to life in town. Instead of farming, his father works at the lumberyard, and his mother takes in laundry from the white people in town. Junior meets new friends who have a TV—and their own books! These new friends offer to take Junior to the library, and he’s surprised to discover that in a clearing in the forest, there’s a log cabin that houses a library for Black residents.
The library in the woods feels magical, giving Junior a sense of possibility and community. The books he checks out also help him uncover a secret he never knew about his father.
This fictional account is based on a real-life library author Calvin Alexander Ramsey frequented as a child. Ramsey’s heartfelt text, accompanied by illustrations from award-winning artist R. Gregory Christie, celebrates family, libraries, and the resourcefulness of the Black community.”
Two King Illustrator Honor books were named this year:
- André: André Leon Talley–A Fabulously Fashionable Fairy Tale, illustrated by Lamont O’Neal, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and Rob Sanders
- City Summer, Country Summer, illustrated by Alexis Franklin and written by Kiese Laymon
The King Author Book winner for this year is Will’s Race for Home, written by Jewell Parker Rhodes.
“It’s 1889, barely twenty-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and a young Black family is tired of working on land they don’t get to own.
So when Will and his father hear about an upcoming land rush, they set out on a journey from Texas to Oklahoma, racing thousands of others to the place where land is free—if they can get to it fast enough. But the journey isn’t easy—the terrain is rough, the bandits are brutal, and every interaction carries a heavy undercurrent of danger.
And then there’s the stranger they encounter and befriend: a mysterious soldier named Caesar, whose Union emblem brings more attention—and more trouble—than any of them need.
All three are propelled by the promise of something long denied to them: freedom, land ownership, and a place to call home—but is a strong will enough to get them there?
Includes stunning black-and-white illustrations throughout!
Three King Author Honor Books were named this year:
- The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze, written by Derrick Barnes
- The Library in the Woods, written by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
- Split the Sky, written by Marie Arnold
*View the full list of all the 2026 award winners and honor selections here.
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