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University of Texas University of Texas Libraries

Youth Literature

Youth Literature Awards

Youth Literature Awards & Annual Book Lists

Are you looking for award winning books? We buy many of them! You can discover more about the awards and their winners on the sites below. Then, search in the Library Catalog to find our copy. 

 Indicates an award that makes significant contributions towards honoring and increasing diversity in children's and young adult literature.

Amelia Bloomer List: An annual list of the best feminist books for young readers, ages birth through 18.

 American Indian Youth Literature Award: Awarded every two years to honor the very best writing and illustrations by and about American Indians.

 Américas Award: Awarded annually to encourage and commend authors, illustrators and publishers who produce quality children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States.

 Arab American Book AwardAwarded annually to honor books written by and about Arab Americans. 

 Asian Pacific American Award LiteratureTo honor and recognize individual work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit.

Batchelder Award: Given to the most outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States.

Caldecott Medal: Awarded to the artist of the year's most distinguished American picture book for children. 

 Carter G Woodson AwardAward for the most distinguished social science books appropriate for young readers that depict ethnicity in the United States.

Charlotte Huck Award: To promote and recognize excellence in the writing of fiction for children. This award recognizes fiction that has the potential to transform children’s lives by inviting compassion, imagination, and wonder.

Charlotte Zolotow Award: Given annually to the author of the best picture book text published in the United States 

 Children's Africana Book Awards: Presented annually to the authors and illustrators of the best children’s and young adult books on Africa published or republished in the U.S. 

Comstock-Gág Read Aloud Book Award

 Coretta Scott King Book Awards: 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.

 Dolly Gray AwardRecognizes authors, illustrators, and publishers of high quality fictional and biographical children, intermediate, and young adult books that appropriately portray individuals with developmental disabilities.

Ezra Jack Keats Book AwardAwards a New Writer Award and New Illustrator Award annually to recognize and encourage emerging talent in the field of children’s books.

Geisel Award: Given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States.

Green Earth Book AwardAnnual award for books that best convey the message of environmental stewardship.

Horn Book Awards / Boston Globe: A prestigious annual award for excellence in children's and young adult literature.

ILA Book Awards: Intended for newly published authors who show unusual promise in the children's and young adults' book field. Awards are given for fiction and nonfiction in each of three (3) categories: primary, intermediate, and young adult. 

Jane Addam's Children's Book Award: Recognizes children’s books of literary and aesthetic excellence that effectively engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all people.

 John Steptoe AwardTo affirm new talent and to offer visibility to excellence in writing and/or illustration which otherwise might be formally unacknowledged within a given year within the structure of the two awards given annually by the Coretta Scott King Task Force.

 LAMBDA LGBTQ Children’s/Young Adult Award: Annual awards for the best lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender books.

 Middle East Book Award: To recognize books for children and young adults that contribute meaningfully to understanding of the Middle East.

National Book Award in Young People's Literature

NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children: To honor a living American poet for his or her aggregate work for children ages 3 to 13. 

Newberry Medal: Awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

 Notable Books for a Global Society: Annual recognition of 25 outstanding trade books for enhancing student understanding of people and cultures throughout the world. 

Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People

Orbis Pictus Award: To promote and recognize excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children.

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students

Phoenix Award: To recognize books of high literary merit, which never won award at the time publication, and which is still worthy of recognition.

Printz Award: The Michael L. Printz Award is given annually to a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.

 Pura Belpre AwardPresented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.

 Rainbow Book ListAn annual bibliography of quality books with significant and authentic GLBTQ content, which are recommended for people from birth through eighteen years of age.

 Schneider Family Book AwardHonors an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.

Scott O'Dell Award: Awarded annually to a meritorious book of historical fiction for children or young adults. 

Sibert MedalThe Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in English.

 South Asian Book Award: A yearly book award to call attention to outstanding works on South Asia.

 Stonewall Award: Awarded annually to books of exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience.

 Sydney Taylor Book Award: Presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.

 Tomas Rivera Award: To honor authors and illustrators who create literature that depicts the Mexican American experience. 

 Walter Award: Recognizes diverse authors (or co-authors) whose works feature diverse main characters and address diversity in a meaningful way.

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

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