2021 ALA Youth Media Awards

This morning, as part of the annual festivities surrounding the ALA Midwinter Meeting and Exhibits virtual conference, the American Library Association revealed the winners of the Youth Media Awards in an exciting public webcast. To see who won the Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, and other prestigious awards for children and teens (plus their Booklist reviews), read on.

JOHN NEWBERY MEDAL

★ When You Trap a Tiger, by Tae Keller

Newbery Honor Books

★ All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team, by Christina Soontornvat

★ BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom, by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Michele Wood

★ Fighting Words, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

★ We Dream of Space, by Erin Entrada Kelly and illustrated by Erin Entrada Kelly and Celia Krampien

★ A Wish in the Dark, by Christina Soontornvat

RANDOLPH CALDECOTT MEDAL

★ We Are Water Protectors, Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade

Caldecott Honor Books

A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart, by Zetta Elliott and illustrated by Noa Denmon

★ The Cat Man of Aleppo, Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha and illustrated by Yuko Shimizu

Me & Mama, by Cozbi A. Cabrera

Outside In, by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Cindy Derby

CORETTA SCOTT KING BOOK AWARDS

King Author Book

★ Before the Ever After, by Jacqueline Woodson

King Author Honor Books

★ All the Days Past, All the Days to Come, by Mildred D. Taylor

★ King and the Dragonflies, by Kacen Callender

★ Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box, by Evette Dionne

King Illustrator Book

★ R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Frank Morrison

King Illustrator Honor Books

Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration, by Samara Cole Doyon and illustrated by Kaylani Juanita

Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks, by Suzanne Slade and illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera

Me & Mama, by Cozbi A. Cabrera

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award

★ Legendborn, by Tracy Deonn

Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement

Dorothy L. Guthrie

MICHAEL L. PRINTZ AWARD

★ Everything Sad Is Untrue (A True Story), by Daniel Nayeri

Printz Honor Books

★ Apple: Skin to the Core, by Eric Gansworth

★ Dragon Hoops, by Gene Luen Yang and illustrated by Gene Luen Yang and Lark Pien

★ Every Body Looking, by Candice Iloh

★ We Are Not Free, by Traci Chee

SCHNEIDER FAMILY BOOK AWARD

Award for Young Children, Ages 0–10

★ I Talk Like a River, by Jordan Scott and illustrated by Sydney Smith

Honor Books for Young Children

All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything, by Annette Bay Pimentel and illustrated by Nabi H. Ali

Itzhak: A Boy who Loved the Violin, by Tracy Newman and illustrated by Abigail Halpin

Award for Middle Grades, Ages 11–13

Show Me a Sign, by Ann Clare LeZotte

Honor Books for Middle Grades

★ Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen!, by Sarah Kapit

★ When Stars Are Scattered, by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed and illustrated by Victoria Jamieson and Iman Geddy

Award for Teens, Ages 13–18

This Is My Brain in Love, by I. W. Gregorio

ALEX AWARDS

Black Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse

The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune

★ The Impossible First: From Fire to Ice—Crossing Antarctica Alone, by Colin O’Brady

Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, by Derf Backderf

The Kids Are Gonna Ask, by Gretchen Anthony

The Only Good Indians, by Stephen Graham Jones

★ Plain Bad Heroines, by emily m. danforth

Riot Baby, by Tochi Onyebuchi

Solutions and Other Problems, by Allie Brosh

We Ride Upon Sticks, by Quan Barry

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE LEGACY AWARD

Mildred D. Taylor

MARGARET A. EDWARDS AWARD

Kekla Magoon

MILDRED L. BATCHELDER AWARD

Telephone Tales, by Gianni Rodari, illustrated by Valerio Vidali, and translated from Italian by Antony Shugaar

Batchelder Honor Book

★ Catherine’s War, by Julia Billet, illustrated by Claire Fauvel, and translated from French by Ivanka Hahnenberger

ODYSSEY AWARD

Kent State, by Deborah Wiles and narrated by Christopher Gebauer, Lauren Ezzo, Christina DeLaine, Johnny Heller, Roger Wayne, Korey Jackson, and David de Vries

Odyssey Honor Audiobooks

★ Clap When You Land, by Elizabeth Acevedo and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo and Melania-Luisa Marte

★ Fighting Words, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and narrated by Bahni Turpin

★ Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi and narrated by Jason Reynolds with an introduction by Ibram X. Kendi

★ When Stars Are Scattered, by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed and narrated by Faysal Ahmed, Barkhad Abdi, and a full cast

PURA BELPRÉ AWARDS

Belpré Youth Illustrator Award

¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat, by Raúl Gonzalez

Belpré Youth Illustrator Honor Book

★ Sharuko: El Arqueólogo Peruano/Peruvian Archaeologist Julio C. Tello, by Monica Brown, illustrated by Elisa Chavarri, and translated by Adriana Domínguez

Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Award

Furia, by Yamile Saied Méndez 

Belpré Young Adult Author Honor Books

Never Look Back, by Lilliam Rivera

★ We Are Not from Here, by Jenny Torres Sanchez

Pura Belpré Children’s Author Award

★ Efrén Divided, by Ernesto Cisneros

Pura Belpré Children’s Author Honor Books

The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez, by Adrianna Cuevas

★ Lupe Wong Won’t Dance, by Donna Barba Higuera

ROBERT F. SIBERT INFORMATIONAL BOOK AWARD

★ Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera, by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohmann

Sibert Honor Books

★ How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure, by John Rocco

Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks, by Suzanne Slade and illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera

★ All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team, by Christina Soontornvat

STONEWALL BOOK AWARD – MIKE MORGAN AND LARRY ROMANS CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE AWARD

We Are Little Feminists: Families, by Archaa Shrivastav and designed by Lindsey Blakely

Stonewall Honor Books

★ Beetle & The Hollowbones, by Aliza Layne

★ Darius the Great Deserves Better, by Adib Khorram

★ Felix Ever After, by Kacen Callender

You Should See Me in a Crown, by Leah Johnson

THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL AWARD

★ See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog, by David LaRochelle and illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka

Geisel Honor Books

The Bear in My Family, by Maya Tatsukawa

Ty’s Travels: Zip, Zoom!, by Kelly Starling Lyons and illustrated by Nina Mata

What About Worms!?, by Ryan T. Higgins

Where’s Baby?, by Anne Hunter

WILLIAM C. MORRIS AWARD

If These Wings Could Fly, by Kyrie McCauley

Morris Award Finalists

Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard, by Echo Brown

★ The Black Kids, by Christina Hammonds Reed

It Sounded Better in My Head, by Nina Kenwood

Woven in Moonlight, by Isabel Ibañez

YALSA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS

★ The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh, by Candace Fleming

YALSA Award Finalists

★ All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team, by Christina Soontornvat

The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival, by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess,with Laura L. Sullivan

★ How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure, by John Rocco

You Call This Democracy?: How to Fix Our Democracy and Deliver Power to the People, by Elizabeth Rusch and illustrated by Ellen Duda

ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR LITERATURE

Picture Book Winner

★ Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist, by Julie Leung and illustrated by Chris Sasaki

Picture Book Honor Title

Danbi Leads the School Parade, by Anna Kim

Children’s Literature Winner

★ When You Trap a Tiger, by Tae Keller

Children’s Literature Honor Winner

★ Prairie Lotus, by Linda Sue Park

Young Adult Literature Winner

This Light Between Us, by Andrew Fukuda

Young Adult Literature Honor Title

Displacement, by Kiku Hughes

THE SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD

Picture Book Gold Medalist

Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale with a Tail, by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Susan Gal

Picture Book Silver Medalists

I Am the Tree of Life: My Jewish Yoga Book, by Mychal Copeland and illustrated by André Ceolin

Miriam at the River, by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Khoa Le

Middle Grade Gold Medalist

★ Turtle Boy, by M. Evan Wolkenstein

Middle Grade Silver Medalists

No Vacancy, by Tziporah Cohen

Anya and the Nightingale, by Sofiya Pasternack

The Blackbird Girls, by Anne Blankman

Young Adult Gold Medalist

★ Dancing at the Pity Party, by Tyler Feder

Young Adult Silver Medalist

★ They Went Left, by Monica Hesse