2015 Youth Media Awards: Newbery! Caldecott! Printz! All of the Shiny Medals!

John Newbery Medal
for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature
The Crossover - Kwame Alexander
(H) El Deafo - Cece Bell
(H) Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson

Randolph Caldecott Medal
for the most distinguished American picture book for children
The Adventures of Beekle: the unimaginary friend - Dan Santat
(H) Nana in the City - Lauren Castillo
(H) The Noisy Paint Box: the colors and sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art - ill. Mary GrandPre, written by Barb Rosenstock
(H) Sam and Dave Dig a Hole - ill. Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett
(H) Viva Frida - Yuyi Morales
(H) The Right Word: Roget and his thesaurus - ill. Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant
(H) This One Summer - ill. Jillian Tamaki, written by Mariko Tamaki

Michael L. Printz Award
for excellence in literature written for young adults
I’ll Give You the Sun - Jandy Nelson
(H) And We Stay - Jenny Hubbard
(H) The Carnival at Bray - Jessie Ann Foley
(H) Grasshopper Jungle - Andrew Smith
(H) This One Summer - Mariko Tamaki, ill. Jillian Tamaki

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
for the most distinguished beginning reader book
You Are (not) Small - Anna Kang, ill. Christopher Weyent
(H) Mr. Putter and Tabby Turn the Page - Cynthia Rylant, ill. Arthur Howard
(H) Waiting is Not Easy - Mo Willems

Coretta Scott King Awards
for the best book about the African-American experience
Author
Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson
(H) The Crossover - Kwame Alexander
(H) How I Discovered Poetry - Marilyn Nelson, ill. Hadley Hooper
(H) How It Went Down - Kekla Magoon
Illustrator
Firebird: ballerina Misty Copeland shows a young girl how to dance like the firebird - ill. Christopher Myers, written by Misty Copeland

John Steptoe New Talent Award
When I Was the Greatest - Jason Reynolds
(H) Josephine: the Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker - Patricia Hruby Powell, ill. Christian Robinson
(H) Little Melba and Her Big Trombone - Katheryn Russell-Brown, ill. Frank Morrison

Virginia Hamilton Practitioner Award for Lifetime Achievement
Deborah D. Taylor - Enoch Pratt Free Library

Schneider Family Book Award
for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
Picture Book
A Boy and a Jaguar - Alan Rabinowitz, ill. Catia Chien
Middle Grade 
Rain Reign - Ann M Martin
Teen
Girls Like Us - Gail Giles

Alex Awards
for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences
All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
Bellweather Rhapsody - Kate Racculia
Bingo’s Run - James A Levine
Confessions - Kanae Minato, trans. Stephen Snyer
Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng
Lock In - John Scalzi
The Martian - Andy Weir
The Terrorist’s Son - Zak Ebrahim, w/ Jeff Giles
Those Who Wish Me Dead - Michael Koryta
Wolf in White Van - John Darnielle

Andrew Carnegie Medal
for excellence in children's video
Me … Jane - Weston Woods, based on a book by Patrick McDonnell

Margaret A. Edwards Award
for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.
Sharon M. Draper

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award
recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children's literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site
Pat Mora

Mildred L. Batchelder Award
for an outstanding children's book translated from a language other than English and subsequently published in the United States
Mikis and the Donkey - Bibi Dumon Tak, ill. Philip Hopman, trans. Laura Watkinson
Honors
Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust - Loie Dauvillier, ill. Marc Lizano, trans. Alexis Siege
Nine Open Arms - Benny Lindelauf, ill. Dasha Tolstikova, trans. John Nieuwenhuizen

Odyssey Award
best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults
H.O.R.S.E.: A Game of Basketball and Imagination - Christopher Myers, narrated by Dion Graham and Christopher Myers
(H) Five, Six, Seven, Nate! - Tim Federle, narrated by same
(H) The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place - Julie Berry, narrated by Jayne Entwhistle
(H) A Snicker of Magic - Natalie Lloyd, narrated by Cassandra Morris

Pura Belpre Awards
For the best books about the Latino cultural experience
Author
I Lived on Butterfly Hill - Marjorie Agosín, ill. Lee White, trans. E.M. O'Connor
(H) Portraits of Hispanic-American Heroes - Juan Felipe Herrera, ill. Raúl Colón
Illustrator
Viva Frida - Yuyi Morales
(H) Little Roja Riding Hood - ill. Susan Middleton Elya, written by Susan Guevara
(H) Green is a Chile Pepper - ill. John Parra, written by Roseanne Greenfield Thong
(H) Separate is never equal : Sylvia Mendez & her family's fight for desegregation - Duncan Tonatiuh

Robert F. Sibert Medal
for most distinguished informational book for children
The Right Word: Roget and his thesaurus - Jen Bryant, ill. Melissa Sweet
(H) Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson
(H) The family Romanov : murder, rebellion & the fall of Imperial Russia - Candace Fleming
(H) Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker - Patricia Hruby Powell, ill. Christian Robinson
(H) Neighborhood sharks : hunting with the great whites of California's Farallon Islands - Katherine Roy
(H) Separate is never equal : Sylvia Mendez & her family's fight for desegregation - Duncan Tonatiuh

Stonewall Children's and Young Adult Literature Award
Books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered experience.
This Day in June - Gayle E. Pitman, Ph.D., ill. Kristyna Litten
(H) Beyond magenta : transgender teens speak out - Susan Kuklin
(H) I’ll Give You the Sun - Jandy Nelson
(H) Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress - Christine Baldacchio, ill. Isabelle Malenfant

William C. Morris Award
for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens. Finalists are announced in December.
Gabi: A Girl in Pieces - Isabel Quintero
(F) The Carnival at Bray - Jessie Ann Foley
(F) The Story of Owen, Dragonslayer of Trondheim - E.K. Johnston
(F) The Scar Boys - Len Vlahos
(F) The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender - Leslye J Walton

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults during a November 1 – October 31 publishing year. Finalists are announced in December
Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek - Maya Van Wagenen
(F) Laughing at My Nightmare - Shane Burcaw
(F) The family Romanov : murder, rebellion & the fall of Imperial Russia - Candace Fleming
(F) Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman who Challenged Big Business and Won - Emily Arnold McCully
(F) The Port Chicago 50 : disaster, mutiny, and the fight for civil rights - Steve Sheinken

Book Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Book: Beauty Queens
Author: Libba Bray
Published: 2011
Source: Local Library

When the plane holding all fifty contestants of the Miss Teen Dream beauty pageant goes down on a tropical island, the odds are most definitely stacked against the survivors. No water, no food, no shelter, and you just can't get a good facial anywhere.

But Miss Teen Dream contestants never say die (well, except for the ones who already did). After a few missteps, they're taking their survival into their own hands, creating shelter, catching food, and battling island wildlife, all while working on their tans and keeping their pageant skills sharp.

But there's more coming down the pike. The beauty queens are about to face off with reality-show pirates, the evil corporation, the megalomaniac dictator with an Elvis fetish, and the weapons system whose override is PowerPoint. You know. Just in case you thought this was going to make any sense at all.

I've been looking forward to this book on the strength of Bray's wild and powerful Printz award winner, Going Bovine, and I wasn't disappointed. It was the same mix of hilarious and heartfelt. She expertly juggles about six or seven viewpoint characters, all with their own individual character arcs. She often does this by pairing them up, playing two against each other to how their differences peel away the glossy pageant personae and find the messy, scaly, warty real girl underneath. To questions on ethnicity to sexuality to conformity to feminism--very often in the same character--the answer comes out the same: nobody fits a category, but they're all extraordinary just the way they're made, and their power comes when they own it.

If you're a plot person, don't read this. If you're into strict realism, don't read this. But if you love wicked satire with just enough silliness to keep you laughing, feminism with some teeth, stories about love and friendship and identity and courage . . .Well, this is the book for you.

A List You Might Need

ALSC has pre-pulled these needles from the haystack for us: books about Islam for kids. I'm saddened but not shocked to see the dearth of fiction, especially in chapter-book and novel-length. Sigh.

Have you read anything you'd add to this list?

Top 100 YA Books of All Time

Lo, in those days, Persnickety Snark sent out a command. And she spake thusly: "Thou shalt gather thy top ten YA books of all time, and thou shalt send them unto me. Eleven shalt thou not gather, neither shalt thou gather nine, excepting that it be on the way to ten. Twelve is right out."

And then did the Bibliovore wail, and gnash her teeth, and tear her hair, for it was a grievously difficult command. But finally it was done, and sent in, and hopefully, the Internet shall see it and know that it is good.

1. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton - I'd heard about this book for years, but never read it. When I finally picked it up, I thought, It can't be that good. Nothing can be that good. OH BUT IT IS. Bobby and Suzy can just go suck their malts, because this is real life--doing your best with what you've got, which frankly ain't much, and navigating the unholy mess that is the adult world, where people hate each other or love each other for the way they comb their hair.

2. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume - Okay, this one's a little young. But I think that older teens can still read it, because it takes the biggest questions about growing up and looks at them head-on. Who is God? Who am I? Am I really ready for this grown-up stuff? And best of all? Blume gives us no answers, just the reassurance that it's OK to ask the questions.

3. A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle - Another Big Question book. Why do people die? And how is it possible to live with joy knowing that it will all end someday?

4. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - The high school ostracism, the slow reveal of What Really Happened, the healing through art . . . another book that couldn't possibly be as good as people say it is, and yet it is.

5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Just like the Outsiders, this is about doing what nobody ever have to do and facing what nobody should ever have to face, and coming out the other side. (BTW? TEAM PEETA.)

6. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler - Being yourself when yourself isn't good enough for your family takes a special kind of courage. I especially loved that she didn't lose any weight but got buff instead. Kick-boxing girls FTW!

7. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot - Actually, the whole series, with all its tangle of embarassments, false starts, mistakes in love, and the agonizing process of constantly redefining friendships, relationships, and self. Which proves that just because you're a princess doesn't make your life perfect. Far from it.

8. Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr - The slut/stud dichotomy, the fracture of family, the daddy's little girl syndrome . . . I could talk for hours about this book.

9. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithin and Rachel Cohn - This is the kind of thing that could only happen when you're a teenager. And yeah, it's not likely to happen to a lot of teenagers, but falling in love almost at first sight, the trippy Alice-in-Wonderland odyssey through New York's indie music scene, the weird friends . . . it could only happen once in your life, if it happens at all.

10. Boy Toy by Barry Lyga - Another one about sex and power, and the messed-up way our society approaches it.

And since I only remembered about it a couple of days before it was due, this was all those books I could think of right away. (And there you have a summary of my entire scholastic career.) I know I'll see the final list and shriek, "OH MY GOD HOW COULD I FORGET THAT ONE?!?!" several times.

What's on your top ten list?

BBYA Goes Bye-Bye?

(I'm going to pre-emptively apologize for any inaccuracies or oversights made in this post. The first thing I did this morning was remove a Bugzilla from the children's area, and the day kinda went from there. But I wanted to post my thoughts on this hot topic.)

Currently, there's a bit of a kerfuffle around the news that YALSA may be moving away from their longtime Best Books for Young Adults list (picked by YALSA members) and toward a more reader's-choice model.

Hmmmmm.

Truly, I fear that the first four books on the list will be the Twilight series. This is not more of my good-natured Twilight bashing. I have nothing against kids reading these books; really, I don't. It's the very point that every-damn-one is reading them that gives me pause.

Surely the purpose of these Best Books lists is to expose librarians and teachers (and through them, the kids) to the really excellent books they might not be aware of. Nobody's unaware of the popular books. That's the whole point of being popular. Alix Flinn posts a wonderful discussion of popularity contests in publishing and the pitfalls of same in today's glutted YA market.

Now, the YALSA memo that Flinn linked to doesn't mention doing away with the current BBYA totally, although it does state that YALSA members aren't satisfied with the list as it is. They cite issues of list currency and workload for the BBYA deciders--both concerns I can get behind. Even I'm a little floored by the amount of work that BBYA folks have to put in. It also doesn't say that the contributors to the readers' choice list will be thrown wide open--only to YALSA members. People who presumably work around a lot of teen books and a lot of teens every day.

Still a lot of folks in the kidlit arena are pretty concerned.

May I suggest? The Cybils works in a readers' choice/judging format and the results for the past three years have been pretty spiffy. Perhaps a combination would work best. What do you think?

Newsweek, I'm Gonna Kick Your Butt

So last week, Newsweek did a gathering of nine authors' favorite books in their own genre. I was nodding along--Melissa Gilbert on Hollywood memoirs, Bob Woodward on political scandal, Jenna Bush on children's books--

*sound of needle screeching across record*

Jenna Bush?

Undoubtedly they were going for a little star power, a recognizable name. We all know Bob Woodward knows his political scandals, after all. But Jenna Bush? Granted, she's not a totally moronic choice. She did write a nonfiction YA book (more on the fundamental difference between kids and YA later) and is currently a sixth-grade teacher. So presumably she has a waving acquaintance with children's lit. But seriously, Newsweek, with all the amazing children's authors out there, this was the best you could do?

The list itself is perfectly serviceable, hard to disagree with, but the kind of thing you would find on any summer required-reading list.

Who would you have picked instead? And if they'd picked you, what would your list have looked like?

Beach Reads? Okay Then

The Seattle Examiner posted this crackerjack list of great YA novels, ranging from ones that have been touted in every corner of the land (The Hunger Games) to ones that fly slightly further under the radar (My Most Excellent Year). Have a gander. If you haven't read them all, add the new-to-you ones to your list.

The only thing that made me blink was the term "beach reads," which to me implies light, fun reading that doesn't engage the brain too strenuously--which is not the way to describe #1 on the list, If I Stay. Seriously? Beach reads? Are we thinking of the same beaches?

Rainbow List is Out

No pun intended. Oh, who am I kidding? If there's a pun, I intended it.

Anyway, the 2009 Rainbow List is out and proud. This list, created by a couple of very long-named subcommittees from the American Library Association, is for

well-written and/or well-illustrated titles with authentic and significant gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered/queer/questioning (GLBTQ) content for youth from birth through age 18.

Yowza. Ambitious much? But I'm especially glad that it included picture books, which are hard to find. The list includes titles like Uncle Bobby's Wedding, After Tupac and D Foster, and Another Kind of Cowboy. Good job, guys.

Thanks to Cheryl Rainfield for the heads-up.