Explore Award Winners Discover Literature Awards for the Young Adult Westminster High School Library

What Are Literary Awards? Literary awards are prestigious prizes given out each year to one distinguished book that meets the criteria for the award. The book may be fiction, non-fiction, or poetry, but it must be original. A review committee, often ALA librarians, select winners based on specific criteria for that award.

Why Use Award Winning Literature? Award winning literature represents the best examples of its genre, and has been reviewed for: Accuracy Characters Originality Plot Presentation Setting Style Theme

Standards For Award Winners Must be appropriate to young adult audience. Must make an outstanding contribution to literature. Must stand alone and not be part of another work. Must be the “best of the best.”

Literary Award Examples Randolph Caldecott Medal - Art & Illustration in Children’s picture books. John Newbery Medal – Most distinguished contribution of American author. Pura Belpré Award - Latino/Latina Culture Coretta Scott King - African American Culture Nebula Award - Science Fiction and Fantasy writers Odyssey Award - Audio Books

Literary Award Examples (continued) Michael L. Prinz Award – Honors best books written for teens based on literary merit. Pulitzer - Literature in multiple genres Robert F. Sibert Award - Informational Literature Stonewall Book Award - First award for GLBT: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender experience Alex Award - Written for adults but appeal to young adults.

Caldecott Medal The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott and is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Coretta Scott King Award Given to African American authors and illustrators for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions, the Coretta Scott King Book Award promotes understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream of a pluralistic society.

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal is an example of one of the oldest and most prestigious awards given annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children and young adults.

Pura Belpré Award The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. As a children's librarian, storyteller, and author, she enriched the lives of Puerto Rican children in the U.S.A. through her pioneering work of preserving and disseminating Puerto Rican folklore. The award is given 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.

Stonewall Award The Stonewall Award is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT) of the American Library Association (ALA), the Stonewall Book Award is presented annually to English language works of fiction (Barbara Gittings Literature Award), non-fiction (Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award) and Children's books (Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award). Winners are announced in January and presented with a plaque and cash stipend at a ceremony in June or July.

Activity Research several of the types of Literary Awards and choose one to focus on. Pick three books in one award category for your group assignment. Now you are ready to begin your search!

References -laws. (n.d.). Nebula Awards . SFWA . Retrieved October 27, 2012, from http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/

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