The 2023 ALA Youth Media Awards

A Redeemed Reader Tradition

This morning, a Redeemed Reader tradition of multiple years continued: listening to the ALA Youth Media Awards. Last year we gathered in person. This year it was virtual. We wake early and hunch over livestream announcements. For an hour there is:

book chatter, “Ooh, I read that!”

predictions, “maybe it will be Gary Paulsen …”

the frantic scribbling of titles, “what was the second Schneider honor?”

not to mention, the judicious use of library holds, “I’ve reached my hold limit!”

But Why Pay Attention?

In the words of Janie, from a prior year, “The reason we pay so much attention to this is not that we’re simpatico with the American Library Association. But the ALA exerts tremendous influence on children’s literature. If we factor out huge bestsellers like The Wimpy Kid, librarians are the chief gatekeeper of what appears in the children’s section of bookstores and libraries. Award-winning books with shiny stickers will appear in displays and on recommended titles and purchase lists. Newbery and Caldecott winners stay in print forever.”

While (as usual!) we haven’t reviewed all the awards winners, we have reviewed some and chattered about others in our annual Newberry Buzz series. So, without further ado, here are the 2023 ALA highlights.

2023 John Newberry Medal

Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson was the 2023 Newberry winner, accompanied by three Newberry Honors:

• Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango
• The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat
• Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee

Fun fact: Christina Soontornvat is not a stranger to the Newberry. In 2021, the author of The Last Mapmaker, had two books on the Newbery list: A Wish in the Dark (fiction) and All Thirteen (nonfiction).

2023 Randolph Caldecott Medal

Hot Dog written and illustrated by Doug Salati, won this year’s Caldecott.

There were four Caldecott Honor books:

• Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Jason Griffin
• Berry Song written and illustrated by Michaela Goade
• Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy, illustrated by Janelle Washington
• Knight Owl written and illustrated by Christohper Denise

While those are the two big awards, here are some other award winners from today that we’ve reviewed:

• Troublemaker received an honor for the Asian Pacific American Award.
• Black Bird, Blue Road appeared on the honor list for the Sidney Taylor Award (reflecting the Jewish experience).
• For the Schneider Award (promoting understanding of disability) Wildoak was the winner for MG fiction, with Hummingbird receiving an honor.
• The Batchelder Award, for outstanding translated children’s books, went to Just a Girl.
• As Janie accurately predicted, Frizzy received the Pura Belpre award, reflecting the Hispanic experience.

Stay tuned for reviews of this year’s Newberry and Caldecott winners. We’ll also be reviewing the Theodore S. Geisel award titles (for early readers) and other award winners soon!