ALA Youth Media Awards

I just returned from ALA Midwinter meeting in Philadelphia (one of my favorite cities and home of my favorite baseball team!).  It was a great day, and I picked up many new and hopefully wonderful books, as well as some favorites and award winners.

This morning was the annual announcement of the American Library Association Youth Media Awards - a highlight in the year of every children's librarian.

I was pleased that I had read most of the award winners, and many of the honor books.  Below are links to my reviews of three of today's distinguished winners. I wish I had reviewed them all!  Congratulations to all of the ALA Youth Media Award winning authors and illustrators as well as the librarians who worked all year to choose them!

The complete list of award winners can be found at http://www.ala.org/alsc/2014-alsc-media-awards.

John Newbery Medal

DiCamillo, Kate. 2013. Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. (Illustrated by K.G. Campbell) (click for review)

Sibert Medal

Roth, Susan L. and Cindy Trumbore. 2013. Parrots Over Puerto Rico. New York: Lee & Low.  (click for review)

Schneider Family Book Award and Sibert Honor

Bryant, Jen. 2013. A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin. New York: Knopf.   Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. (click for review)

Newbery and Caldecott Winners announced

A quick run-down of the major 2010 ALSC Award Winners  announced today:

Newbery Medal

When You Reach Me, written by Rebecca Stead, published by Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books
Newbery Honor Books


Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, written by Phillip Hoose, published by Melanie Kroupa Books/Farrar Straus Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, written by Jacqueline Kelly, published by Henry Holt and Company

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, written by Grace Lin, published by Little Brown and Company Books for Young Readers

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, written by Rodman Philbrick, published by The Blue Sky Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.


Caldecott Medal
The Lion and the Mouse , illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney, published by Little, Brown and Company Books for Young Readers

Sibert Medal

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, written by Tanya Lee Stone, published by Candlewick Press

Belpre (Author) Award
Return to Sender, written by Julie Alvarez, published by Alfred A. Knopf

Of course there are many other winners and honor books, but I wanted to pass the word quickly.

A comlete list of all awards and honors is available on the Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC) website.

The Wall

Sis, Peter. 2007. The Wall. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

I originally read and reviewed this book in November of 2007. Since that time, The Wall was chosen as the 2008 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner and also as a Caldecott Honor book. My original review follows:

Peter Sis, author and illustrator of many children’s books, has written an autobiography, The Wall: Growing up behind the Iron Curtain. The story spans the years he spent growing up in Prague, Czechoslovakia from 1948 through 1986, recounting the end of WWII, the imposition of Communist rule, the Prague spring of 1968 and the brutal crackdown that followed, and eventual opening of the Iron Curtain .
His story is actually told in three formats. The storyline text is simple and can be read quickly and by younger readers; it is accompanied by simple line drawings of daily life in the former Czechoslovakia under Communism. The use of red symbolizes Communism, while the addition of color symbolizes Sis and his desire for freedom. The heart of the story, however, is in the double-spread journal pages interspersed throughout the book and his many drawings and sketches. The journal pages are diary entries from the period noting the mundane (a spat with his sister) to the horrific (a friend that sets himself afire to protest Communism) to the hopeful (the Beach Boys arrive in Prague, news of the Beatles filters in). A prolific artist from his earliest years, many of the drawings are from Sis’ early childhood, some are pop art from the 60s.
This is a picture book for older readers. With many of my relatives in what is now Slovakia (then part of Czechoslovakia), I grew up following this story through the eyes of my own relatives. This book is a fascinating look at the indoctrination of children into Communism and the inability of a repressive regime to suppress individuality and the desire for freedom. It will likely only have appeal to students interested in the Cold War era, fans of Peter Sis, and those with relatives or ancestors from the Czech Republic or Slovakia. I enjoyed it, but I doubt that it will have wide appeal.