2018 American Library Association Youth Media Awards list #alayma

I've created a complete, annotated list of all the books and audiobooks that were honored in the 2018 American Library Association Youth Media Awards in Denver, Colorado at the annual American Library Association Conference.

Flip through and enjoy!  

If you have difficulty accessing the slideshow, you may find it on Riffle Books. [https://www.rifflebooks.com/list/253991]

ALA Youth Media Awards

Tomorrow morning, I'll be watching the live stream of the American Library's Youth Media Awards.  I am a proud member of ALSC, whose members make up many of the awards committees.

You can watch the ALA YMA live beginning on February 12, at 8:00am MT.

http://ala.unikron.com/2018/index_home.php

I'm afraid that I may have missed reading many of the award winners this year, so tomorrow morning, I will be placing holds and adding to my TBR pile!

The social media hashtag for the event is #ALAyma

2016 National Book Awards - Longlist for Young People's Lit

Be sure to check out the 2016 National Book Awards.  Yesterday, the longlist was released for 

the category of Young People's Literature. 

2016 National Book Awards

The longlists for Poetry, Nonfiction, and Fiction will be released today, tomorrow, and Thursday.

Sydney Taylor Awards and more

 As the motion picture industry has multiple awards including the Academy, Screen Actors Guild, and Golden Globe, so too, does the publishing industry. In books for young people, the best known are the Caldecott and Newbery Medals, which were awarded this month, and I wrote about earlier. ( See the complete list of winners here: [http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2016/01/american-library-association-announces-2016-youth-media-award-winners])


There are however, numerous other awards including (but not limited to) the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Cybils Awards (chosen by bloggers and for which I have twice been a judge), The Schneider Family Book Award (which recognizes excellence in portraying the disability experience), the Coretta Scott King Awards (recognizing books by African Americans that reflect the African American experience), and the Pura Belpré Awards (honoring books that celebrate the Latino cultural experience). 

Also recently awarded were the Sydney Taylor Book Awards for children and teens.  These awards are given to books that "authentically portray the Jewish experience."  You can read the official press release here: [http://jewishlibraries.org/blog.php?id=315]   

Many schoolchildren are introduced to the Jewish experience only through Holocaust education.  The Sydney Taylor Awards recognize all aspects of Jewish culture.

The Association of Jewish Libraries asked for my assistance in promoting this year's winners, and I am happy to do so.  A complete list of winners and honor books is below. 

 If you haven't read any of the winners of these or other awards celebrating the many facets of our diverse world, consider adding several to your TBR pile.


The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Younger Readers:

•  Ketzel, the Cat who Composed by Lesléa Newman with illustrations by Amy June Bates (Candlewick Press) 

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Older Readers: 

•  Adam & Thomas by Aharon Appelfeld, translated by Jeffrey M. Green with illustrations by Philippe Dumas (Seven Stories Press)

 The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Teen Readers:

•  The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick Press) 

Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Younger Readers:

• Everybody Says Shalom by Leslie Kimmelman with illustrations by Talitha Shipman (Random House) Shanghai Sukkah by Heidi Smith Hyde with illustrations by Jing Jing Tsong (Kar-Ben Publishing)

 Sydney Taylor Honor Book for Older Readers:

•  Hereville: How Mirka Caught a Fish by Barry Deutsch (Amulet Books) 

 Sydney Taylor Honor Books for Teen Readers:

• Serendipity’s Footsteps by Suzanne Nelson (Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House) Stones on a Grave by Kathy Kacer (Orca Book Publishers) 

Note:
Keep watch for the 2015 Cybils Awards winners.  They will be announced on Valentine's Day, February 14th. 

ALA Youth Media Awards announced today!

Watch the Golden Globes last night?  Well, it's award season for books, too!

The big news today for librarians, parents, teachers, and fans of #kidlit, is the announcement of the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards. I'll be driving to work as the live webcast begins, but I'll be checking in as soon as I get to work!

Most people know the Newbery and Caldecott Medal awards, but there are many others.  You can check them out the complete press release here: http://www.ala.org/news/mediapresscenter/presskits/youthmediaawards/alayouthmediaawards

You can watch a live stream of the event beginning at 8:00AM EST today, January 11, 2016.  Here's the link: http://ala.unikron.com/2016/ .

You can also follow the Twitter hashtag #ALAyma for live updates.

I hope to see a few of my favorites!

Image source: openclipart.org

Feathers: Not Just for Flying

As I've mentioned before, I had the great honor and opportunity to serve again as a second round judge on the Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction book award panel for the Cybils Awards.  If you're not familiar with the Cybils awards, they are the Children and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards.

Our judging panel chose the following as the 2014 Cybils Award winner for best Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction book:

Congratulations to Melissa Stewart,  Sarah S. Brannen, and Charlesbridge! 

The judging panel's description:

Using child-friendly similes, Feathers shows that there is both beauty and purpose in nature and that, although we do not fly, we have many things in common with birds, such as the need to be safe, attractive, industrious, communicative, and well-fed. The simple, large text is suitable for reading to very young children, while the inset boxes contain more details for school-aged kids. The scrapbook-style watercolor illustrations show each feather at life size, and provide a nice jumping-off point for individual projects. Science, art, and prose work together to make this the perfect book to share with budding young artists, painters, naturalists, and scientists, and it will be appreciated by parents, teachers, and kids.

Melissa Stewart's website offers teaching resources and activities to go along with Feathers.

[ http://www.melissa-stewart.com/books/birds/bk_feathers.html]

Be sure to check out all of the Cybils award winning books (and apps!) at [http://www.cybils.com/2015/02/the-2014-cybils-awards.html ]

An invitation

You're invited!

Librarians from the NJLA Children's Services Section have begun a mock Newbery blog,

Newbery Blueberry Mockery Pie.

Please join us as we discuss past Newbery Medal winners, and try to pick the 2013 medalist. 

All are welcome!

You can find me there today.

Cybils winners announced!

The 2011 Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards have been announced!

I'm pleased to have been part of the judging panel for Cybils Nonfiction Picture Books. 

And the winner is:

Carlyn Beccia's, I Feel Better with a Frog in my Throat. 

Following is reposting of an audio booktalk that I created for I Feel Better with a Frog in my Throat on November 29, 2010.


Beccia, Carlyn. 2010. I Feel Better with a Frog in My Throat: History's Strangest Cures. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Congratulations to all of the Cybils Nonfiction Picture book finalists!  All of the books were wonderful. I'll be posting reviews of several other finalists in the next few days.

ALA Youth Media Awards

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the day that the winners of the ALA Youth Media Awards will be announced at ALA Midwinter in Dallas.

ALA will host a live webcast of the event, beginning at 7:30am CT.

I can't wait to hear the winners, and hope I've read them all.  Next week, I'm planning a storytime based on Caldecott Medal winners.  I'm hoping to share the winner with my storytime crowd (unless, of course, its a behemoth like The Invention of Hugo Cabret  - you never know)

While you're waiting for the winners to be announced, feel free to enjoy this video which "captures Newbery Award-Winning authors Virginia Hamilton and Jean Craighead George talking about how those awards (for Julie of the Wolves and M.C. Higgins The Great respectively) changed their lives."


Video provided courtesy of Open Road Media.   

Tomorrow is also Nonfiction Monday and the roundup will be here.

Cybils shortlist

After months of hard work by the first round judges, the shortlists are out for the 2011 Cybils, the Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards.  I'm pleased, honored and humbled to be a Round 2 judge in the Nonfiction Picture Books category.

Following are this year's finalists in the NFPB category (linked to my review where applicable):

All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon
Atheneum

Bring On the Birds
by Susan Stockdale
Peachtree




Can We Save the Tiger?
by Martin Jenkins
Candlewick Press



I Feel Better with a Frog in My Throat: History's Strangest Cures by Carlyn Beccia
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children



Planting the Wild Garden
by Kathryn O. Galbraith
Peachtree



The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: A Scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle
Millbrook Press




Thunder Birds: Nature's Flying Predators
by Jim Arnosky
Sterling Publishing


To date, I've read only four of the seven finalists and reviewed only two, but I will be posting more reviews as we lead up to the announcement of the winners on February 14th.  I look forward to working with my fellow judges, Terry Doherty, Family Bookshelf, Adrienne Mason, Tough City Writer, Karen Terlecky,  Literate Lives, and Laura Wadley,  PCL Children's Book Review.  Thanks to our organizer, Fiona Bayrock,  Books and 'Rocks.

Let the fun begin!

Links to the Cybils finalists in all categories may be found here.

Paying it forward - The Liebster Award

I has an award!

 (If you're not familiar with the "I has a ..." craze, you're not spending enough time with teenagers)

Surprise, surprise!  Yesterday, I was given The Liebster Award by Nicki of Dog Ear. The Liebster Award was designed to call attention to blogs with fewer than 200 followers - under-appreciated blogs, you might say.

If you are fortunate enough to be recognized by one of your fellow bloggers with The Liebster Award, your "obligations" are simple:

• Acknowledge your award by linking back to the blog that chose you.
• Pay it forward by highlighting your own 5 favorite under-appreciated blogs.
• Leave each of them a comment advising them of the award.
• Display your award proudly.

(or something like that anyway)

So, which blogs do I feel are under-appreciated?

• NC Teacher Stuff - I truly enjoy Jeff's thoughtful postings with an educational focus.  If I were a teacher, I wouldn't miss a day of his blog! 
• The Fourth Musketeer - With a heavy emphasis on historical fiction and more YA than I typically read, Margo's blog helps me fill in my gaps, keeping me up-to-date. Interesting and well-written,  Margo of The Fourth Musketeer is also my co-collaborator on ...
• KidLit Celebrates Women's History Month - Yes, I am a member of this blog but I don't feel badly in pointing it out. It is a labor of love, highlighting children's books that focus on women's history.  We're on hiatus now, but will gear up later this year to offer thirty days of stellar postings by authors and bloggers in celebration of Women's History Month 2012. 
• Pink Me - depending on what stats you're counting, Pink Me may cross the 200 threshold, but it's a blog worth pointing out. She's also on my judging panel for Cybils, Nonfiction Picture Books. Pink Me's always keeping it real - and I appreciate that. 

and finally,

• Thanks back to Dog Ear, whose author is a voracious reader and reviewer, offering me a place to go when I find myself without a YA recommendation - especially something dystopian, romantic, or angsty - my readers advisory shortcomings. (I can't help it if I'm a nonfiction fan!)

So there you  have it!  The Liebster Award.  Enjoy.

  

It's Cybils time - nominate your favorite nonfiction title today!

Since today is Nonfiction Monday, I thought it a fine time to remind everyone that nominations are open for the 2011 Cybils. (Read more about the Cybils here.) 

If you're already aware, please pardon my reminder.

As bloggers, blog readers, and lovers of nonfiction, this is our chance to nominate our favorite books in a variety of categories; two are nonfiction:

• Nonfiction for MG/YA
• Nonfiction Picture Books

Please, nominate your favorite nonfiction title, and make sure it gets some first-round attention! I'm very excited to announce that I am a second round judge in the NFPB category.  I'm looking forward to seeing the list. This will give me a great opportunity to see titles that I may have missed, and to re-examine others.

The Cybils nomination form is here.  Be sure to read the new Eligibility Rules before nominating!

And hurry!  Nominations close on October 15th!  Spread the word!

Today's Nonfiction Monday Round-up is at 100 Scope Notes.

I Love My Librarian!

Do you love your librarian? Yes?

Well, time is running out to nominate your favorite librarian for the annual

 I Love My Librarian Award! 

"There are more than 122,000 libraries nationwide, and librarians touch the lives of the people they serve every day. The award encourages library users like you to recognize the accomplishments of exceptional public, school, college, community college, or university librarians. We want to hear how you think your librarian is improving the lives of the people in your school, campus or community.
Up to ten winners will be selected this year and receive a $5,000 cash award, a plaque and $500 travel stipend to attend an awards reception in New York hosted by The New York Times.
The award is administered by the American Library Association with support from Carnegie Corporation of New York and The New York Times."

Nominate your favorite librarian today! 

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword

Deutsch, Barry. 2010. Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword. New York: Amulet.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I placed a hold on Hereville:  How Mirka Got Her Sword (tagline: "Yet Another Troll-Fighting 11-Year-Old Orthodox Jewish Girl") in anticipation of hosting an author or illustrator on the Sydney Taylor Book Awards blog tour. (I don't know yet whom it will be, but I'm excited and trying to be prepared!)

Hereville is the 2011 gold medal winner in the Sydney Taylor Awards "older readers" (think middle school) category, and it is anything but what I thought it might be.  I expected a heavy, perhaps historical fiction, story of the Jewish experience.  What I found instead, was a modern, graphic novel,  fairytale adventure, offering a prolonged peek into a very insular community - that of the Orthodox Jew.  Through Mirka, the book's lively and determined protagonist, the reader sees a young girl who, despite the tenets of her faith that keep her apart from secular and non-Orthodox society, is much like any other young girl - willful and curious, tempered with love for her family and friends, and a grudging respect for her elders.

Of course, the fact that Mirka is an Orthodox Jewish girl cannot be missed.  The clothing,  religious observances, frequent use of Yiddish words (defined in footnotes), gender segregation, large families and dietary restrictions of the faith are all on display in Hereville, an apropos name, as "here," within the community, is the only place that an Orthodox child is likely to be.  But Mirka longs to fight dragons and isn't afraid to occasionally disobey her stepmother, Fruma, in search of adventure.  Mirka doesn't ever find dragons, but she does find a witch, a talking pig, and eventually, a way to win her sword - even if it doesn't involve slaying dragons.

Most of the interactions take place between Mirka and her younger brother Zindel, her closest companion in the family, and Fruma, a very wise woman, well-versed in turning both sides of any argument to her own favor, much to Mirka's consternation. The pig serves as a bridge of sorts between the Orthodox world and the world-at-large. It is unclear whether the witch is a fairy tale convention or a metaphor for the larger world, a sometimes dangerous place full of the strange and unfamiliar. Mirka must navigate the magical world of the witch in the wood while managing the growing discontent of  family and friends with her occasional decidedly unorthodox behavior.

The illustrations are easy to follow, usually in neatly-defined rectangular panels. Dialogue and text are in white bubbles or boxes in an easy-to-read font.  The artwork was created in pen and ink by the author; a colorist later added a tan palette for daytime scenes, and purple hues for Mirka's forays into the night. The faces are simple, yet expressive. There is enough action to satisfy regular graphic novel fans.

In my state of New Jersey, Orthodox Jews are not uncommon.  Knowing anyone who truly understands much about their lifestyle is. Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, has opened a window into the Orthodox culture.  In Hereville, Barry Deutsch manages to promote cultural understanding (and knitting!) in a graphic novel adventure.  It's no wonder that Hereville is this year's winner. A truly unique concept.


A fifteen-page preview of Hereville, the graphic novel, is available here.  Hereville began as a web comic in 2008, and may still be found online at Hereville.com.

Think you've got what it takes to be a graphic artist?  Check out this video of author/artist, Barry Deutsch, drawing Mirka at 20x normal speed.




About the Sydney Taylor Book Awards:

The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. Presented by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) since 1968, the Award encourages the publication and widespread use of quality Judaic literature. Gold medals are presented in three categories: Younger Readers, Older Readers, and Teen Readers. Honor Books are awarded silver medals, and Notable Books are named in each category.

And the winners are ...

Today the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards winners (including the Caldecott and Newbery medals) will be announced from San Diego, beginning at 7:45am EST PST.  Check back throughout the day for updates to this post or view the official ALA webcast.  I can't wait to find out the winners!

(Follow Twitter hashtag #ALAYMA if you can't wait.)

Odyssey Award for best audiobook for children or teens
The True Meaning of Smekday



Pura Belpre Award
The Dreamer

John Newbery Award
Moon over Manifest
(Oh no!  I read all the honor books but not the winner! It will be next on my reading list for sure!)

Randolph Caldecott Award
A Sick Day for Amos McGee

Coretta Scott King Award
One Crazy Summer

Theodore Suess Geisel Award
Bink and Gollie

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot

Schneider Family Book Award
Pirate of Kindergarten,  After Ever After, Five Flavors of Dumb

and more!

These are some of the major award winners.  Watch the webcast for all the winners and the honor award recipients.

It's also Nonfiction Monday.  Today's roundup can be found at Tales from the Rushmore Kid.

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