At an annual event in late January,
not unlike a literary version of the Oscars, the American Library Association
grants awards to authors and illustrators of the best books in literature for
children and young adults. These medals for excellence highlight outstanding
books, now and into the future, extending awareness and accessibility to
youngsters and their families in both paper and digital formats. On these pages are listed the
distinguished choices from among the many wonderful books published in
2012. Read on!!
John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding
contribution to children's literature:
The One and Only Ivan
written by Katherine Applegate
illustrated
by Patricia Castelao
HarperCollins,
$16.99, Ages 8-12
This bittersweet tale is told in the voice
of an artistic gorilla, who lives in a mall with an elephant and a stray
dog. Ivan’s life changes when a
baby elephant named Ruby joins the animals in the mall, inspiring him to act on
her behalf. Based on a true account of a mall gorilla, who after being moved to
an Atlanta zoo, acquired fame and new friends and family.
Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:
This Is Not My Hat
illustrated and written by Jon Klassen
Candlewick Press, $15.99, Ages 4-8
The story of a hat, a small fish (the
robber) and a big fish (the rob-bee/hunter) is a darkly witty tale with
minimalist art and text. While the
text follows the thief, who sadly miscalculates the big fish’s abilities and
interest, the art traces the hunter, making for an interesting contrast.
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book
Award for most
distinguished informational book for children:
Bomb: The Race to Build—and
Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon
written by Steve Sheinkin
Flash Point, $19.99, Ages 10+.
A
true spy thriller, this carefully-paced nonfiction tale, using well-placed
archival photos and told in three parts, covers American efforts to build the
bomb, Soviet struggles to steal American designs, and attempts by America to
keep Germans from building a bomb. (Includes source notes, quotation notes,
acknowledgments, photo credits, and index.)
Coretta Scott King (Author) Book
Award recognizing
an African American author of outstanding books for children and young adults:
Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who
Changed America
written by Andrea Davis Pinkney
illustrated by Brian Pinkney
Disney/Jump at
the Sun Books, $19.99, Ages 10-15.
Benjamin Banneker, Frederick Douglass, Booker T.
Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, A. Philip Randolph, Thurgood Marshall, Jackie
Robinson, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Barack Obama are the
compelling subjects of this collective biography. An individual portrait of
each man serves as an impressive opening for each chapter, a celebration of the
lives of these memorable personalities. (Includes timeline, index, and lists of
recommended reading and viewing.)
Coretta Scott King (Illustrator)
Book Award recognizing an African American illustrator of
outstanding books for children and young adults:
I, Too, Am America
illustrated by Bryan Collier
written by Langston Hughes
Simon & Schuster, $16.99, Ages 8+.
Written
in 1925, Hughes’ poem is visualized through the experiences of Pullman porters,
and concludes with the figure of a young boy and his mother on a subway. The
latter is a promising image to accompany the poem’s hopeful conclusion, while
the porters offer new meaning and context to the brief poem. The eloquence of Collier’s trademark
mixed media collages, supplies bold visuals to embody Hughes’ beautiful
language.
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning
reader book:
Up, Tall and High!
written and illustrated by Ethan
Long
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, $15.99, Ages 3-6.
In
three short humorous stories this lift-the-flap book uses speech balloons,
simple vocabulary, and bright cartoon style birds - outlined in black - to convey
the meaning of opposing directions, engaging the youngest readers and even
early listeners.
Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award honoring a Latino illustrator whose children's book best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience:
Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert
illustrated by David Diaz
written by David D. Schmidt
Clarion Books, $16.99, Ages 6-9
Born into poverty as the illegitimate son of a former slave and a Spanish nobleman, this humble Peruvian man becomes a healer in a Dominican monastery and later, the first black saint of the Americas. Luminous illustrations accompany lyrical text.
Pura Belpré (Author) Award honoring a Latino writer whose children's book best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience:
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
written by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Simon & Schuster, Ages 14+.
It’s El Paso, Texas in the summer heat of
1987 when Ari & Dante meet at the pool, and discover an easy friendship,
enroute from the universe of boys to the universe of men. Careful plot, seemingly effortless
pacing, subtle characterization, and empathetic writing reveal the relationship
challenges often unavailable in fiction for young men. (Also won the Stonewall
Book Award - Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult
Literature Award given annually to English-language children’s and young
adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender experience.Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:
Awarded for ages 0 to 10:
Back to Front and Upside Down!
written and illustrated by Claire
Alexander
Eerdmans Books, $16.00, Ages 4-7.
Puppy Stan is excited about making a
birthday card for the principal of his school, until the class is told their
cards must also include words. His
unproductive efforts are discouraging until his friend, Jack, advises him to
ask for help. Compassionate
assistance, plus others who also need help in the animal classroom, provide a
sense of success. Delightful
illustrations.
Awarded for ages 11-13:
A Dog Called Homeless
written by Sarah Lean
Katherine
Tegen Books, $16.99, Ages 8-12.
Cally thinks she sees her mother, who has
been dead for over a year, accompanied by a stray dog that later shows up with
a homeless man. This compelling British
novel is nuanced by the relationship she develops with Sam, a blind, almost
deaf boy, in a neighboring apartment in the new building, to which Cally and
her dad move. And by Cally’s
decision to voluntarily take a vow of silence, to help raise money for
children’s hospice, as part of a project in her fifth grade classroom. This story of loss, bewilderment and
healing through unexpected experiences, is gently told.
Awarded for ages 13-18:
Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am
written by Harry Mazer and Peter
Lerangis
Simon & Schuster, Ages 12+.
A high school senior who enlists in the army
after graduation surprises his parents, autistic younger brother, girlfriend,
and best friend. After an IED
explosion sends him home in a coma, followed by brain damage, the emotional
effect on his relationships is heart wrenching, demonstrating through well-written
narrative, the universal human responses, through the singular personal
experience of one US soldier in Iraq.
Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written
for young adults:
In Darkness
written by Nick Lake
Bloomsbury
Books, $17.99, Ages 14+.
Following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti,
teenaged Shorty, trapped under debris, slips in and out of consciousness,
considering his own life and that of his country. Moving back and forth in
time, Shorty’s street voice alternates with the narrative of an 18th
century Haitian revolutionary, Toussaint
l’Ouverture, who led a slave revolt. The two share a soul, and their
experiences of violence and black magic are harsh and raw, supplying a powerful
picture of a neglected country. An
Author’s Note at the end discloses the real from the imagined.
Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children's book
originally published in a language other than English in a country other than
the United States and subsequently translated into English for publication in
the United States:
My Family for the War
was originally published in Germany
in 2007 as “Liverpool Street”
written by Anne C. Voorhoeve
translated by
Tammi Reichel
Dial Books, $17.99, Ages 12+.
Escaping from Nazi Germany on the kindertransport, one
young girl lives with a foster family in London, and shapes a new life. This is a tightly written and
emotionally rich novel, composed in memoir style.
More
lengthy reviews (from School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Voya, Publisher’s
Weekly, NY Times Book Review, Children’s Literature, Horn Book, Shelf
Awareness, and Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books) are available on
the Barnes & Noble website (http://www.barnesandnoble.com) associated
with each of the titles included above.
