ALA Day!!!

Being awarded by the ALA means WAY more than getting a cool sticker on your book. The ALA Youth Media awards are like Oscar night for children's writers (without the borrowed 2 million dollar earrings). It's a day in which the American Library Association recognizes excellence in children's literature across the board from illustrators to non fiction books, young adult to children's books. The ALA's motto is: The best reading, for the largest number, at the least cost.

Now, that said, getting one of those stickers on your book is like having Mr. Oscar sitting on a dusty bookshelf. (Okay. I know. People who have Oscars have maids and don't have dusty shelves.) Anyway, it's BIG. It's a BIG DEAL. Plus, like I've mentioned before (twice) you get a cool sticker on your book. :-) And the committees who choose these books read hundreds of books a year to narrow it down to this list of winners.

Congratulations to the winners!! And thank you to the ALA for giving us a whole list of amazing books for us to put on our wish lists. Moreover, all of these winners set a standard for authors and illustrators everywhere, raising the bar, challenging us to become better at what we do. Whenever I read award-winning books and novels, I do so with my jaw open thinking, "Holy hell, this is amazing."
So, here's the list of jaw-dropping, holy-hell-this-is-amazing children literature chosen from 2009.

John Newberry Medal for most outstanding contribution to children's literature : When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Randolph Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children: The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkey

Michael L Printz award for excellence in literature written for young adults: Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults: Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy US Marshall by Vanda Micheaux Nelson (illustrated by R. Gregory Christie)
Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award: My People by Charles R Smith Jr.
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award: The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon
Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement: Walter Dean Myers
Pura Belpre (illustrator) Award honoring a Latino author and illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience: Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day; Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros: Illustrated by Rafael Lopez
Pura Belpre (Author): Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez

Schneider Family Book Award: Django written and illustrated by Bonnie Christensen, Anythinb but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin, Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork.
William C. Morris Award for first-time author of Young Adult literature: Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan
Odyssey Award: Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken written by Kate DiCamillo and narrated by Barbara Rosenblat
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award: Benny and Penny in the Big No-No! written and illustrated by Geoffrey Hayes
Margaret A Edwards Award: Jim Murphy



Robert F. Sibert Medal: Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone
YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award: Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
Andrew Carnegie Medal: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! produced by Paul R. Gagne and Mo Willems of Weston Woods
Mildred L Batchelder Award: A Faraway Island, originally published in Swedish as En ö i havet written by Annika Thor, translated by Linda Schenck