Every year, the American Library Association announces the winners of the Youth Media Awards, some of the highest honors in the world of literature for kids from age 0-18. These awards include the Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal, and Printz Award, among many others. You can learn more about the Youth Media Awards from the ALA's website, or keep reading this page to see the full list of this year's honored books.
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2023 Newbery Honor Twelve-year-old Iveliz is trying to manage her mental health and advocate for the help and understanding she deserves, but in the meantime her new friend calls her crazy and her abuela Mimi dismisses the therapy and medicine Iveliz needs to feel like herself. |
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Joining an expedition to chart the southern seas, 12-year-old mapmaker's assistant Sai, posing as a well-bred young lady with a glittering future, realizes she's not the only one on board harboring secrets when she discovers the ship's true destination. |
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Maizy Chen's last chance by Lisa Yee 2023 Newbery Honor, 2023 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Children's Literature Winner In Last Chance, Minnesota, with her family, Maizy spends her time at the Golden Palace, the restaurant that's been in her family for generations, where she makes some discoveries requiring her to go on a search for answers. |
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After escaping Southerland Plantation with his little sister, 12-year-old Homer becomes part of a secret community called Freewater, where he finally finds a place to call home and the courage to go back and free his mother from enslavement. |
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This smash-up of art and text visually captures what it is to be Black in America and what it means to REALLY breathe. |
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As a young Tlingit girl collects wild berries over the seasons, she sings with her Grandmother as she learns to speak to the land and listen when the land speaks back. |
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Choosing Brave : How Mamie Till-mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy 2023 Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award, Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor Brilliantly crafted to be both comprehensive and suitable for young readers, this true account follows Mamie Till-Mobley, who, after the murder of her 14-year-old son in 1955, refocused her unimaginable grief into action for the greater good. |
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2023 Caldecott Honor After achieving his dream of becoming a knight, a small owl protects the castle from a hungry dragon. |
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Tired of the city's sizzling sidewalks, wailing sirens and people's feet in his face, a hot dog finds inner peace and calm when his owner takes him to the beach, where he happily cools off. |
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Star child : a biographical constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler by Ibi Aanu Zoboi 2023 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Through poems and prose, an acclaimed novelist paints a vivid portrait of science fiction visionary Octavia Butler, who was born into the Space Race, the Red Scare and the dawning of the Civil Rights Movement. |
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Told in an age-appropriate fashion, this picture book follows a young boy who just wants to be a kid, as he has The Talk--a conversation that could mean the difference between life and death in a racist world. |
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Victory. Stand! : raising my fist for justice by Tommie Smith 2023 Coretta Scott King Author Honor, 2023 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, 2023 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults A groundbreaking and timely graphic memoir from one of the most iconic figures in American sports-and a tribute to his fight for civil rights. On October 16, 1968, during the medal ceremony at the Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith, the gold medal winner in the 200-meter sprint, and John Carlos, the bronze medal winner, stood on the podium in black socks and raised their black-gloved fists to protest racial injustice inflicted upon African Americans. Both men were forced to leave the Olympics, received death threats, and faced ostracism and continuing economic hardships. In his first-ever memoir for young readers, Tommie Smith looks back on his childhood growing up in rural Texas through to his stellar athletic career, culminating in his historic victory and Olympic podium protest. Cowritten with Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Honor recipient Derrick Barnes and illustrated with bold and muscular artwork from Emmy Award-winning illustrator Dawud Anyabwile, Victory. Stand! paints a stirring portrait of an iconic moment in Olympic history that still resonates today. |
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Freewater
by Amina Luqman-Dawson 2023 Newbery Medal, 2023 Coretta Scott King Author Winner |
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2023 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor To make his big sister, Zora--aka the boss--proud, Lee learns to sew at the library and secretly sews the ear back on Zora's stuffed bear, an act of kindness that earns him a special big sister hug. |
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Swim team
by Johnnie Christmas 2023 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor |
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Victory. Stand! : raising my fist for justice
by Tommie Smith 2023 Coretta Scott King Author Honor, 2023 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, 2023 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults |
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Standing in the need of prayer : a modern retelling of the classic spiritual by Carole Boston Weatherford 2023 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award |
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Forced to move to Georgia to live with her hostile, terminally ill grandmother, 17-year-old Avery discovers that the racist history of this town is rooted in her family in ways she can't even imagine, jeopardizing her newfound romance with her next-door neighbor, Simone. |
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Choosing Brave : How Mamie Till-mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy 2023 Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award Brilliantly crafted to be both comprehensive and suitable for young readers, this true account follows Mamie Till-Mobley, who, after the murder of her 14-year-old son in 1955, refocused her unimaginable grief into action for the greater good. |
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Born into a family of hunters sworn to protect humans from interdimensional parasites, 16-year-old Prudence Perry, a former legacy Ladybird Scout, falls back into the fold when her town is hit with a mysterious wave of demons. |
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Vying for the NHL league’s top draft spot, 17-year-old Mickey James and teammate Jaysen Caulfield find their rivalry turning into something more, forcing them both to decide what they really want and what they are willing to risk for it. |
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When a young emigrant from their tiny village goes missing while heading to America, angel Uriel and demon Little Ash set off to find her and encounter many humans in need of their help as they face obstacles ahead of them as difficult as what they've left behind. |
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Queer ducks (and other animals) : the natural world of animal sexuality by Eliot Schrefer 2023 Printz Honor Drawing on science, history, anthropology and sociology, this fascinating book explores same-sex sexual behavior in the animal world, putting to rest claims about the "unnaturalness" of queer behavior and showing that it is as natural as it is in our own species. |
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When his attempts to save his family's motel spiral out of control, Salahudin and his best friend Noor, two outcasts in their town, must decide what their friendship is worth and how they can defeat the monsters of their past and in their midst. |
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In the blue
by Erin Hourigan 2023 Schneider Family Book Honor for Young Children |
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Listen : how Evelyn Glennie, a deaf girl, changed percussion by Shannon Stocker 2023 Schneider Family Book Award for Young Children This inspiring biography tells the story of musically gifted Evelyn Glennie, who lost her hearing as a young girl and was told she could never be a musician until she proved everyone wrong by listening in a way others didn't. Simultaneous eBook. Illustrations. |
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Twelve-year-old Olive, who is seen as "fragile" due to brittle bone disease, searches for a magical, wish-granting hummingbird that could possibly make her most desperate, secret wish come true. |
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Honestly Elliott
by Gillian McDunn 2023 Schneider Family Book Honor for Middle Grades |
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Wildoak
by C. C. Harrington 2023 Schneider Family Book Award for Middle Grades |
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Breathe and count back from ten
by Natalia Sylvester 2023 Schneider Family Book Honor for Teens, 2023 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Honor |
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The words we keep
by Erin Stewart 2023 Schneider Family Book Award for Teens |
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The coquíes still sing / : A Story of Home, Hope, and Rebuilding by Karina Nicole González 2023 Pura Belpré Youth Illustration Honor, 2023 Pura Belpré Youth Author Honor "Co-quí, co-quí! The coquí frogs sing to Elena from her family's beloved mango tree--their calls so familiar that they might as well be singing, "You are home, you are safe." But home is suddenly not safe when a hurricane threatens to destroy everything that Elena knows. |
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A land of books : dreams of young Mexihcah word painters
by Duncan Tonatiuh 2023 Pura Belpré Youth Illustration Honor |
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Magic : once upon a faraway land
by Mirelle Ortega 2023 Pura Belpré Youth Illustration Honor |
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Phenomenal AOC : the roots and rise of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
by Anika Denise 2023 Pura Belpré Youth Illustration Honor |
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Srta. Quinces/ Miss Quinces
by Kat Fajardo 2023 Pura Belpré Youth Illustration Honor Sue just wants to spend the summer reading and making comics at sleepaway camp with her friends, but instead she gets stuck going to Honduras to visit relatives with her parents and two sisters. The trip takes a turn for the worse when Sue's mother announces that they'll be having a surprise quinceañera for Sue, which is the last thing she wants. She can't imagine wearing a big, floofy, colorful dress! What is Sue going to do? And how will she survive all this 'quality' time with her rambunctious family? |
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Still Dreaming/ Seguimos Soąndo
by Claudia Guadalupe Martn̕ez 2023 Pura Belpré Youth Illustration Honor A child dreams of a life without borders after he and and his parents are forced to leave their home during the Mexican Repatriation. |
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Where wonder grows
by Xelena González 2023 Pura Belpré Youth Illustration Award |
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The notebook keeper : a story of kindness from the border
by Stephen Briseño 2023 Pura Belpré Youth Author Honor |
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Tumble
by Celia C. Pérez 2023 Pura Belpré Youth Author Honor |
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Frizzy
by Claribel A. Ortega 2023 Pura Belpré Youth Author Award |
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Breathe and count back from ten
by Natalia Sylvester 2023 Schneider Family Book Honor for Teens, 2023 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Honor |
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High spirits : short stories on Dominican diaspora by Camille Gomera-Tavarez 2023 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Honor This collection of 11 interconnected short stories from the Dominican diaspora explore machismo, mental health and identity by following one extended family across multiple generations. |
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The lesbiana's guide to Catholic school by Sonora Reyes 2023 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Honor, 2023 William C. Morris Award Finalist Transferred to a Catholic school, 16-year-old Yami Flores finds it hard to fake being straight when she falls for Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, but refuses to follow her heart until she learns to live her full truth out loud. |
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When an urban legend rumored to trap people inside subway tunnels seems to be behind mysterious disappearances in the Bronx, sixteen-year-old Raquel and her friends team up to save their city--and confront a dark episode in its history in the process |
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Choosing Brave : How Mamie Till-mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy 2023 Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award, 2023 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor Brilliantly crafted to be both comprehensive and suitable for young readers, this true account follows Mamie Till-Mobley, who, after the murder of her 14-year-old son in 1955, refocused her unimaginable grief into action for the greater good. |
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A seed grows by Antoinette Portis 2023 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor, 2023 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Including a bright fold-out spread of a full-grown sunflower and additional material explaining the life cycle of plants, this transformative story offers a close-up view of each step of the process as a seed becomes a sunflower. |
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Sweet justice : Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
by Mara Rockliff 2023 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor |
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The tower of life : how Yaffa Eliach rebuilt her town in stories and photographs
by Chana Stiefel 2023 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor, 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Gold Medal for Picture Books |
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Seen and unseen : what Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams's photographs reveal about the Japanese American incarceration
by Elizabeth Partridge 2023 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award Weaving together powerful photographs, firsthand accounts and stunning original art, this important work of nonfiction examines the history, heartbreak and injustice of the Japanese American incarceration. |
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In the key of us
by Mariama Lockington 2023 Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s Literature Honor Brought together during summer music camp where they are the only two Black girls, Andi and Zora slowly begin to connect and soon come to realize what has been missing from their lives--each other. |
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Kapaemahu by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu 2023 Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s Literature Honor This tribute to an Indigenous Hawaiian legend, and based on the Academy Award-contending short film, brings to life the story of four 19th century Mahu who shared their gifts of science and healing with the people of Waikiki before disappearing. |
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The real Riley Mayes by Rachel Elliott 2023 Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s Literature Honor Riley meets two classmates and their growing friendship helps spark a journey of self-discovery within herself. |
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Strong by Rob Kearney 2023 Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s Literature Honor An inspirational picture book memoir that follows Rob Kearney's journey to becoming the first openly gay strongman competitor, proud to wear rainbow colors. |
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Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild 2023 Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s Literature Award Of all the kids in Violet's class, only one leaves her speechless: Mira, the girl with the cheery laugh who races like the wind, and as Valentine's Day approaches, shy Violet musters the courage to tell Mira just how special she is. |
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I kissed Shara Wheeler : a novel by Casey McQuiston 2023 Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Honor When her rival, prom queen Shara Wheeler, kisses her and disappears, leaving behind cryptic notes, Chloe Green hunts for answers and discovers there is more to this small town than she thought--and maybe more to Shara, as well. |
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Kings of B'more by R. Eric Thomas 2023 Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Honor When his best friend announces he is moving, Harrison gives him a send-off a ̉la Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and as they do things they've been scared to do, they learn the scariest thing is saying goodbye to someone you love. |
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Man o' war by Cory McCarthy 2023 Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Honor While at a marine life theme park, River's encounter with a queer person lands him in the shark tank, which launches a journey of self-discovery, from internalized homophobia and gender dysphoria, through layers of coming out, affirmation surgery, and true love. |
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The summer of bitter and sweet by Jen Ferguson 2023 Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Honor, 2023 William C. Morris Award Finalist Louisa, a teenage Métis girl living on the Canadian prairie, expects to spend her summer before university scooping ice cream at her family's shop, but things quickly become complicated as former friends resurface, family secrets are revealed, and the father she wanted to stay behind bars forever begins to contact her. |
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When the angels left the old country by Sacha Lamb 2023 Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Award, 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Gold Medal for Young Adults When a young emigrant from their tiny village goes missing while heading to America, angel Uriel and demon Little Ash set off to find her and encounter many humans in need of their help as they face obstacles ahead of them as difficult as what they've left behind. |
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Fish returns for another adventure at sea in the latest offering in the I Can Read Comics series, an early reader that familiarizes children with the world of graphic novel storytelling and encourages visual literacy in emerging readers. |
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Gigi and Ojiji
by Melissa Iwai 2023 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor |
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Owl and Penguin
by Vikram Madan 2023 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor |
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A seed grows
by Antoinette Portis 2023 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor, 2023 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor |
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A girl tries and tries again to learn to ride a bicycle and all her friends provide words of encouragement |
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The summer of bitter and sweet by Jen Ferguson 2023 Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Honor, 2023 William C. Morris Award Finalist Louisa, a teenage Métis girl living on the Canadian prairie, expects to spend her summer before university scooping ice cream at her family's shop, but things quickly become complicated as former friends resurface, family secrets are revealed, and the father she wanted to stay behind bars forever begins to contact her |
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When a devil from her past returns to court her, as he did her mother years earlier, tobacco hand and taxidermist Laurel Early must unravel her mother's terrifying legacy and tap into her own magic to save everyone she loves. |
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The lesbiana's guide to Catholic school
by Sonora Reyes 2023 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Honor, 2023 William C. Morris Award Finalist |
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Hell followed with us
by Andrew Joseph White 2023 William C. Morris Award Finalist |
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The life and crimes of Hoodie Rosen
by Isaac Blum 2023 William C. Morris Award Winner |
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Abuela, don't forget me by Rex Ogle 2023 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist Rex Ogle's companion to Free Lunch and Punching Bag weaves humor, heartbreak, and hope into life-affirming poems that honor his grandmother's legacy. In his award-winning memoir Free Lunch, Rex Ogle's abuela features as a source of love and support. In this companion-in-verse, Rex captures and celebrates the powerful presence a woman he could always count on-to give him warm hugs and ear kisses, to teach him precious words in Spanish, to bring him to the library where he could take out as many books as he wanted, and to offer safety when darkness closed in. Throughout a coming of age marked by violence and dysfunction, Abuela's red-brick house in Abilene, Texas, offered Rex the possibility of home, and Abuela herself the possibility for a better life. Abuela, Don't Forget Me is a lyrical portrait of the transformative and towering woman who believed in Rex even when he didn't yet know how to believe in himself. |
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American murderer : the parasite that haunted the South by Gail Jarrow 2023 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist Imagine microscopic worms living in the soil. They enter your body through your bare feet, travel to your intestines, and stay there for years sucking your blood like vampires. You feel exhausted. You get sick easily. It sounds like a nightmare, but that's what happened in the American South during the 1800s and early 1900s. Doctors never guessed that hookworms were making patients ill, but zoologist Charles Stiles knew better. Working with one of the first public health organizations, he and his colleagues treated the sick and showed Southerners how to protect themselves by wearing shoes and using outhouses so that the worms didn't spread. Although hookworm was eventually controlled in the United States, the parasite remains a serious health problem throughout the world. The topic of this STEM book remains relevant and will fascinate young readers interested in medicine, science, history-and gross stories about bloodsucking creatures. |
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A face for Picasso : coming of age with Crouzon syndrome by Ariel Henley 2023 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist The first known identical twins to survive Crouzon syndrome, Ariel and Zan underwent many appearance-altering procedures, in this memoir in which Ariel explores identity and beauty, and the strength it takes to put your life, and yourself, back together time and time again. |
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Unequal : a story of America by Michael Eric Dyson 2023 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist This gripping account of the struggles that shaped America and the insidiousness of racism demonstrates how inequality still persists today and provides a framework for addressing racial injustice. Simultaneous eBook. |
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Victory. Stand! : raising my fist for justice
by Tommie Smith 2023 Coretta Scott King Author Honor, 2023 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, 2023 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults |
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Nana, Nenek & Nina by Liza Ferneyhough 2023 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Picture Book Honor In this gorgeously illustrated picture book, which invites young readers to spot differences and similarities, Nina, who lives in San Francisco, visits her two faraway grandmas--one in Malaysia and one in England. |
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From the tops of the trees
by Kao Kalia Yang 2023 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Picture Book Winner |
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Troublemaker
by John Cho 2023 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Children's Literature Honor |
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Maizy Chen's last chance by Lisa Yee 2023 Newbery Honor, 2023 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Children's Literature Winner In Last Chance, Minnesota, with her family, Maizy spends her time at the Golden Palace, the restaurant that's been in her family for generations, where she makes some discoveries requiring her to go on a search for answers. |
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The silence that binds us by Joanna Ho 2023 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Youth Literature Honor When her brother's suicide results in racial accusations being hurled against her parents for putting too much "pressure" on him, Maybelline Chen challenges these ugly stereotypes through her writing and decides to speak out despite the consequences. |
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Himawari House by Harmony Becker 2023 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Youth Literature Winner When Nao returns to Tokyo to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, she books a yearlong stay at the Himawari sharehouse. There she meets Hyejung and Tina...The trio live together, share meals, and even attend the same Japanese-language school, which results in them becoming fast friends. But will they be able to hold one another up as life tests them with new loves, old heartbreaks, and the everyday challenges of being fish out of water? |
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When the opportunity arises, Shirley, the daughter of immigrants who live above their corner grocery store, turns some overlooked gefilte fish into a marketing strategy that changes the flavor of the neighborhood |
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The Very Best Sukkah : A Story from Uganda
by Shoshana Nambi 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medal for Picture Books |
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Sitting shiva
by Erin Silver 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medal for Picture Books |
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The tower of life : how Yaffa Eliach rebuilt her town in stories and photographs
by Chana Stiefel 2023 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor, 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Gold Medal for Picture Books |
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When eleven-year-old Milla's best friend Honey joins her school for sixth grade Milla finds herself in her friend's shadow, but as the year progresses through the Jewish holidays Milla tries to cope with the tensions and the dramas of school--including the death of a beloved teacher. |
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Black bird, blue road by Sofiya Pasternack 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medal for Middle Grade To save her sick twin brother from the Angel of Death by taking him to find doctors who can cure him, Ziva accidentally frees a half-demon boy instead, who leads them to a fabled city where no one dies. |
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2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medal for Middle Grade When a school trip to Barcelona to reconnect with her best friend doesn’t go as planned, Ellen, a neurodivergent 13-year-old, must expand her horizons as she makes new friends and learns to let go of old ones. |
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Aviva vs. the Dybbuk by Mari Lowe 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Gold Medal for Middle Grade |
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My fine fellow
by Jennieke Cohen 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medal for Young Adults |
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Some Kind of Hate
by Sarah Darer Littman 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medal for Young Adults |
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Eight nights of flirting
by Hannah Reynolds 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medal for Young Adults |
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When the angels left the old country
by Sacha Lamb 2023 Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Award, 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award Gold Medal for Young Adults |