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American Library Association 2016 Young Media Award Winners

The American Library Association (ALA) just released the top books of the year for children and young adults, which include the Michael L. Printz Award.

The Michael L. Printz award is for excellence in young adult writing, and this year the winner is Bone Gap by Laura Ruby. This award also has two Honor titles and those are Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez and Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick.

The Schneider Family Book Award are books that “embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.” This year’s winner is Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten.

The Margaret A. Edwards Award is for lifetime achievement in Young Adult writing, and this year the honor goes to David Levithan. Mr. Levithan is the author of many books, including Boy Meets Boy, Are We There Yet? and The Realm of Possibility.

The William C. Morris Award is for best debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and young adults. The winner is Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. The finalists are: Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas, Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert, Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes, and The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore.

And last but not least is the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. The winner is Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin. The finalists were: Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir by Margarita Engle; First Flight Around the World: The Adventures of the American Fliers Who Won the Race by Tim Grove; Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson; and This Strange Wilderness:  The Life and Art of John James Audubon by Nancy Plain.

Laura Ruby