The American Library Association (ALA) has announced the winners of the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction and the winners of the ALA Youth Media Awards, which honor the top books, videos, and audiobooks for children and young adults. The award winners were revealed at the association’s Midwinter Meeting, held January 20-24 in Atlanta, Georgia. The awards will be presented at the ALA Annual Conference, to be held June 22-27, 2017, in Chicago, Illinois.

This year’s winners are:

For Adults

Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, recognizing the best fiction book for adult readers published in the U.S. the previous year: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)

Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, recognizing the best nonfiction book for adult readers published in the U.S. the previous year: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond (Crown)

More information regarding the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction is available on the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction website [5].

For Children

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (Algonquin Young Readers)

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children: Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, written and illustrated by Javaka Steptoe (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award, recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults: March: Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions)

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award: Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, written and illustrated by Javaka Steptoe (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award: The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (Delacorte Press)

Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement: Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults: March: Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions)

Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:

For ages 0 to 10: Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Boris Kulikov (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

For ages 11 to 13: As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

For ages 13 to 18: When We Collided by Emery Lord (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

Alex Awards, administrated by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) to the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences:

• The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst (Harper Voyager)
• The Regional Office is Under Attack! by Manuel Gonzales (Riverhead)
• In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero with Michelle Burford (Henry Holt and Co.)
• Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded by Hannah Hart (Dey Street)
• Arena by Holly Jennings (Ace Books)
• Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Tor)
• Romeo and/or Juliet: A Choosable-Path Adventure by Ryan North (Riverhead Books)
• Die Young With Me: A Memoir by Rob Rufus (Touchstone)
• The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar by Matt Simon (Penguin Books)
• The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko by Scott Stambach (St. Martin’s Press)

Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children’s video: Ryan Swenar of Dreamscape Media, LLC, producer of “Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music.” Video adapted from Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music by Margarita Engle (HMH Books for Young Readers)

Laura Ingalls Wilder Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the U.S., have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children: Nikki Grimes

Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults: Sarah Dessen

2018 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award, recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian, or teacher of children’s literature who then presents a lecture at a winning host site: Naomi Shihab Nye

Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children’s book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the U.S.: Cry, Heart, But Never Break by Glenn Ringtved, illustrated by Charolotte Pardi, translated by Robert Moulthrop (Enchanted Lion Books)

Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the U.S.: Anna and the Swallow Man produced by Listening Library, written by Gavriel Savit, narrated by Allan Corduner

Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award, honoring a Latino writer and illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm,and celebrate the Latino cultural experience: Lowriders to the Center of the Earth illustrated by Raúl Gonzalez, written by Cathy Camper (Chronicle Books)

Pura Belpré (Author) Award: Juana & Lucas, written and illustrated by Juana Medina (Candlewick Press)

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children: March: Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions)

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: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion) and If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo (Flatiron Books)

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book: We Are Growing: A Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! Book by Laurie Keller (Hyperion Books for Children)

William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens: The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner (Crown Books for Young Readers)

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults: March: Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions)

More information on the 2017 ALA Youth Media Award winners [6], as well as this year’s YMA honor books, is available here.