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2023 YA Award Winners

Book covers of the 10 Alex Award winners

The Alex Awards are given to the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences. The 2023 Alex Award winners are:
A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin
Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R. F. Kuang
Chef’s Kiss by Jarrett Melendez (illustrated by Danica Brine)
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Solito: A Memoir by Javier Zamora
The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere. by James Spooner
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
True Biz by Sara Nović
Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser (illustrated by Robyn Smith)

Book covers for Asian Pacific American Award winners

The Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature promotes Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and is awarded based on literary and artistic merit. The 2023 Youth Literature winner is Himawari House by Harmony Becker
The committee selected one Youth Literature honor title: The Silence that Binds Us by Joanna Ho

Book cover for We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

The Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award is awarded to a debut author. The 2023 award was given to We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

Book covers of 4 Jason Reynolds books

The Margaret A. Edwards Award is given for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults and the 2023 winner is Jason Reynolds, whose books include: Long Way Down, Ghost, All American Boys, and When I Was the Greatest, among other titles. 

5 book covers of Michael L. Printz award winner and honor books

The Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults was awarded to All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
Four Printz Honor Books were also named:
Scout’s Honor by Lily Anderson
Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei
When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb
Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer

Book covers for the Odyssey Award winner and honor audiobooks

The Odyssey Award is given to the best audiobooks produced for children and young adults, available in English in the United States. The 2023 winner for young adults is The Honeys by Ryan La Sala (narrated by Pete Cross).
Odyssey Honor Audiobooks also included:
Demon in the Wood Graphic Novel by Leigh Bardugo (adaptated by Garet Scott, narrated by Ben Barnes and a full cast)
Inheritance: A Visual Poem written and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo

Book covers for the Pura Belpré Awards winner and honor books

The Pura Belpré Awards honor Latinx writers and illustrators whose children’s and young adult
books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latinx cultural experience. The 2023 Young Adult Author award winner is Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado
Three Belpré Young Adult Author Honor Book were also named:
Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester
High Spirits by Camille Gomera-Tavarez
The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

Book covers for Schneider Family Book Award winner and honor book

The Schneider Family Book Award is awarded to books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience. The Words We Keep by Erin Stewart is the winner in the Teen category. One honor book for teens was also selected: Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester

Book covers for Stonewall Book Award winner and honor books

The Stonewall Book Award – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult
Literature Award is given annually to English-language children’s and young adult books of
exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience. The 2023 winner for young adults is When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb
Four Honor Books for Young Adult Literature were also selected:
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
Kings of B’more by R. Eric Thomas
Man o’ War by Cory McCarthy
The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson

Book covers for Sydney Taylor Book Award winner and silver medalists

The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and
teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. Presented by the Association of Jewish
Libraries since 1968, the award encourages the publication and widespread use of quality Judaic
literature. This year’s Young Adult Gold Medalist is When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb
The Young Adult Silver Medalists are:
My Fine Fellow: A Delicious Entanglement by Jennieke Cohen
Some Kind of Hate by Sarah Darer Littman
Eight Nights of Flirting by Hannah Reynolds

Book covers for the William C Morris Award winner and finalists

The William C. Morris Award, an award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens, was awarded to The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen by Isaac Blum
The four other finalists were:
The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson
Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne
The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes
Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

Book covers for YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction winner and finalists

The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults‘ 2023 Excellence winner is Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes (illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile)
The four other finalists were:
Abuela, Don’t Forget Me by Rex Ogle
American Murderer: The Parasite that Haunted the South by Gail Jarrow
A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome by Ariel Henley
Unequal: A Story of America by Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau

ck 03/27/2023.

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