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)
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.