And the Winner Is...

No, we’re not talking about the Academy Awards – those will be coming up at the end of February. But in the library world, the Youth Media Awards are almost as exciting! This year’s winners were just announced today. This list represents the best of the best – the greatest books published for children and young adults in 2011. Pick a winner today and enjoy some great reading! See the list of all winners on the American Library Association’s website. Here are the “big ones:”

JNEWB GAN

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature: Dead End in Norvelt, written by Jack Gantos, is the 2012 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by Farrar Straus Giroux. Two Newbery Honor Books also were named: Inside Out & Back Again, written by Thanhha Lai and published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers; and Breaking Stalin’s Nose, written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin, and published by Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

JCAL RAS

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children: A Ball for Daisy, illustrated and written by Chris Raschka, is the 2012 Caldecott Medal winner. The book is published by Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Three Caldecott Honor Books also were named: Blackout, illustrated and written by John Rocco, and published by Disney • Hyperion Books, an imprint of Disney Book Group; Grandpa Green illustrated and written by Lane Smith, and published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership; and Me … Jane, illustrated and written by Patrick McDonnell, and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

ON ORDER

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults: Where Things Come Back, written by John Corey Whaley, is the 2012 Printz Award winner. The book is published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. The Printz Honor books are: Why We Broke Up, written by Daniel Handler, art by Maira Kalman and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group; The Returning, written by Christine Hinwood and published by Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Group Young Readers Group USA; Jasper Jones, written by Craig Silvey and published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.; and The Scorpio Races, written by Maggie Stiefvater and published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.