Part 8: Awards

Part 8: Awards

It is important for Library Media Specialists and others educators in the learning community to be familiar with the many literary awards, to share awarded literature with students, and to bring an awareness of award types to students. Literary awards honor literature that is considered to be of value, significant contributions in either artwork or writing, which span a number of diverse purposes. Awarded books often reflect cultural change, and may point to works that are controversial or challenged. On the flip side, certain book lists are cultivated with the specific purpose of encouraging a love of reading.

Some awards exist to promote literary excellence (such as the Printz Award), exemplary poetry (an example being the NCTE Award), or distinguished artwork (like the Caldecott Medal). Others focus on works that promote advancement in social justice and equity, such as the Coretta Scott King Award, which acknowledges books that “demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture,” or the Pura Belpré Award, recognizing affirmation of “the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.” Yet others focus on a broader range of outstanding works but for specific audiences, such as early readers, elementary, middle school, or teens.

Some book lists exist to recommend genres of quality literature to specific audiences, such as the YALSA’s Excellence in Nonfiction, and other book lists represent those books considered of great enough value to be nominated for an award, such as the TLA Texas Bluebonnet nominees. The “Bluebonnet list” as it is often called represents twenty recently-published books recommended and then officially nominated for the annual Bluebonnet Award, but itself is a go-to list for educators recommending new works each year to students in grades 3 through 6. Although this is one of many state-specific lists, it garners national attention. TLA publishes eleven lists in total each year, which are grade-specific, and some format-specific. For example, the Lone Star list simply recommends recent, quality works to grades 6 through 8, while the Spirit of Texas Middle School list recommends works only by Texas authors and illustrators to the same grades; the Maverick list promotes graphic novels to these grades and above.

In reading over this section, I discovered there are always more awards than those with which I have familiarity or are well-versed. For example, I would not have known that the Batchelder Award recognizes recent books written in a country outside of the United States and then translated into English. I also did not know that the Schneider Family Book Award honors books that demonstrate “an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.” Having said that, I am ever returning to awards and book lists to find quality literature, as I feel that in recommending books to children and young adults, I can use the assistance in identifying what is truly the most worthwhile out there with all of the choices. It is good to know what is the latest, most culturally-relevant, subject specific, or format specific; it is also nice to know that if a student particularly enjoys mystery, there is a list for that, or prefers reading in Spanish, or simply needs encouragement.

That brings me to something with which I was not entirely award before beginning the course in YA, and that is that some lists exist simply to promote the love of reading in students. The YALSA’s Quick Picks for Reluctant YA Readers, for example, may be my favorite new list for middle school readers who have not grown into independent reading for pleasure yet, as the YALSA states, “for whatever reason.” In reading through these novels I have found them to be pleasurable, easy reads, can see how they may appeal to a wide range of interests, and can also see how they may not quite make it on to any other awards lists or otherwise be brought to the attention of reluctant readers. A similar list with which I was unfamiliar is the International Literacy Association’s Young Adults’ Choices Reading List, where students themselves recommend popular reading choices in their age group, grades 7 through 12.

In looking over these many awards list and recommended reading lists, it’s obvious that some works will garner so much appreciation that they land on several. However, it’s good to know that some lists are cultivated specifically to encourage those readers not quite ready for the more aesthetic or literary experiences. Ultimately, I believe that recognizing the best in many different genres, formats, interests, and across age groups is important to promote not just reading, but continued publication of quality literature, and I am very appreciative that we as educators have these resources for guidance.