Kelly, Cordell, LaCour Win Newbery, Caldecott, Printz
Three Newbery Honor Books were named: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (Atheneum/Dlouhy); Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson (Bloomsbury); and Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James (Bolden/Denene Millner).
There were four Caldecott Honor Books: Big Cat, little cat by Elisha Cooper (Roaring Brook); Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut; A Different Pond by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui (Capstone); and Grand Canyon by Jason Chin (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter).
Four Printz Honors were awarded: Long Way Down; Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (Little, Brown); The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray); and Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman (Holt/Godwin).
The Hate U Give won three other prizes, including the William C. Morris Award, for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens, and the Odyssey Award, for excellence in audiobook production. Jason Reynolds won both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor for his novel Long Way Down.
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, which honors an author or illustrator whose books have made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children, went to author Jacqueline Woodson, the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
Eloise Greenfield won the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. The 2018 Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime contribution in writing for young adults was given to Angela Johnson, and Debbie Reese was chosen to deliver the 2019 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture.
The Robert F. Sibert Award for the most distinguished informational book for children went to Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961 by Larry Dane Brimner (Calkins Creek). There were four Sibert Honors: Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee, illustrated by Man One (Readers to Eaters); Grand Canyon by Jason Chin (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter); Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask About Having a Disability by Shane Burcaw, illustrated by Matt Carr (Roaring Brook); and Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem by Patricia Newman (Millbrook).
The Mildred L. Batchelder Award for best work of translation went to The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius, translated from Swedish by Peter Graves (Delacorte). There were three Batchelder Honor Books: Malala: Activist for Girls’ Education by Raphaële Frier, illustrated by Aurélia Fronty, translated from French by Julie Cormier (Charlesbridge); When a Wolf Is Hungry by Christine Naumann-Villemin, illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo, translated from French by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers (Eerdmans); and You Can’t Be Too Careful! by Roger Mello, translated from Portuguese by Daniel Hahn (Elsewhere Editions).
The William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens was given to The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray). Four other books were finalists for the award: Dear Martin by Nic Stone (Crown); Devils Within by S.F. Henson (Sky Pony); Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali (Salaam Reads); and Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman (Simon Pulse).
The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for most distinguished beginning reader books went to Charlie & Mouse by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Emily Hughes (Chronicle). There were five Geisel Honor Books: I See a Cat by Paul Meisel (Holiday House); King & Kayla and the Case of the Missing Dog Treats by Dori Hillestad Butler, illustrated by Nancy Meyers (Peachtree); My Kite Is Stuck! And Other Stories by Salina Yoon (Bloomsbury); Noodleheads See the Future by Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, illustrated by Tedd Arnold (Holiday House); and Snail & Worm Again by Tina Kügler (HMH).
The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults went to Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman (Holt/Godwin). Four books were finalists for the award: #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women, edited by Mary Beth Leatherdale and Lisa Charleyboy (Annick); Eyes of the World: Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and the Invention of Modern Photojournalism by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos (Holt); The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater (FSG); and The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found by Martin W. Sandler (Candlewick).
Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson (Bloomsbury) won the Coretta Scott King Author award and the Illustrator award went to Ekua Holmes for Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets, written by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderly and Marjory Wentworth (Candlewick).
Three King Author Honor Books were selected: Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James (Bolden/Denene Millner); Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy); and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray).
Two King Illustrator Honor Books were chosen: Crown: An Ode to a Fresh Cut, illustrated by Gordon C. James, written by Derrick Barnes (Bolden/Denene Millner); and Before She Was Harriet: The Story of Harriet Tubman, illustrated by James E. Ransome, written by Lesa Cline-Ransome (Holiday House).
The Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award went to The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore (Knopf). Mama Africa! How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song, illustrated by Charly Palmer, written by Kathryn Erskine (FSG), won the Steptoe Illustrator Award.
Ruth Behar won the Pura Belpré Author Award for Lucky Broken Girl (Penguin/Nancy Paulsen) and Juana Martinez-Neal won the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award for La Princesa and the Pea, written by Susan Middleton Elya (Putnam).
Two Belpré Author Honor books were named: The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya (Viking); and The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez (Viking).
There were two Belpré Illustrator Honor books: All Around Us, illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia, written by Xelena González (Cinco Puntos); and Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos, illustrated by John Parra, written by Monica Brown (NorthSouth).
The Stonewall Book Award, given to children’s and YA books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience, went to Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert (Little, Brown). There were two Stonewall Honor Books: As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman (Iron Circus Comics); and The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen).
The Schneider Family Book Awards, for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience, went to Silent Days, Silent Dreams by Allen Say (Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine) for best young children’s book; Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess by Shari Green (Pajama Press) for best middle grade book; and You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner (Knopf) for best teen book.
The Odyssey Award for excellence in audiobook production went to The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, narrated by Bahni Turpin (HarperAudio). There were five Odyssey Honors: The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman, narrated by Michael Sheen (Listening Library); A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig, narrated by Stephen Fry (Listening Library); Long Way Down, written and narrated by Jason Reynolds (Simon & Schuster Audio); Trombone Shorty by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, narrated by Dion Graham (Live Oak Media); and The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell, narrated by David Tennant (Hachette Audio).