On Monday, the American Library Association (ALA) announced the recipients of its 2014 youth media awards, including the renowned Newbery, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, and Printz awards.
ALA gave the 2014 Newbery Medal for the best contribution to children’s literature to Kate DiCamillo’s Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures (Candlewick Press). This is DiCamillo’s second Newbery Medal, having previously won the prestigious award for her 2004 book The Tale of Despereaux.
DiCamillo made literary news earlier this month when the Library of Congress named her the fourth-ever National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, a position created to raise youth literacy awareness.
The 2014 Caldecott Award, which recognizes an American picture book intended for children, was awarded to Locomotive (Atheneum Books for Young Readers), written and illustrated by Brian Floca. Locomotive also became Floca’s fourth book to receive ALA’s Robert F. Sibert honors, a distinction awarded to exceptional informational books for children.
Other significant awards included the Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award for an exceptional children or young adult book by an African-American author, which the ALA awarded to Rita Williams-Garcia’s P.S. Be Eleven (Amistad); the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature, awarded to Marcus Sedgwick’s Midwinterblood, (Roaring Brook Press); and the Pura Belpré (Author) Award for outstanding portrayal of the Latino cultural experience by a Latino writer, awarded to Meg Medina’s Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass (Candlewick Press).
You can view a full list of ALA 2014 youth media award winners and honorees on the organization’s website.