And the winner is ......

On Monday, January 14, the American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, video, and audiobooks for children and young adults -- including the Caldecott, King, Newbery, Schneider Family and Printz awards -- at its Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia:


John Newbery Medal winner for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature was Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz.

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children went to The Invention of Hugo Cabret illustrated by Brian Selznick, is the 2008 Caldecott Medal winner.


Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults went to The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean.


Coretta Scott King Book Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults went to Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.


Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences:

... for ages 0-10, went to Kami and the Yaks, written by Andrea Stenn Stryer and illustrated by Bert Dodson.
... for ages 11-13, went to Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer.
... for ages 13-18, Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby.

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished book for beginning readers went to There Is a Bird on Your Head! written and illustrated by Mo Willems.

Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults went to Orson Scott Card for his novels Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow.

The Pura Belpré Award honoring Latino authors and illustrators whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in children's books went to an illustrator and an author:

... Yuyi Morales, illustrator of Los Gatos Black on Halloween, which was written by Marisa Montes won the 2008 Pura Belpré Illustrator Award.
... Margarita Engle, author of The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, which was illustrated by Sean Qualls, won the 2008 Pura Belpré Author Award.

Robert F. Sibert Medal for most distinguished informational book for children went to The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain written and illustrated by Peter Sís.


Mildred L. Batchelder Award for the most outstanding children's book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States went to Brave Story, written by Miyuki Miyabe and translated by Alexander O. Smith, which was originally published in Japanese in 2003 as Bureibu Sutori.


Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences went to:
... American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China by Matthew Polly
... Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
... Essex County Volume 1: Tales from the Farm by Jeff Lemire
... Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden
... The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
... A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
... Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
... The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
... The Night Birds by Thomas Maltman
... The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture recognizes an individual of distinction in the field of children's literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site. Walter Dean Myers, widely acclaimed author of picture books, novels, poetry and non-fiction for children and young adults, will deliver the 2009 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture.

For the rest of the list, including all the honor books, go to:
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=News&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=170844