ALA Youth Media Awards 2012

It's Awards Day!  Happy Day!  And once again, I'm wrong all over the place. But that's why I love these awards. They always surprise me, and in some cases, bring my attention to books of which I wasn't aware.

This year's Newbery medal went to Jack Gantos for Dead End in Norvelt. I haven't read it yet, but I've got an ARC laying around here somewhere, so I'll get on it soon. The good news is, I've already purchased it for my library, so I won't have to deal with the long delays of getting these winners. Honors were Thanhha Lai's lovely Inside Out and Back Again and the completely out of left field Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin.

This year's Caldecott went to the not altogether unexpected A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka, which yes, made me a little teary eyed. Call me an animal lover. A great group of books cover the honors: Grandpa Green by Lane Smith, Blackout by John Rocco and Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell.

I was right about one thing (though I didn't post it, curses!): Shane Evans won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for Underground. And Kadir Nelson did get some gold, winning the Book Award for Heart and Soul (though he should have won more).

Tales for Very Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider won the Geisel award, while Mo Willems' I Broke My Trunk, Jon Klassen's I Want My Hat Back (!!!) and Paul Meisel's See Me Run were honors.











It was a great morning for books.  Head over to the ALA webpage to read about all the winners.