Library Updates

Feb 05

[ARCHIVED] 2024 ALA Award Winners by Genesis Gaule

The original item was published from February 5, 2024 1:17 PM to February 6, 2024 10:59 AM

The American Library Association (ALA) recently announced their 2024 Youth Media Awards which honors books, videos, and other outstanding materials for children and teens. Here are this year's winners and honorees we have in our catalog!

Looking for past award winners? Check out our posts for the 2021, 2022, and 2023 award winners.

Jump to: Children's | Junior | Teen / YA

Children's Books

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award

Given to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers.

2024 Award Winner: Fox Has a Problem 

written and illustrated by Corey R. Tabor

Fox has a not-so-new problem, and every possible solution leads to more problems for the other animals, until they all come together with the ultimate fix.
Easy Reader Blue // Ages 4 - 8


Schneider Family Book Award

For books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.

2024 Award Winner: Henry, Like Always 

written and illustrated by Jenn Bailey

Henry, a first grader on the autism spectrum, attempts to navigate friendships, and sudden changes in classroom routines--like a parade on Friday instead of share time.
Easy  // Ages 6 - 9

* Theodor Seuss Geisel Award (2024 Honor)

SCHNEIDER FAMILY HONOR BOOK: "a

Randolph Caldecott Medal

for the most distinguished American picture book for children.

2024 Award Winner: Big

written by Vashti Harrison

Praised for acting like a big girl when she is small, as a young girl grows, "big" becomes a word of criticism, until the girl realizes that she is fine just the way she is.
Easy Fiction // Ages 4 - 8

* Coretta Scott King Author Book Award (Honor 2024)
* Coretta Scott King Illustrator Book Award (Honor 2024)

RANDOLPH CALDECOTT HONOR BOOK: "a

More Children's Honor Books: "berry

  • Rock your Mocs written by Laurel Goodluck and illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight
    * American Indian Youth Literature Award (2024 Honor)
    Easy Fiction // Ages 4 - 8
  • Berry Song written and and illustrated by Michaela Goade
    *  American Indian Youth Literature Award (2024 Honor)
    * Randolph Caldecott Medal (2023 Honor)
    Easy Fiction // Ages 4 - 8
  • Remember written by Joy Harjo and illustrated by Michaela Goade           "in
    *  American Indian Youth Literature Award (2024 Honor)
    Easy Fiction // Ages 3 - 7
  • Finding Papa written by Angela Pham Krans and illustrated by Thi Bui
    * Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (2024 Honor)
    Easy Fiction // Ages 4 - 8
  • Remembering illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia and written by Xelena González
    * Pura Belpré Awards Youth Illustrator Award (2024 Honor)
    Easy // Ages 4 - 8

Junior Books

American Indian Youth Literature Awards

To identify and honor the very best writing and illustrations by and about Native Americans and Indigenous peoples of North America.

2024 Award Winner: We Still Belong

by Christine Day

Wesley is proud of the poem she wrote for Indigenous Peoples’ Day—but the reaction from a teacher makes her wonder if expressing herself is important enough. And due to the specific tribal laws of her family’s Nation, Wesley is unable to enroll in the Upper Skagit tribe and is left feeling “not Native enough.” Through the course of the novel, with the help of her family and friends, she comes to embrace her own place within the Native community. 
Junior Fiction // Ages 8 - 12

AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE HONOR BOOKS: "a

  • She Persisted: Maria Tallchief written by Christine Day, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger and Gillian Flint
    Junior Nonfiction // Ages 6-12
  • She Persisted: Deb Haaland written by Laurel Goodluck, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger and Gillian Flint
    Junior Nonfiction // Ages 6 - 12
  • Mascot by Traci Sorell and Charles Waters
    Junior Fiction // Ages 10+

Schneider Family Book Award

For books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.

2024 Award Winner: The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn

by Sally J. Pla

Follows thirteen-year-old neurodivergent Maudie during an eventful summer in California with her father, where she struggles with whether to share a terrible secret about life with her mom and stepdad.
Junior Fiction // Ages 10+

SCHNEIDER FAMILY HONOR BOOK: "a

Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature

To honor and recognize individual work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit.

2024 Award Winner: Ruby Lost and Found

by Christina Li

After her Ye-Ye's death, Ruby feels lost, and it seems like everyone--from her best friends to her older sister--is abandoning her. After Ruby gets in major trouble at school, her parents decide she has to spend the summer at a local senior center, with her grandmother, Nai-Nai, and Nai-Nai's friends for company. When a new boy from Ruby's grade, Liam Yeung, starts showing up too, Ruby's humiliation is complete. Alongside Nai-Nai, who is keeping a secret that threatens to change everything, Ruby retraces Ye-Ye's scavenger hunt maps in an attempt to find a way out of her grief--and maybe even find herself.
Junior Fiction // Ages 8 - 12

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal

For most distinguished informational book for youth.

2024 Award Winner: The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity

written by Nicholas Day and illustrated by Brett Helquist

A narrative nonfiction about how the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre, how the robbery made the portrait the most famous artwork in the world-and how the painting by Leonardo da Vinci should never have existed at all
Junior Nonfiction // Ages 8-12

SIBERT INFORMATIONAL HONOR BOOK: "a

More Junior Honor Books:

  • Alebrijes by written by Donna Barba Higuera
    * Pura Belpré Author Award (2024 Honor)         
    Junior Fiction // Ages 9+
  • Aniana del Mar Jumps In by written by Donna Barba Higuera
    * Pura Belpré Author Award (2024 Honor)         
    Junior Fiction // Ages 9+
  • Something Like Home by Andrea Beatriz Arango
    * Pura Belpré Author Award (2024 Honor)
    Junior Fiction // Ages 10-14
  • A Sky Full of Song by Susan Lynn Meyer
    * Sydney Taylor Book Award (2024 Honor)
    Junior Fiction // Ages 8 - 12
  • The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams written by Daniel Nayeri, illustrated by Daniel Miyares
    * John Newbery Medal (2024 Honor)
    Junior Fiction // Ages 10+

Teen / YA Books

Sydney Taylor Book Award

To outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.

2024 Award Winner: The Blood Years

by Elana K. Arnold

Frederieke Teitler and her older sister, Astra, live in a house, in a city, in a world divided. Being a Jew has become increasingly dangerous, even in their beloved home of Czernowitz, long considered a safe haven for Jewish people. When war breaks out, Rieke and Astra’s world suddenly changes, and every day becomes a struggle: to keep their grandfather’s business, to keep their home, to keep their lives. Based on the true experiences of her grandmother’s childhood in Holocaust-era Romania.
Young Adult Fiction // Ages 14 - 17

SYDNEY TAYLOR HONOR BOOKS: "a

Alex Awards:

Given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.

More Teen Honor Books:


Tag(s): young adult fiction, World War II, science fiction, recommendations, picture books, nonfiction, lgbt, junior fiction, Genesis Gaule, fiction, easy fiction, award winners, Asian Americans, African Americans