Freeman Awards facts for kids

The Freeman Book Awards are special yearly prizes for new books written for young people. These books help readers understand more about East and Southeast Asia.

About the Awards

The Freeman Book Awards were created in 2016. Three groups started them: the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), the Committee on Teaching about Asia (CTA), and Asia for Educators (AFE) at Columbia University.

These awards celebrate great books for kids and teens. The books must help readers learn about countries in East and Southeast Asia. Awards are given in different groups: Children's books, Young Adult/Middle School books, and Young Adult/High School books.

The awards are named after the Freeman Foundation. This foundation was started in 1994 by Mansfield Freeman. He was a businessman who helped create a big insurance company called AIG. The foundation works to improve understanding between the United States and countries in East Asia.

Award Winners: 2021

Here are some of the books that won or were recognized in 2021:

Children’s Literature

• Winner: The Floating Field, by Scott Riley. This non-fiction book is about Thailand.
• Honorable Mention: Saving Sorya Chang and the Sun Bear, by Trang Nguyen. This fiction story is set in Vietnam.
• Honorable Mention: The Star Festival, by Moni Ritchie Hadley. This fiction book takes place in Japan.

Young Adult/Middle School Literature

• Winner: Finding Junie Kim, by Ellen Oh. This fiction book is set in Korea and America.
• Honorable Mention: Temple Alley Summer, by Sachiko Kashiwaba. This fiction story is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: While I Was Away, by Waka T. Brown. This fiction book is set in Japan and America.

Young Adult/High School Literature

• Winner: Tsunami Girl, by Julian Sedgwick. This fiction book is set in Japan and America.
• Winner: The Waiting, by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. This fiction story is set in Korea.
• Honorable Mention: Freedom Swimmer, by Wai Chim. This fiction book is set in China.
• Honorable Mention: The Minamata Story, by Sean Michael Wilson. This non-fiction book is about Japan.

Award Winners: 2020

Here are some of the books that won or were recognized in 2020:

Children's Literature

• Winner: No Steps Behind: Beate Sirota Gordon’s Battle for Women’s Rights in Japan by Jeff Gottesfeld. This non-fiction book is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: A Bowl of Peace: A True Story by Caren Stelson. This non-fiction book is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story, by Tina Cho. This fiction story is set in Korea.

Young Adult/Middle School Literature

• Winner: Brother’s Keeper, by Julie Lee. This fiction book is set in Korea.
• Honorable Mention: Beyond Me, by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu. This fiction story is set in Japan.
• Of Note: All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team, by Christina Soontornvat. This non-fiction book is set in Thailand.

Young Adult/High School Literature

• Winner: Crossing the Farak River, by Michelle Aung Thin. This fiction book is set in Myanmar.
• Winner: Year of the Rabbit, by Tian Veasna. This non-fiction book is set in Cambodia.
• Honorable Mention: The Silence of Bones, by June Hur. This fiction story is set in Korea.
• Honorable Mention: Tiananmen 1989: Our Shattered Hopes, by Lun Zhang and Adrien Gombeaud. This non-fiction book is set in China.

Award Winners: 2019

Here are some of the books that won or were recognized in 2019:

Children’s Literature

• Winner: The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota’s Garden by Heather Smith. This fiction book is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando by Andrea Wang. This non-fiction book is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: The Moose of Ewenki by Gerelchimeg Blackcrane. This fiction story is set in Inner Mongolia, China.
• Honorable Mention: When Spring Comes to the DMZ by Uk-Bae Lee. This fiction book is set in Korea.

Young Adult/Middle School Literature

• Winner: All The Ways Home by Elsie Chapman. This fiction book is set in Japan.
• Winner: A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata. This fiction story is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: Girl of the Southern Sea by Michelle Kadarusman. This fiction book is set in Indonesia.
• Of Note: The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan by Sherry Thomas. This fiction story is set in China.

Young Adult/High School Literature

• Winner: The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf. This fiction book is set in Malaysia.
• Winner: Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay. This fiction story is set in the Philippines.
• Honorable Mention: Indigo Girl by Suzanne Kamata. This fiction book is set in America and Japan.

Award Winners: 2018

Here are some of the books that won or were recognized in 2018:

Children’s Literature

• Winner: Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean: Remembering Chinese Scientist Pu Zhelong’s Work for Sustainable Farming by Sigrid Schmalzer. This non-fiction book is set in China.
• Honorable Mention: The Turtle Ship by Helena Ku Rhee. This fiction story is set in Korea.
• Honorable Mention: Confucius: Great Teacher of China by Demi. This non-fiction book is set in China.
• Honorable Mention: Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story by Marc Tyler Nobleman. This non-fiction book is set in the U.S.

Young Adult/Middle School Literature

• Winner: Grenade by Alan Gratz. This historical fiction book is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter by Atelier Sento. This fiction story is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa. This fiction book is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: Too Young to Escape: A Vietnamese Girl Waits to be Reunited with Her Family by Van Ho and Marsha Skrypuch. This non-fiction book is set in Vietnam.

Young Adult/High School Literature

• Winner: Go: A Coming of Age Novel by Kazuki Kaneshiro. This fiction book is set in Japan.
• Winner: The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan. This fiction story is set in Taiwan.
• Honorable Mention: Girls on the Line by Jennie Lie. This fiction book is set in China.
• Honorable Mention: Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman. This fiction story is set in East and South Asia.

Award Winners: 2017

Here are some of the books that won or were recognized in 2017:

Children's Literature

• Winner: The Crane Girl by Curtis Manley. This fiction book is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: An’s Seed by Zaozao Wang. This fiction story is set in China.
• Honorable Mention: Chibi Samurai Wants a Pet by Sanae Ishida. This fiction book is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: My First Book of Vietnamese Words by Tran Thi Minh Phuoc. This fiction story is set in Vietnam.

Young Adult/Middle School Literature

• Winner: Bronze and Sunflower by Cao Wenxuan. This fiction book is set in China.
• Honorable Mention: Hotaka: Through My Eyes – Natural Disaster Zones by John Heffernan. This fiction story is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: Ten: A Soccer Story by Shamini Flint. This fiction book is set in Malaysia.
• Honorable Mention: The Emperor’s Riddle by Kat Zhang. This fiction story is set in China.

Young Adult/High School Literature

• Winner: The Forbidden Temptation of Baseball by Doris Jones Yang. This fiction book is set in Japan and the U.S.
• Honorable Mention: Want by Cindy Pon. This fiction story is set in Taiwan.
• Honorable Mention: Tanabata Wish by Sara Fujimura. This fiction book is set in Japan.

Award Winners: 2016

Here are some of the books that won or were recognized in 2016:

Children's Literature

• Winner: My Night in the Planetarium by Innosanto Nagara. This non-fiction book is set in Indonesia.
• Honorable Mention: Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko by Misuzu Kaneko. This non-fiction book is set in Japan.

Young Adult/Middle School Literature

• Winner: Somewhere Among by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu. This fiction book is set in Japan.
• Winner: The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary. This fiction story is set in Japan.
• Honorable Mention: Falling into the Dragon’s Mouth by Holly Thompson. This fiction book is set in Japan.

Young Adult/High School Literature

• Winner: Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea by Sungju Lee and Susan Elizabeth McClelland. This non-fiction book is set in North Korea.
• Honorable Mention: Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story by Caren Stelson. This non-fiction book is set in Japan.