Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature facts for kids
The Lambda Literary Awards (also known as the "Lammys") are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works that celebrate or explore LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) themes. The organization is considered to be one of the main promoters of new and emerging LGBT writers.
The Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, one of the Lammys 25 awards, was introduced during the 2nd Lambda Literary Awards, when it was called "Young Adult/Children’s Book Award". After not being present in the 1991 ceremonies, the award returned in the 4th edition under the name "Children's/Young Adult Literature". Starting in 2007, it has been known as the "LGBTQ Children's/Young Adult" award.
The 25th Lambda Literary Awards had a record number of submissions at the time. Due to the increased number of books submitted for evaluation, the judges of every category were encouraged to submit more finalists. After that, and since the 26th edition, if the number of submissions is high enough, the Children's/Young Adult category is divided in two subcategories, "Children's/Middle Grade" and "Young Adult", which happened in the 2020 and 2021 editions.
Recipients
David Levithan has won the award a total of three times, in 2004, 2007 and 2014, and was nominated another three times. Jacqueline Woodson has been awarded two Lammys in this category, in 1996 and 1998. As of 2020, Kacen Callender, which published This is Kind of an Epic Love Story and Hurricane Child both in 2018, is the only author to have two nominations for the same year. Hurricane Child was also the winner on that same year.
C | "Children's/Middle Grade" nominee/winner | YA | "Young Adult" nominee/winner |
---|---|---|---|
ill. | Illustrator | ed. | Editor |
Winner |
Year | Contributor(s) | Title | Publisher | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | MaryKate Jordan | Losing Uncle Tim | Albert Whitman & Co. | Winner | |
Lesléa Newman with Diane Souza (ill.) | Heather Has Two Mommies | In Other Words Press | Finalist | ||
A. M. Homes | Jack | Macmillan | |||
George Shannon | Unlived Affections | Harper & Row Juvenile | |||
Susan and Daniel Cohen | When Someone You Know Is Gay | Evans | |||
1992 | Johnny Valentine with Lynette Schmidt (ill.) | The Duke Who Outlawed Jelly Beans: and Other Stories | Alyson Wonderland | Winner | |
Lesléa Newman with Russel Crocker (ill.) | Gloria Goes to Gay Pride | Alyson Wonderland | Finalist | ||
Ann Heron and Meredith Maran with Kris Kovick (ill.) | How Would You Feel if Your Dad was Gay? | Alyson Wonderland | |||
Nancy Garden | Lark in the Morning | Farrar Straus Giroux | |||
Aaron and Walter Frickle | Sudden Strangers | St. Martin's Press | |||
1993 | Penny Raife Durant | When Heroes Die | Atheneum | Winner | |
Joan Alden with Catherine Hopkins (ill.) | A Boy's Best Friend | Alyson Wonderland | Finalist | ||
Joan Alden with Catherine Hopkins (ill.) | Day They Put a Tax on Rainbows | Alyson Wonderland | |||
Bette Greene | Drowning of Stephan Jones | Bantam Books | |||
Johnny Valentine with Lynette Schmidt (ill.) | The Daddy Machine | Alyson Wonderland | |||
1994 | Hilary Mullins | The Cat Came Back | Naiad Press | Winner | |
Christina Salat | Living In Secret | Bantam Books | Finalist | ||
Lesléa Newman with Annete Hegel (ill.) | Saturday is Pattyday | New Victoria | |||
Michael Willhoite | Uncle What-Is-It Is Coming To Visit | Alyson Wonderland | |||
Rik Isensee | We're Not Alone | Lavender Press | |||
1995 | Marion Dane Bauer (ed.) | Am I Blue? | Harper Children's | Winner | |
Ann Heron (ed.) | 2 Teenagers In 20 | Alyson Books | Finalist | ||
Stacey Donovan | Dive | Dutton Children's Books | |||
Scott Nunokawa | Oscar Wilde | Chelsea House / Infobase Publishing | |||
Patricia Quinlan | Tiger Flowers | Dial Press | |||
1996 | Jacqueline Woodson | From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun | Blue Sky Press | Winner | |
Francesca Lia Block | Baby Be-Bop | HarperCollins | Finalist | ||
Judith Vinga | My Two Uncles | Albert Whitman & Co. | |||
Kust Chandler | Passage of Pride | Times Books | |||
Daniel Vilmure | Toby's Lie | Simon & Schuster | |||
1997 | Nancy Garden | Good Moon Rising | Farrar Straus Giroux | Winner | |
Michael Willhoite | Daddy's Wedding | Alyson Books | Finalist | ||
Elle Bass and Kate Kaufman | Free Your Mind | Harper Perennial | |||
Earl Alexander | My Dad Has HIV | Fairview Press | |||
Michael Thomas Ford | The World Out There | The New Press | |||
1998 | Jacqueline Woodson | The House You Pass On the Way | Delacorte Press / Dell Publishing | Winner | |
Jeanne Arnold | Amy Asks a Question: Grandma, What's a Lesbian? | Mother Courage | Finalist | ||
Liza Ketchum | Blue Coyote | Simon & Schuster | |||
Paul Monette | Sanctuary: a Tale of Life in the Woods | Scribner | |||
Adam Mastoon | The Shared Heart | William Morrow and Company | |||
1999 | Kevin Jennings | Telling Tales Out of School | Alyson Books | Winner | |
Francesca Lia Block | I Was a Teenage Fairy | HarperCollins | Finalist | ||
Joseph Kennedy with John Canemaker (ill.) | Lucy Goes to the Country | Alyson Books | |||
Michael Thomas Ford | Outspoken | Morrow Junior Books | |||
Clifford Chase | Queer 13 | Weisbach | |||
2000 | Ellen Wittlinger | Hard Love | Simon & Schuster | Winner | |
Paula Boock | Dare Truth or Promise | Finalist | |||
Lois-Ann Yamanaka | Name Me Nobody | ||||
William Taylor | The Blue Lawn | ||||
Nancy Garden | The Year They Burned the Books | ||||
2001 | Noelle Howey and Ellen Samuels (eds.) | Out of the Ordinary | St. Martin's Press | Winner | |
Jean Ferris | Eight Seconds | Harcourt | Finalist | ||
Nancy Garden | Holly's Secret | Farrar Straus Giroux | |||
Amy Sonnie (ed.) | Revolutionary Voices | Alyson Books | |||
Benjie Nycum | The XY Survival Guide | XY | |||
2002 | Julia Watts | Finding H.F. | Alyson Books | Winner | |
Sara Ryan | Empress of the World | Viking Press | Finalist | ||
Marilyn Reynolds | Love Rules | Morning Glory | |||
Alex Sánchez | Rainbow Boys | Simon & Schuster | |||
Todd Turtle | Spot | Window | |||
2003 | Bonnie Shimko | Letters in the Attic | Academy Chicago Press | Winner | |
Lesléa Newman | Felicia's Favorite Story | Two Lives Publishing | Finalist | ||
Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland | King & King | Ten Speed Press | |||
Andrew Calimach | Lover's Legends: The Gay Greek Myths | Simon & Schuster | |||
Harvey Fierstein | The Sissy Duckling | Simon & Schuster | |||
2004 | David Levithan | Boy Meets Boy | Knopf Books for Young Readers | Winner | |
Brent Hartinger | Geography Club | HarperTempest | Finalist | ||
Tea Benduhn | Gravel Queen | Simon & Schuster | |||
Julie Anne Peters | Keeping You a Secret | Little, Brown and Company | |||
Alex Sánchez | Rainbow High | Simon & Schuster | |||
2005 | Alex Sánchez | So Hard to Say | Simon & Schuster | Winner | |
Julie Anne Peters | Luna | Little, Brown and Company | Finalist | ||
Sharon Dennis Wyeth | Orphea Proud | Delacorte Press / Dell Publishing | |||
Judy MacLean | Rosemary and Juliet | Alice Street Editions | |||
David Levithan | The Realm of Possibility | Knopf Books for Young Readers | |||
2006 | Shyam Selvadurai | Swimming in the Monsoon Sea | Tundra Publishing | Winner | |
Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson | And Tango Makes Three | Simon & Schuster | Finalist | ||
Rigoberto González | Antonio’s Card/La Tarjeta de Antonio | Lee & Low Books | |||
Alex Sánchez | Rainbow Road | Simon & Schuster | |||
James Howe | Totally Joe | Simon & Schuster | |||
2007 | David Levithan and Billy Merrell (eds.) | The Full Spectrum | Random House Children's Books | Winner | |
Julie Anne Peters | Between Mom & Jo | Little, Brown and Company | Finalist | ||
Kim Wallace | Erik & Isabelle’s Junior Year at Foresthill High | Foglight Press | |||
Brian Sloan | Tale of Two Summers | Simon & Schuster | |||
Christian Burch | The Manny Files | Simon & Schuster | |||
2008 | Perry Moore | Hero | Hyperion Books | Winner | |
James St. James | Freak Show | Dutton Children's Books | Finalist | ||
Ellen Wittlinger | Parrotfish | Simon & Schuster | |||
Patrick Ryan | Saints of Augustine | HarperTeen | |||
Peter Cameron | Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You | Farrar Straus Giroux | |||
2009 | Bill Konigsberg | Out of the Pocket | Dutton Children's Books | Winner | |
Christian Burch | Hit the Road, Manny: A Manny Files Novel | Simon & Schuster | Finalist | ||
David Levithan | How They Met & Other Stories | Knopf Children's Books | |||
Ellen Wittlinger | Love & Lies: Marisol's Story | Simon & Schuster | |||
Pat Schmatz | Mousetraps | Carolrhoda Books / Lerner Publishing Group | |||
Martin Wilson | What They Always Tell Us | Random House Children's Books | |||
2010 | Dale Peck | Sprout | Bloomsbury Publishing | Winner | |
Malinda Lo | Ash | Little, Brown and Company | Finalist | ||
Michael Cart (ed.) | How Beautiful the Ordinary | HarperCollins | |||
Patrick Ryan | In Mike We Trust | HarperCollins | |||
Nick Burd | The Vast Fields of Ordinary | Penguin Books | |||
2011 | Jane Eagland | Wildthorn | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Winner | |
Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell with Amy June Bates (ill.) | Christian, the Hugging Lion | Simon & Schuster | Finalist | ||
Vivek Shraya with Juliana Neufeld (ill.) | God Loves Hair | Vivek Shraya | |||
Catherine Ryan Hyde | Jumpstart the World | Random House Books for Children | |||
James Klise | Love D****** | Flux Books / Llewellyn Worldwide | |||
2012 | Bil Wright | Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy | Simon & Schuster | Winner | |
Patrick Ryan | Gemini Bites | Scholastic | Finalist | ||
Malinda Lo | Huntress | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | |||
Cris Beam | I am J | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | |||
Lili Wilkinson | PINK | HarperCollins | |||
2013 | Benjamin Alire Saenz | Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe | Simon & Schuster | Winner | |
Malinda Lo | Adaptation | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | Finalist | ||
A. S. King | Ask the Passengers | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | |||
Kirstin Cronn-Mills | Beautiful Music for Ugly Children | Flux Books / Llewellyn Worldwide | |||
David Levithan | Every Day | Knopf Books for Young Readers | |||
Elissa Janine Hoole | Kiss the Morning Star | Amazon Children's Publishing | |||
E. M. Kokie | Personal Effects | Candlewick Press | |||
Molly Beth Griffin | Silhouette of a Sparrow | Milkweed Editions | |||
S. Bear Bergman and Suzy Malik | The Adventure of Tulip, Birthday Wish Fairy | Flamingo Rampant | |||
Emily M. Danforth | The Miseducation of Cameron Post | Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins | |||
2014 | Sara Farizan | If You Could Be Mine | Algonquin Books / Workman Publishing Company | Winner | |
David Levithan | Two Boys Kissing | Knopf Books for Young Readers | |||
Tim Federle | Better Nate Than Ever | Simon & Schuster | Finalist | ||
Christopher R. Michael | Boy In Box | Hubbub Publishing | |||
Rhiannon Argo | Girls I've Run Away With | Moonshine Press | |||
Bill Konigsberg | Openly Straight | Arthur A. Levine Books / Scholastic Corporation | |||
Stewart Lewis with Rebecca Short (ed.) | The Secret Ingredient | Delacorte Press / Dell Publishing | |||
Alaya Dawn Johnson | The Summer Prince | Arthur A. Levine Books / Scholastic | |||
Cory Silverberg with Fiona Smyth (ill.) | What Makes a Baby | Triangle Square / Seven Stories Press | |||
2015 | Tim Federle | Five, Six, Seven, Nate! | Simon & Schuster | Winner | |
Susan Kuklin | Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out | Candlewick Press | Finalist | ||
Bridget Birdsall | Double Exposure | Skyhorse Publishing | |||
Karelia Stetz-Waters | Forgive Me If I've Told You This Before | Ooligan Press | |||
Robin Talley | Lies We Tell Ourselves | Harlequin Teen | |||
Jay Jordan Hawke | Pukawiss the Outcast | Harmony Ink Press /Dreamspinner Press | |||
Suki Fleet | This is Not a Love Story | Harmony Ink Press /Dreamspinner Press | |||
Raziel Reid | When Everything Feels Like the Movies | Arsenal Pulp Press | |||
2016 | Alex Gino | George | Scholastic | Winner | |
Sarah McCarry | About a Girl: A Novel | St. Martin's Griffin | Finalist | ||
Will Walton | Anything Could Happen | Push | |||
Jerome Pohlen | Gay and Lesbian History for Kids: The Century-Long Struggle for LGBT Rights | Chicago Review Press | |||
Adam Silvera | More Happy Than Not | Soho Press | |||
I. W. Gregorio | None of the Above | Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins | |||
Becky Albertalli | Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda | Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins | |||
Brian Selznick | The Marvels | Scholastic | |||
2017 | M-E Girard | Girl Mans Up | HarperTeen | Winner | |
Brie Spangler | Beast | Alfred A. Knopf | Finalist | ||
Juliann Rich | Gravity | Bold Stroke Books | |||
John Corey Whaley | Highly Illogical Behavior | Dial Press | |||
C. B. Lee | Not Your Sidekick | Novelstream | |||
Krystal Sutherland | Our Chemical Hearts | G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers | |||
Jeff Garvin | Symptoms of Being Human | Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins | |||
Marie Lu | The Midnight Star | G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers | |||
2018 | Rebecca Podos | Like Water | Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins | Winner | |
Sarah Dooley | Ashes to Asheville | Putnam | Finalist | ||
Christina Lauren | Autoboyography | Simon & Schuster | |||
April Daniels | Dreadnought: Nemesis | Diversion Books | |||
Nina Packebush | Girls Like Me | Bedazzled Ink | |||
Kay Haring with Robert Neubecker (ill.) | Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing | Dial Press | |||
Will Kostakis | The Sidekicks | Harlequin Teen | |||
Martin Wilson | We Now Return to Regular Life | Dial Press | |||
2019 | Kacen Callender | Hurricane Child | Scholastic | Winner | |
Mark Oshiro | Anger Is a Gift: A Novel | Tor Teen / Tor Books | Finalist | ||
Adib Khorram | Darius the Great Is Not Okay | Dial Press | |||
Ashley Herring Blake | Girl Made of Stars | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | |||
Claire Legrand | Sawkill Girls | Katherine Tegen Books | |||
Angelo Surmelis | The Dangerous Art of Blending In | Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins | |||
Elizabeth Acevedo | The Poet X | HarperTeen | |||
Kacen Callender | This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story | Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins | |||
2020 | Lisa Jenn Bigelow | Hazel's Theory of Evolution | HarperCollins | Winner (C) | |
Alexandra Villasante | The Grief Keeper | G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers | Winner (YA) | ||
Saundra Mitchell | All the Things We Do in the Dark | HarperTeen | Finalist | ||
Nicole Melleby | Hurricane Season | Algonquin Young Readers | |||
Akwaeke Emezi | Pet | Make Me a World / Random House | |||
Robin Stevenson | Pride Colors | Orca Book Publishers | |||
Jaye Robin Brown | The Meaning of Birds | HarperTeen | |||
Rory Power | Wilder Girls | Delacorte Press | |||
2021 | Kacen Callender | King and the Dragonflies | Scholastic | Winner (C) | |
Mike Curato | Flamer | Henry Holt Books for Young Readers | Winner (YA) | ||
Phil Bildner | A High Five for Glenn Burke | Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers | Finalist | ||
Lev A. C. Rosen | Camp | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | |||
Vincent Kirsch | From Archie to Zack | Abrams Books for Young Readers | |||
Peter Mercurio and Leo Espinosa | Our Subway Baby | Dial Press | |||
Agnes Borinsky | Sasha Masha | Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers | |||
Niki Smith | The Deep & Dark Blue | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | |||
Trung Le Nguyen | The Magic Fish | Random House Graphic | |||
Leah Johnson | You Should See Me in a Crown | Scholastic | |||
2022 | JR Ford and Vanessa Ford | Calvin | G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers | Winner | |
Ashley Herring Blake | Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | Finalist (C) | ||
Charlotte Sullivan Wild with Charlene Chua (illus.) | Love, Violet | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | |||
Rob Sanders | Stitch by Stitch: Cleve Jones and the AIDS Memorial Quilt | APA Magination Press | |||
Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester | The Fabulous Zed Watson! | HarperCollins Publishers | |||
A. R. Capetta | The Heartbreak Bakery | Candlewick Press | Winner | ||
Adiba Jaigirdar | Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating | Page Street Kids | Finalist (YA) | ||
Aden Polydoros | The City Beautiful | Harlequin Trade Publishing/Inkyard | |||
Isaac Fitzsimons | The Passing Playbook | Dial Books for Young Readers | |||
Linsey Miller | What We Devour | Sourcebooks Fire | |||
2023 | Wallace West | Mighty Red Riding Hood | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | Winner | |
Carole Boston Weatherford and Rob Sanders, illus. by Byron McCray | A Song for the Unsung: Bayard Rustin | Henry Holt Books for Young Readers | Finalist (C) | ||
Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson, illus. by Daniel Sousa | Kapaemahu | Kokila | |||
Nina LaCour | Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle | Candlewick Press | |||
Robb Pearlman, illus. by Dani Jones | The Sublime Ms. Stacks | Bloomsbury Publishing | |||
Maulik Pancholy | Nikhil Out Loud | HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray | Winner | ||
David Levithan | Answers In the Pages | Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers | Finalist (MG) | ||
Kyle Lukoff | Different Kinds of Fruit | Dial Books for Young Readers | |||
Maggie Horne | Hazel Hill Is Gonna Win This One | HarperCollins/Clarion Books | |||
Michael Leali | The Civil War of Amos Abernathy | HarperCollins | |||
Sonora Reyes | The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School | Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins | Winner | ||
Vincent Tirado | Burn Down, Rise Up | Sourcebooks | Finalist (YA) | ||
Angeline Jackson with Susan McClelland | Funny Gyal: My Fight Against Homophobia in Jamaica | Dundurn Press | |||
Anna-Marie McLemore | Lakelore | Feiwel & Friends | |||
Jen Ferguson | The Summer of Bitter and Sweet | Heartdrum/HarperCollins | |||
2024 | Nina LaCour, with Sonia Albert (ill.) | The Apartment House on Poppy Hill | Chronicle Books | Finalist (C) | |
Meeg Pincus and Meridth Mckean Gimbel | Door by Door | Crown Books for Young Readers | |||
Andy Passchier | Gender Identity for Kids | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | |||
Harry Woodgate | Grandad's Pride | Little Bee Books | |||
A. J. Irving and Kip Alizadeh | The Wishing Flower | Knopf Books for Young Readers | |||
Robin Gow | Dear Mothman | Amulet Books | Finalist (MG) | ||
Leah Johnson | Ellie Engle Saves Herself | Disney Hyperion | |||
Karen Wilfrid | Just Lizzie | HarperCollins / Clarion Books | |||
Michael Leali | Matteo | HarperCollins | |||
Alden Van Otterloo | The Beautiful Something Else | Scholastic Press | |||
Maxine Rae | Cold Girls | Flux Books | Finalist (YA) | ||
Abdi Nazemian | Only This Beautiful Moment | HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray | |||
Keith F. Miller, Jr. | Pritty | HarperCollins / HarperTeen | |||
Brittany N. Williams | That Self-Same Metal | Amulet Books | |||
Gabe Cole Novoa | The Wicked Bargain | Random House Books for Young Readers |