National Book Award for Young People's Literature facts for kids

The National Book Award for Young People's Literature is a special prize given each year to an amazing book written for young people in the United States. It's one of five big awards from the National Book Foundation. These awards celebrate great books by American writers.

A group of five expert writers chooses the winning books. They pick one book written by a U.S. citizen and published in the U.S. between December 1st and November 30th. Publishers send in their nominations by June 15th, and the judges get the books by August 1st. In October, five finalists are announced. The big winner is revealed at a special ceremony in November. The winner gets $10,000 and a cool bronze sculpture. The other finalists each receive $1,000, a medal, and a special note from the judges.

History of the Award

The award for Young People's Literature started in its current form in 1996. But even before that, from 1969 to 1983, there were awards for "Children's" books.

Early Children's Book Awards (1969-1979)

The National Book Awards first recognized books for children in 1969. For about ten years, there was one award category called "Children's Literature" or "Children's Books." Many wonderful authors and books were honored during this time.

Some of the winners included:

• 1969: Journey from Peppermint Street by Meindert DeJong
• 1970: A Day of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing up in Warsaw by Isaac Bashevis Singer
• 1971: The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian by Lloyd Alexander
• 1972: The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine or The Hithering Thithering Djinn by Donald Barthelme
• 1973: The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin
• 1974: The Court of the Stone Children by Eleanor Cameron
• 1975: M. C. Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton
• 1976: Bert Breen's Barn by Walter D. Edmonds
• 1977: The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Paterson
• 1978: The View From the Oak: The Private Worlds of Other Creatures by Judith Kohl and Herbert Kohl
• 1979: The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

Changes in the 1980s (1980-1983)

In 1980, the awards changed their name to The American Book Awards (TABA). They added many more categories, including two for Children's Books: one for hardcover books and one for paperback books. Over the next three years, there were even more children's book categories.

Some of the winners during this period included:

• 1980: A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830–82 by Joan Blos (Hardcover) and A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle (Paperback)
• 1981: The Night Swimmers by Betsy Byars (Fiction, hardcover), Ramona and Her Mother by Beverly Cleary (Fiction, paperback), and Oh, Boy! Babies by Alison Cragin Herzig and Jane Lawrence Mali (Nonfiction)
• 1982: Westmark by Lloyd Alexander (Fiction, hardcover), Words by Heart by Ouida Sebestyen (Fiction, paperback), and A Penguin Year by Susan Bonners (Nonfiction)
• 1983: Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz (Fiction, hardcover), A Place Apart by Paula Fox and Marked by Fire by Joyce Carol Thomas (Fiction, paperback, a tie!), Chimney Sweeps by James Cross Giblin (Nonfiction), Doctor De Soto by William Steig and Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (Picture books, hardcover, a tie!), and A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman (Picture books, paper)

After 1983, there were no children's book awards until 1996.

Young People's Literature (1996-Present)

The award for young people's literature came back in 1996. Since then, many amazing books for teens and young adults have been recognized.

Some of the winners include:

• 1996: Parrot in the Oven, Mi Vida by Victor Martinez
• 1997: Dancing on the Edge by Han Nolan
• 1998: Holes by Louis Sachar
• 1999: When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt
• 2000: Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
• 2001: True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff
• 2002: The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
• 2003: The Canning Season by Polly Horvath
• 2004: Godless by Pete Hautman
• 2005: The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
• 2006: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party by M. T. Anderson
• 2007: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• 2008: What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
• 2009: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
• 2010: Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
• 2011: Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
• 2012: Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
• 2013: The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata
• 2014: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
• 2015: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
• 2016: March: Book Three by John Lewis, Nate Powell, and Andrew Aydin
• 2017: Far from the Tree by Robin Benway
• 2018: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
• 2019: 1919: The Year That Changed America by Martin W. Sandler
• 2020: King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender
• 2021: Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
• 2022: All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
• 2023: A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

Authors with Multiple Awards

Some authors have won the Children's or Young People's Literature award more than once!

• Lloyd Alexander won for The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian (1971) and Westmark (1982). He had six books that were finalists in total.
• Katherine Paterson won for The Master Puppeteer (1977) and The Great Gilly Hopkins (1979). Three of her books were finalists.

Isaac Bashevis Singer also won the Children's Literature award in 1970 for A Day of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing up in Warsaw. He later shared the Fiction award in 1974 for another book, A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories.

See also

• List of winners of the National Book Award — a list of all winners in every category.