NEW ORLEANS — The American Library Association (ALA) today announced the top books, digital media, video and audio books for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience held January 27-30, in New Orleans.

A list of all the 2023 award winners and honor selections follows:
The ALSC Children's Literature Lecture is an annual event featuring an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children’s literature. Author Rita Williams-Garcia will deliver the 2024 ALSC Children’s Literature Lecture. Williams-Garcia has written over a dozen books for children and teens and is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Scott O’Dell Historical Fiction Award, three Coretta Scott King Author Awards, and a Newbery Honor Award.

Children’s Literature Legacy Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences. The 2023 winner is James E. Ransome. His award-winning works include “Uncle Jed's Barbershop,” which won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award, 1994 and “The Creation,” recipient of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, 1995. In addition, Ransome has received the IBBY Honor Award for “The Creation,” and the NAACP Image Award for “Let My People Go.”

Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults: The 2023 winner is Jason Reynolds, whose books include: “Long Way Down,” “Ghost,” “All American Boys” and “When I Was the Greatest,” among other titles.

Odyssey Award for the best audiobooks produced for children and young adults, available in English in the United States: “Stuntboy, in the Meantime,” produced by Taryn Beato for Simon & Schuster Audio, is the 2023 Odyssey Award winner for children. The book is written by Jason Reynolds and narrated by Guy Lockard, Nile Bullock and Angel Pean with a full cast. “The Honeys,” produced by Melissa Ellard for Scholastic Audio, is the 2023 Odyssey Award winner for young adults. The book is written by Ryan La Sala and narrated by Pete Cross.

Four Odyssey Honor Audiobooks were selected: “The Three Billy Goats Gruff,” produced by Melissa Ellard and Paul Gagne for Weston Woods Studios and Scholastic Audio, retold and narrated by Mac Barnett; “Demon in the Wood Graphic Novel,” produced by Steve Wagner and Michelle Altman for Macmillan Young Listeners, an imprint of Macmillan Audio, written by Leigh Bardugo, adaptation by Garet Scott and narrated by Ben Barnes and a full cast; “Inheritance: A Visual Poem,” produced by Caitlin Garing for Quill Books, an imprint of HarperAudio, and written and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo; and “The First Helping (Lunch Lady Books 1 & 2),” produced by Jarrett J. Krosoczka and Lauren Klein; Executive Producer Nick Martorelli for Listening Library, an imprint of Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group, written Jarrett J. Krosoczka and narrated by Kate Flannery, the author and a full cast.

The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children: “Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams’s Photographs Reveal About the Japanese American Incarceration,” written by Elizabeth Partridge and illustrated by Lauren Tamaki, is the 2023 Sibert Award winner. The book is published by Chronicle Books.

Four Sibert Honor Books were named: “Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement,” written by Angela Joy, illustrated by Janelle Washington and published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group; “A Seed Grows,” written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis and published by Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Holiday House; “Sweet Justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott,” written by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie and published by Random House Studio, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House; and “The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs,” written by Chana Stiefel, illustrated by Susan Gal and published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.

Theodore Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book: “I Did It!,” written and illustrated by Michael Emberley, is the 2023 Geisel Award winner. The book is published by Holiday House.

Four Geisel Honor Books were named: “Fish and Wave,” written and illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier and published by HarperAlley, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; “Gigi and Ojiji,” written and illustrated by Melissa Iwai and published by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; “Owl and Penguin,” written and illustrated by Vikram Madan and published by Holiday House; and “A Seed Grows,” written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis and published by Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Holiday House.

William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens:

“The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen,” written by Isaac Blum, is the 2023 Morris Award winner. The book is published by Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, a division of Penguin Random House.

Four other books were finalists for the award: “The Summer of Bitter and Sweet,” written by Jen Ferguson (Métis/white) and published by Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books; “Wake the Bones,” written by Elizabeth Kilcoyne and published by Wednesday Books, an imprint of St. Martin's Publishing Group at Macmillan; “The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School,” written by Sonora Reyes and published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; and “Hell Followed with Us,” written by Andrew Joseph White and published by Peachtree Teen, an imprint of Peachtree Publishing Company.

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults: “Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice,” written by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes, is the 2023 Excellence winner. The book is illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile and published by Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Company.

Four other books were finalists for the award:  “Abuela, Don't Forget Me,” written by Rex Ogle and published by Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Company; “American Murderer: The Parasite that Haunted the South,” written by Gail Jarrow and published by Calkins Creek; “A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome,” written by Ariel Henley and published by Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, a division of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group; and “Unequal: A Story of America,” written by Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Recognized worldwide for the high quality they represent, ALA awards guide parents, educators, librarians and others in selecting the best materials for youth. Selected by judging committees of librarians and other children’s experts, the awards encourage original and creative work. For more information on the ALA youth media awards and notables, please visit www.ala.org/yma.

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