And the Award Goes to...

The Newbery and Caldecott awards were announced this morning at the American Library Association’s midwinter conference in Denver. Erin Entrada Kelly won the 2018 John Newbery Medal for her novel Hello, Universe. Matthew Cordell won the 2018 Randolph Caldecott Medal for Wolf in the Snow. 

Three Newbery Honor Books were named: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds; Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson; and Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James.

There were four Caldecott Honor Books: Big Cat, little cat by Elisha Cooper; Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut; A Different Pond by Bao Phi,‎ illustrated by Thi Bui; and Grand Canyon by Jason Chin.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas won three prizes, including the William C. Morris Award, for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens, Corretta Scott King Book Award honor, the Printz Honor, and the Odyssey Award, for excellence in audiobook production. Jason Reynolds won both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor for his novel Long Way Down.

Coretta Scott King Book Awards recognizing African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults: “Piecing Me Together,” written by Renée Watson, is the King Author Award winner.

ICPL ran a mock Newbery and Caldecott awards this year. We were excited to see some of our choices make the Honors, but our winners didn't match this year. Our winner for the mock Newbery was Pashmina and the mock Caldecott winner was Little Fox in the Forrest! Thanks to all who participated and voted for your favorites.

To see the entire list of winners go here.  And to find out more about the Youth Media Awards check here.