The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
2022 Medal Winner The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera A girl named Petra Pena, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra's world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children - among them Petra and her family - have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet - and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard - or purged them altogether. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again? 2022 Honors
Red, White, and Whole byRajani LaRocca | Reha, whose name means "star," feels torn between two worlds: school, where she’s the only Indian American student, and home, with her family’s traditions and holidays. And sadly, she feels a universe apart from her mother, or Amma whose name means "moon". Then Reha finds out that her Amma is sick. Really sick. Reha, who dreams of becoming a doctor even though she can’t stomach the sight of blood, is determined to make her Amma well again. She’ll be the perfect daughter, if it means saving her Amma’s life.
A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger | Nina is a Lipan girl in our world, and Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli's best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven't been in centuries. And there are some who will kill to keep them apart.
Watercress by Andrea Wang; Illustrated by Jason Chin | A girl who is embarrassed and angry about being poor stops on the side of the road to gather watercress. But later that night, while eating the watercress, her mom shares more about her childhood in China and how her younger brother died from starvation, helping the girl see the value in food and watercress.
Too Bright to Seeby Kyle Lukoff | In rural Vermont, Bug spends the summer preparing for middle school, grieving Uncle Roderick's death, and grappling with a ghost and gender identity.
The National Book Foundation has revealed the 2022 National Book Award longlist for Young People’s Literature. The five finalists will be named on October 4, and the winner will be announced during the awards ceremony on November 16, which will be held at Cipriani Wall Street in New York.
Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas (HarperAlley) | Challenging the idea that “Black people aren’t good at swimming,” this middle grade debut from Christmas (the Angel Catbird series, for adults) details segregation’s generational impact through a warmhearted story of community, Black diasporic identity, and learning, all portrayed in kinetic contemporary art.
The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill (Algonquin) | Stone-in-the-Glen, once a lovely town, has fallen on hard times, suffering losses and destruction of knowledge, recreation, and neighborliness. It's mayor, a reputed dragon slayer, promises salvation, but only the children at the Orphan House and the kindly Ogress at the edge of town can see how dire the town’s problems are. When the Ogress is blamed for the disappearance of a child, the Orphans know they must make their deluded neighbors see the real villain in their midst.
The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen by Isaac Blum (Philomel) | The story of an Orthodox Jewish 15-year-old Yehuda “Hoodie” Rosen as he wrestles with forbidden first love with benevolent Anna-Marie Diaz-O’Leary, in his increasingly hostile, mostly non-Jewish town. Blum tackles themes of acceptance and community via an intricately detailed Orthodox Jewish cast and a steadily building anticipatory atmosphere, which enlivens this impressively drawn story. Hoodie and his family read as white; Anne-Marie is Latinx-cued.
Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remixby Anna-Marie McLemore (Feiwel and Friends) |New York City, 1922. Nicolás Caraveo, a 17-year-old transgender boy from Wisconsin, has no interest in the city’s glamor. Going to New York is all about establishing himself as a young professional, which could set up his future―and his life as a man―and benefit his family .With a breath of fresh life, Self-Made Boys shows us how queer love has flourished in quiet corners across history
The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray) | Sixteen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers to be known for her killer eyeliner, not for being one of the only Mexican kids at her new, mostly white, very rich Catholic school. But at least here no one knows she’s gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way. A sharply funny and moving debut novel about a queer Mexican American girl navigating Catholic school, while falling in love and learning to celebrate her true self.
Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabwile (Norton Young Readers) | Before track & field athlete Tommie Smith, who is Black, was an Olympic gold medalist, he and his family of 14 lived in a house with “no running water. No central air-conditioning or heating.” When he was seven, they relocated from Texas to California, where he faced racism from white classmates and school administrators before his white PE teacher Mr. Focht, described as a “good man,” encouraged him to run track. Smith was eventually recruited by San José State University in 1963. Even as his career flourished, however, he couldn’t ignore the racial violence surrounding him. Realizing he “had an obligation—not just to carry the banner of San José State” but “to carry an even larger banner for my people,” Smith raised a fist while on the podium at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir (Razorbill) | Tahir (the Ember in the Ashes series) explores heavy themes, including grief, racism, financial need, trauma, and substance abuse, in a far-reaching novel that follows a working-class Pakistani American family across two generations. Narrated in a clean, fluid prose style through alternating chapters voiced by Misbah, Noor, and Sal, this powerful, viscerally told novel unfolds across the past and present, painting solidly multidimensional characters alongside vividly wrought connections and pressure.
Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution by Sherri Winston (Bloomsbury) | A Black seventh grader navigates a racist dress code in this novel of protest by Winston (Jada Sly, Artist and Spy). Talented violinist Lotus Bloom, who rocks a vintage clothing style and sports an Afro, has recently been accepted into prestigious Atlantis School of the Arts, a “fancy new magnet school” that boasts the state’s best youth orchestra. Lotus’s best friend isn’t thrilled that Lotus is changing schools, firmly believing that Atlantis is “stealing away talented kids” and perpetuating underfunding at public MacArthur Middle. But Lotus quickly becomes smitten with Atlantis when she’s placed into the orchestra with her musical idol—faculty member Maestro Santiago Vasquez, “former Cuban refugee turned international violin virtuoso.”
Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee (Random House) | In this fast-paced narrative, Chinese American only child Maizy Chen travels with her food stylist single mother from Los Angeles to her mom’s hometown of Last Chance, Minn., to care for Maizy’s ailing grandfather. As the 11-year-old gets to know her estranged grandparents—mischievous poker player Opa and stern but loving Oma, proud restaurant owners— she must navigate unfamiliar stressors both familial and social, including the tension between her mother and Oma, and microaggressions as the only child of color in town.
Nebula Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy
The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Founded as the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1965 by Damon Knight, the organization began with a charter membership of 78 writers; it now has over 1,500 members, among them many of the leading writers of science fiction and fantasy.
NEBULA AWARD FOR NOVEL A Master of Djinn, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom; Orbit UK) |
NEBULA AWARD FOR NOVELLA And What Can We Offer You Tonight, Premee Mohamed (Neon Hemlock) | In a far future city, where you can fall to a government cull for a single mistake, And What Can We Offer You Tonight tells the story of Jewel, established courtesan in a luxurious House. Jewel’s world is shaken when her friend is murdered by a client, but somehow comes back to life. To get revenge, they will both have to confront the limits of loyalty, guilt, and justice.
NEBULA AWARD FOR NOVELETTE “O2 Arena”, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy’s Edge 11/21): Read this selection online here. https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/o2-arena/ | In an ecologically damaged future Lagos, one college student reconnects with the gang he used to run with and will fight to the death for a opportunity to have a lifetime of clean, breathable air. This science fiction novelette is a finalist for the 2022 Nebula Awards. It was published by Galaxy’s Edge 11/21, and is also available online from Apex Magazine. Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki is a disabled Nigerian writer and editor and has won a number of awards.
NEBULA AWARD FOR SHORT STORY “Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3–4/21) | The story is told in the form of comments posted by several contributors on a crowdsourced website discussing the history and meaning of the (fictitious) folk song "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather". The song tells the story of a woman who takes her lover's heart from his chest and replaces it with an acorn, after which the townspeople hang the young man and destroy the local oak trees. One of the commenters, HenryMartyn, is a student researching the song's origin. In the comments, he discusses the work of a professor who disappeared years earlier while researching the song, and his own work retracing the professor's steps to the English village of Gall, which he believed to be the source of the legend narrated in the song. There he meets Jenny, a local historian who offers to show him an old oak tree in the woods; after that, no further comments from HenryMartyn appear.
THE ANDRE NORTON NEBULA AWARD FOR MIDDLE GRADE AND YOUNG ADULT FICTION A Snake Falls to Earth, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido) | Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She’s always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories. Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he’s been cast from home. He’s found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake. Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli’s best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven’t been in centuries. And there are some who will kill to keep them apart.
THE RAY BRADBURY NEBULA AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC PRESENTATION WandaVision: Season 1, Peter Cameron, Mackenzie Dohr, Laura Donney, Bobak Esfarjani, Megan McDonnell, Jac Schaeffer, Cameron Squires, Gretchen Enders, and Chuck Hayward (Marvel Studios) | Newlywed couple Wanda Maximoff and Vision move into the town of Westview in a black-and-white 1950s setting. They attempt to blend in despite Vision being an android and Maximoff having telekinesis and reality-warping abilities. Maximoff and Vision struggle to hide their abilities while making a last-minute dinner. While interrogating Maximoff and Vision, Mr. Hart chokes on his food and Vision uses his abilities to save him. All of this takes place in the fictional sitcom WandaVision which someone is watching on a television.
NEBULA AWARD FOR GAME WRITING Thirsty Sword Lesbians, April Kit Walsh, Whitney Delaglio, Dominique Dickey, Jonaya Kemper, Alexis Sara, and Rae Nedjadi (Evil Hat Games) | Thirsty Sword Lesbians is a narrative-focused tabletop role-playing game which emphasizes telling "melodramatic and queer stories". The game was funded via a 2020 Kickstarter campaign and published by Evil Hat Productions in 2021. It uses a modification of the Powered by the Apocalypse game system. Thirsty Sword Lesbians was the first tabletop game to win a Nebula Award and the fourth winner in the "Best Game Writing" category. The game also won the 2022 ENNIE Awards for "Best Game" and for "Product of the Year".
Additional awards and honors presented: THE SFWA DAMON KNIGHT MEMORIAL GRAND MASTER AWARD Mercedes Lackey
THE KEVIN J. O’DONNELL, JR. SERVICE TO SFWA AWARD Colin Coyle
California Young Reader Medals -- FORTHCOMING
The California Young Reader Medal (CYRM) program encourages recreational reading of popular literature among the young people of our state. Since its inception in 1974, millions of California children have nominated, read, and voted for the winners of the California Young Reader Medal.
FORTHCOMING
Goodreads Choice Awards 2023 -- FORTHCOMING
New York Times -- FORTHCOMING
The New York Times publishes monthly updates about best selling Middle Grade paperback and hardcover books. Click on the links below to see the most up to date list of bestselling books for the middle grades.