On Monday, January 30, the American Library Association (ALA) 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, taking place in-person for the first time in New Orleans.
A list of the 2023 award winners and honor selections from the Young Adult category follows:
Caldecott Honor Book: Ain’t Burned All the Bright, illustrated by Jason Griffin, written by Jason Reynolds
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award: We Deserve Monuments, written by Jas Hammonds
- Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book: Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice, written by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes
- Corretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book: Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice, illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile, written by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes
Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults: All My Rage, written by Sabaa Tahir
- Printz Honor Books: Scout’s Honor, written by Lily Anderson; Icebreaker, written by A.I. Graziadei; When the Angels Left the Old Country, written by Sacha Lamb; Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality, written by Eliot Schrefer
Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience: The Words We Keep, written by Erin Stewart
- Schneider Family Honor Book: Breathe and Count Back from Ten, written by Natalia Sylvester
Odyssey Award for the best audiobooks produced for young adults: The Honeys, written by written by Ryan La Sala and narrated by Pete Cross
- Odyssey Honor Audiobook: Demon in the Wood Graphic Novel, written by Leigh Bardugo, adaptation by Garet Scott and narrated by Ben Barnes and a full cast; Inheritance: A Visual Poem, written and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo
Pura Belpré Awards honoring Latinx writers and illustrators whose young adult books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience: Burn Down, Rise Up, written by Vincent Tirado
- Belpré Young Adult Author Honor Books: Breathe and Count Back from Ten, written by Natalia Sylvester; High Spirits, written by Camille Gomera-Tavarez; The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, written by Sonora Reyes
Stonewall Book Award given annually to English-language young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience: When the Angels Left the Old Country, written by Sacha Lamb
- Stonewall Honor Books: I Kissed Shara Wheeler, written by Casey McQuiston; Kings of B’more, written by R. Eric Thomas; Man o’War, written by Cory McCarthy; The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, written by Jen Ferguson (Metis/white)
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
- Morris Award Finalists: The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, written by Jen Ferguson (Metis/white); Wake the Bones, written by Elizabeth Kilcoyne; The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, written by Sonora Reyes; Hell Followed With Us, written by Andrew Joseph White
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults: Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice, illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile, written by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes
- Finalists: Abuela, Don’t Forget Me, written by Rex Ogle; American Murderer: The Parasite that Haunted the South, written by Gail Jarrow; A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome, written by Ariel Henley; Unequal: A Story of America, written by Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, which promotes Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and is awarded based on literary and artistic merit: Himawari House, written and illustrated by Harmony Becker
- Youth Literature honor title: The Silence that Binds Us, written by Joanna Ho
The Sydney Taylor Book Award, presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience: When the Angels Left the Old Country, written by Sacha Lamb
- Young Adult honors: My Fine Fellow: A Delicious Entanglement, written by Jennieke Cohen; Some Kind of Hate, written by Sarah Darer Littman; Eight Nights of Flirting, written by Hannah Reynolds