Caldecott, Newbery, Morris, and Printz Awards..Oh My!

I have been looking forward to this morning and anxiously awaiting the announcement of several Children and Young Adult book awards. The Young Media Awards are like the Oscars for many librarians, including myself. The awards took place at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting at Dallas, Texas. Although there are many awards honored today, I was looking forward to finding out the winners for the Caldecott, Newberry, Morris, and of course the Michael L. Printz Award. You can find the other winners on the Association for Library Services to Children website and the Young Adult Library Services website (YALSA).

The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of  Randolph Caldecott, who was a nineteenth-century English illustrator. The award is given annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Winner of the 2012 Caldecott Medal is:

A Ball for Daisy by Chris Racka

Honorees of the 2012 Caldecott are:

Blackout by John Rocco
Grandpa Green by Lane Smith
Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell

 
The Newberry Medal was named in the honor of John Newberry, who was an eighteenth century British bookseller. Like the Caldecott, it is also awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

Winner of the 2012 Newberry Medal is: 

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Honorees of the 2012 Newberry are:

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin

The William C. Morris YA Debut Award was first awarded in 2009 by YALSA. The award is given to a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.

Winner of the 2012 Morris Award is: 

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Honorees of the 2011 Morris Award are:

Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

 The Michael L. Printz Award was named in the honor of Michael L. Printz, a school librarian in Topeaka, Kansas, who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association. The Michael L. Printz Award is an award given annually by the Young Adult Library Services Association to a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.

Winner of the 2012 Michael Printz Award is:

 

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Honorees of the 2011 Printz Award are:

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and by Maira Kalman
The Returning by Christine Hinwood
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

  Well, the library associations have spoken. What do you think of these book awards? Will you read the books that have won and have been honored? I was surprised that Where Things Come Back won both the Morris and the Printz award. I haven't heard much of the book, but I'm definitely putting it on my reading pile along with these other great books.