Newbery, Caldecott 2023 winners announced

In the US, the American Library Association (ALA) has announced the winners of its Youth Media Awards, including the Newbery and Caldecott medals, reports Publishers Weekly.

Debut author Amina Luqman-Dawson won the 2023 John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature for her novel Freewater (Little, Brown); author and illustrator Doug Salati won the Randolph Caldecott Medal for most distinguished picture book for children for Hot Dog (Knopf); and Sabaa Tahir won the Michael L Printz award for excellence in literature written for young adults for All My Rage (Atom).

Freewater tells of two enslaved children’s escape from a plantation and the ways they find freedom. In Hot Dog, an overheated and overwhelmed dog gets tired of summer in the city, and gets taken to the beach by his owner for some calm. All My Rage follows a Pakistani American family across two generations, exploring themes of grief, racism, financial need, trauma and substance abuse.

The winners were announced during the ALA’s LibLearnX conference. For the full list of winners and honour books in each category of the awards, see the ALA website.

Category: Awards International news Junior