Fast Five Fiction: Youth Media Award Winners

It's Friday and time for Fast Five Fiction! Each week I share five fiction books: new books, notable books, books around a common theme. 

Each year the American Library Association (ALA) honors books, videos, and other outstanding materials for children and teens through the Youth Media Awards. Selected by committees composed of librarians and other literature and media experts, the awards encourage original and creative work in the field of children’s and young adult literature and media. The 2022 Awards took place virtually this past Monday so today I'm sharing five books that won top awards. If you're curious, here's the full list of award winners.

Click the title to be directed to the book in our catalog. Book descriptions are from Goodreads.

Watercress by Andrea Wang, Illustrated by Jason Chin

The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded for the most distinguished American picture book for children. Watercress was also a Newbery honor book and won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in the picture book category. 

Driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl's parents stop suddenly when they spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. Grabbing an old paper bag and some rusty scissors, the whole family wades into the muck to collect as much of the muddy, snail covered watercress as they can.

At first, she's embarrassed. Why can't her family get food from the grocery store? But when her mother shares a story of her family's time in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged. Together, they make a new memory of watercress.

Andrea Wang tells a moving autobiographical story of a child of immigrants discovering and connecting with her heritage, illustrated by award winning author and artist Jason Chin, working in an entirely new style, inspired by Chinese painting techniques. An author's note in the back shares Andrea's childhood experience with her parents.

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

The John Newbery Medal awards the most outstanding contribution to children's literature.

There lived a girl named Petra Peña, 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?

Fox at Night by Corey R. Tabor

The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is awarded to the most distinguished beginning reader book.

Fox is up late in the night. There are shadows and noises everywhere. Fox is sure the night is full of monsters! Then he meets the real creatures of the night and realizes they are not so scary after all.

My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf

The Schneider Family Book Award is given to a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience.

A young girl, who is visually impaired, finds much to celebrate as she explores the city she loves.

A young girl and her father spend a day in the city, her city, traveling to the places they go together: the playground, the community garden, the market, an outdoor concert. As they do, the girl describes what she senses in precise, poetic detail. Her city, she says, “rushes and stops, and waits and goes.” It “pitters and patters, and drips and drains.” It “echoes” and “trills,” and is both “smelly” and “sweet.” Her city also speaks, as it “dings and dongs, and rattles and roars.” And sometimes, maybe even some of the best times, it just listens.

Grace Lin's books

The Children’s Literature Legacy Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences. The 2022 winner is Grace Lin. 

Children’s author and illustrator Grace Lin writes picture books, books for early readers, and middle-school novels. She often included aspects of Taiwanese culture in her works. She likes to use children of color in her books not only to showcase her heritage but also to add diversity to children’s writing. In all her books Lin uses bright colors to enhance her vivid illustrations. She also illustrate several books for other authors.

Her novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (2009) was named a Newbery Honor Book in 2010. Lin’s picture book A Big Mooncake for Little Star (2018) was named a Caldecott Honor Book in 2019.



Happy Friday, and happy reading!