2023 ALA Children's Award Winners and Nominees | Downers Grove Public Library

Author

Luqman-Dawson, Amina

Series

James Patterson presents
Thorndike Press youth large print

Description

"Under the cover of night, twelve-year-old Homer flees Southerland Plantation with his little sister Ada, unwillingly leaving their beloved mother behind. Much as he adores her and fears for her life, Homer knows there's no turning back, not with the overseer on their trail. Through tangled vines, secret doorways, and over a sky bridge, the two find a secret community called Freewater, deep in the swamp. In this society created by formerly enslaved...

2) Iveliz explains it all

Author

Arango, Andrea Beatriz

Description

Twelve-year-old Iveliz is trying to manage her mental health and advocate for the help and understanding she deserves, but in the meantime her new friend calls her crazy and her abuela Mimi dismisses the therapy and medicine Iveliz needs to feel like herself.

3) The last mapmaker

Author

Soontornvat, Christina

Series

Thorndike Press youth large print middle reader

Description

From Christina Soontornvat, the visionary and versatile author of two 2021 Newbery Honor Books, comes a high-seas adventure set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world. In a fantasy adventure every bit as compelling and confident in its world building as her Newbery Honor Book A Wish in the Dark, Christina Soontornvat explores a young woman's struggle to unburden herself of the past and chart her own destiny in a world of secrets. As assistant to Mangkon's...

4) Maizy Chen's last chance

Author

Series

Thorndike Press youth large print middle reader

Description

"Eleven-year-old Maizy Chen visits her estranged grandparents, who own and run a Chinese restaurant in Last Chance, Minnesota; as her visit lengthens, she makes unexpected discoveries about her family's history and herself"-- Provided by publisher.

Author

Description

"A summery picture book about mindfulness, featuring an overheated --and overwhelmed-- canine in need of sea, sand, and fresh air"-- Provided by publisher.

6) Ain't burned all the bright

Author

Reynolds, Jason

Description

"A smash up of art and text that viscerally captures what it means to not be able to breathe, and how the people and things you love most are actually the oxygen you most need"-- Provided by publisher.

Author

Goade, Michaela

Description

As a young Tlingit girl collects wild berries over the seasons, she sings with her Grandmother as she learns to speak to the land and listen when the land speaks back.

8) Choosing brave: how Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till sparked the civil rights movement

Author

Joy, Angela, 1975-

Description

"The story of the mother of Emmett Till, and how she channeled grief over her son's death into a call to action for the civil rights movement"-- Provided by publisher.

Author

Denise, Christopher

Series

The Knight Owl

Description

After achieving his dream of becoming a knight, a small owl protects the castle from a hungry dragon.

10) Star child: a biographical constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler

Author

Zoboi, Ibi Aanu

Description

"From the New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist, a biography in verse and prose of science fiction visionary Octavia Butler. Acclaimed novelist Ibi Zoboi illuminates the young life of the visionary storyteller Octavia E. Butler in poems and prose. Born into the Space Race, the Red Scare, and the dawning Civil Rights Movement, Butler experienced an American childhood that shaped her into the groundbreaking science-fiction...

Author

Williams, Alicia, 1970-

Description

As a little boy grows into a bigger boy, he first must have the difficult conversation Black families have with their sons, warning them about the challenges they face due to racism.

12) Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice

Author

Description

Winner of the 2023 YALSA Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award Finalist for the 2022 National Book Award for Young People's Literature A Coretta Scott King Award Author and Illustrator Honor Book A Washington Post Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year A Booklist Best Book of the Year A Horn Book Fanfare Title On October 16, 1968, during...

13) Standing in the need of prayer: a modern retelling of the classic spiritual

Author

Weatherford, Carole Boston, 1956-

Description

The popular spiritual, Standing in the need of prayer, has been reworked to chronicle the milestones, struggles, tragedies, and triumphs of African American people and their history. The text and illustrations of this inspirational book are informative reminders of yesterday, hopeful images for today, and aspirational dreams of tomorrow.

14) Me and the boss: a story about mending and love

Author

Edwards, Michelle

Description

Six-year-old Lee will not give up until he can show his big sister Zora, a.k.a. the boss, how good he can sew. Includes instructions on how to make Lee's smiling moon.

15) swim team

This entry no longer exists in the catalog

16) We deserve monuments

Author

Description

When seventeen-year-old Avery moves to rural Georgia to live with her ailing grandmother, she encounters decade-old family secrets and a mystery surrounding the town's racist past.

17) All my rage

Author

Series

Thorndike Press youth large print

Description

"Lahore, Pakistan. Then. Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Clouds' Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start. Juniper, California. Now. Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else...

18) Scout's honor

Author

Anderson, Lily, 1988-

Description

Prudence Perry is a third-generation Ladybird Scout who must battle literal (and figurative) monsters and the weight of her legacy in Scout's Honor by Lily Anderson, a YA paranormal perfect for fans of Stranger Things and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Sixteen-year-old Prudence Perry is a legacy Ladybird Scout, born to a family of hunters sworn to protect humans from mulligrubs--interdimensional parasites who feast on human emotions like sadness and anger....

Author

Graziadei, A. L

Description

Seventeen-year-old Mickey James III is a college freshman, a brother to five sisters, and a hockey legacy. With a father and grandfather who have gone down in NHL history, Mickey is almost guaranteed the league's top draft spot. The only person standing in his way is Jaysen Caulfield, a contender for the #1 spot and Mickey's infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) teammate. When rivalry turns to something more, Mickey will have to decide what he...

20) When the angels left the old country

Author

Description

"Uriel the angel and Little Ash (short for Ashmedai) are the only two supernatural creatures in their shtetl (which is so tiny, it doesn't have a name other than Shetl). The angel and the demon have been studying together for centuries, but pogroms and the search for a new life have drawn all the young people from their village to America. When one of those young people, Essie, goes missing. Uriel and Little Ash set off to find her. Along the way...