Margaret A. Edwards Award  Established in 1988 by the American Library Association, this award honors an author’s lifetime achievement for writing books popular over a period of time. S.E. Hinton received the first award in 1988, Nancy Garden received the award in 2003.  This year’s winner was Ursula K. Le Guin. 

Alex Award  American Library Association.  First given annually in 1998, this award honors the top ten books written for adults that have special appeal for young adults.   Some previous years recipients include Audrey Niffenegger for  The Time Traveler’s Wife, Z.Z. Packer for Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, Pat Conroy My Losing Season, The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier.  

Americas Award  The mission is to provide visibility to excellent books about Latin American and Latinos in the United States.  The award was established in 1993.          

Pura Belpre Award  Established in 1996, is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and young adults.   The 2004 winnner was Before We Were Free by Julie Alvarez. An Honor Book for 2004 was Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa. Previous years winners: Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan (2002); Martinez, Victor (1998) for Parrot in the Oven: mi vida. 

Sibert Medal  Established in 2001, is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the preceding year.  The 2004 Medal Winner: An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy.                     

Edgar Awards Honors best in mystery-fiction, nonfiction, television and film.  Two categories for young people: juvenile and young adult.     

National Book Awards

Coretta Scott King Award  Presented annually. Recipients are authors and illustrators of African descent whose distinguished books promote an understanding and appreciation of the "American Dream."  This years winner was The First Part Last  by Angela Johnson.       

Newberry Award  Administered by the American Library Association, it recognizes excellence in children’s literature, defining children as up to and including age 14.  Titles chosen may be likely to appeal to middle school/junior high youth.  

Boston Globe Horn Book Award. Awarded annually since 1967, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature honor outstanding titles in three categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonfiction, and Picture Book.              

Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction  Established in 1982, first awarded in 1984.  Recipients can be writing for either children or young adults. The 2004 winner was Richard Peck for A       

Lambda Literary Awards  Devoted to the recognition of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender writing.  There is a category for recognition of children’s and young adult literature. Boy meets boy by David Levithan was the recipient of the 16^th annual award in this category.      

Library Association & State Awards

Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award  This award is an award voted on by students in grades three through eight.  Students read certain titles throughout the year and then vote on their favorite to receive this award.  The two categories are third through fifth grade and sixth through eighth grade.  

Minnesota Book Awards  Two types of awards are given out in the young adult category:   Young Adult Literature - a book of fiction or poetry appropriate for ages pre-teen to young adult.  Young Adult Non-fiction - a nonfiction book appropriate for ages pre-teen to young adult. 

Children’s Book Award Committee  Wisconsin Library Association. Among its duties includes provisions of additions to the list of Notable Wisconsin Authors and selection of the recipient of the Elizabeth Burr Award.
            

Elizabeth Burr Award  The Elizabeth Burr Award, presented for the first time at the 1992 conference of the Wisconsin Library Association, is awarded each year at the Association's annual conference to a Wisconsin author/illustrator for distinguished achievement in children's literature. This also includes young adult authors.

WEMA Golden Archer Award  Presented to authors of books nominated by students. Nominations are compiled by the WEMA Golden Archer Award Committee and sent back to all schools for the students (up through grade 8) to vote. This award is a children's choice award.

Mark Twain Award  The Missouri Association of School Librarians (MASL) sponsors three children's choice book awards: the Show Me Readers Award, the Mark Twain Award and the Gateway Readers Award. The Mark Twain Award is selected by students in grades four through eight and presented annually. Nominations of titles of literary merit for the stated grade range to be considered for the award are invited.