Every year, a Monday in late January is awards’ day for librarians, publishers, authors, illustrators, and readers. For us, it’s as big as the Grammy’s, the Emmy’s, and the Oscar’s because it’s the announcement by the American Library Association of their awards for children’s and young adult’s books. There were a number of outstanding books published in 2019.

It used to be that there were two major awards, the Newbery Award (literary award given to the author of “the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children”) and the Caldecott Award (given to “the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children”).

The categories have expanded though and the others now carry great prestige.
• Corretta Scott King Awards – now given in five categories to “outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.”
• Michael L. Printz Award – excellence in literature written for young adults
• Schneider Family Book Award – books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
• Pura Belpré Award – honors a Latino writer and illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
• Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award – most distinguished informational book for children
• Theodor Seuss Geisel Award – most distinguished beginning reader

Some of these books and categories deserve to be singled out, especially New Kid by Jerry Craft. The author/illustrator received the 2020 Newbery Medal and also the Coretta Scott King Author Book Award. Craft’s book is the first graphic novel to ever win the Newbery Award, and I have enjoyed promoting this title to our readers. We have three copies of it, and they are always out.

There’s an interesting interview with Jerry Craft on Publisher’s Weekly’s website. They aptly described this outstanding graphic novel:

New Kid introduces African-American seventh grader Jordan Banks, an aspiring artist who leaves his home in Washington Heights each morning and takes the bus to his new, private, mostly white school in the Bronx. In his sketchbook, he chronicles what it’s like for him to navigate his two different worlds, the ups and downs of middle school, and the various micro-aggressions he faces each day. The book was inspired by Craft’s own school experiences, as well as those of his two sons…

On January 10, 2020, Craft created a Sketchbook Piece for the New York Times.

I highly recommend New Kid!