Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

'Last Cuentista,' 'Unspeakable' win children's book awards

Donna Barba Higuera’s “The Last Cuentista,” a post-apocalyptic tale of a young girl who must preserve the memory of Earth’s history, has won the John Newbery Medal for the year’s best children’s book

Via AP news wire
Monday 24 January 2022 19:57 GMT
Books-Youth Media Awards
Books-Youth Media Awards

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Donna Barba Higuera's “The Last Cuentista,” a post-apocalyptic tale of a young girl who must preserve the memory of Earth s history, has won the John Newbery Medal for the year's best children's book.

Another story of memory was awarded the Randolph Caldecott Medal for outstanding children's picture book. ”Watercress," in which a Chinese American girl learns about her heritage, was illustrated by Jason Chin and written by Andrea Wang.

The Newbery and Caldecott medals were part of the Youth Media Awards announced Monday by the American Library Association.

Higuera also received a Pura Belpré Award, which honors Latinx writers and illustrators, for best author, while “Watercress” was also named the year's outstanding Asian/Pacific American picture book. Malinda Lo’s “Last Night at the Telegraph Club,” winner last fall of the National Book Award for young people's literature, received the Asian/Pacific American Award for Youth Literature.

A book illustrated by the beloved artist Floyd Cooper, who died last year, was a finalist for the Caldecott prize and received Coretta Scott King awards for the year's best book by a Black author and illustrator. Cooper collaborated with author Carole Boston Weatherford on the historical work “Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre," about the 1921 slaughter of a Black community in Oklahoma by a mob of white people.

Nikki Grimes, whose dozens of works include the 2002 Coretta Scott King winner for best book “Bronx Masquerade,” received the Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. Grace Lin, a Taiwanese American whose works include “The Ugly Vegetables" and “The Red Thread,” has won the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for “books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences.” The Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement for a young adult writer went to A.S. King, author of “Still Life with Tornado” and “Ask the Passengers” among others.

____

A complete list of winners can be found on www.ala.org/yma

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in