2026 Youth Media Awards

Jan 29, 2026 | Filed in News & Features

This dedicated page features everything about the awards, including all of SLJ's reporting of the 2026 Youth Media Awards ceremony and recognized titles and creators; a complete list of winners and honor books; plus links to book reviews, author interviews, blog posts, and related coverage.

This page is being updated with additional articles and reviews.

SLJ 2026 Youth Media Awards Coverage

2026 Youth Media Award Winners

All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson Wins Newbery; Fireworks Illustrated by Cátia Chien Earns Caldecott at 2026 Youth Media Awards

Renée Watson’s “Heartbook” Wins Newbery Medal

Illustrator Cátia Chien’s Fireworks Journey Ends with 2026 Caldecott Medal

Printz Award Celebrates Indigenous Authors, Stories with 2026 Winner Legendary Frybread Drive-In

Reviews

SLJ Reviews the John Newbery Medalist All the Blues in the Sky and Honor Books | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Reviews the Caldecott Medal Winner Fireworks and Honors | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Reviews Printz Award Medalist Legendary Frybread Drive-In and Honors | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Reviews Coretta Scott King Award and Honor Recipients | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Reviews Pura Belpré Award Winners and Honors | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Reviews of the Morris Award Titles | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Reviews the Robert F. Sibert Informational Award and Honors Recipients | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Reviews the Schneider Family Award Medalists and Honors | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Reviews Asian/Pacific American Award Winners | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Reviews Stonewall Book Award Recipients | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Reviews YALSA’s Excellence in Nonfiction | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Reviews the American Indian Youth Literature Award Winners and Honors | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Reviews the Winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

Winners of the Geisel, Odyssey, Alex, and Batchelder Awards, Reviewed | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

SLJ Individual Reviews of YMA Winners and Related Content

Printz Honors
Cope Field by T. L. Simpson

The House No One Sees by Adina King
  Identity, Poetic Justice, and Grief Among the Themes in This Year’s Starred Titles | The 2025 Stars Issue
  64 Superb YA & Adult Books for Teens Titles | SLJ 2025 Stars So Far
  Author Adina King on YA Debut ‘The House No One Sees’ | 5 Questions and a Rec
  New Year, New Authors: 7 Starred YA Debuts Since the Start of 2025

Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley
44 Compelling Books for Every Kind of YA Reader
Best Young Adult Books 2025 | SLJ Best Books
Angeline Boulley and the Importance of Humor in Native Stories
How Educators Can Support Native Students

Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout
Best Graphic Novels 2025 | SLJ Best Books
Longlist Announced for 2025 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
37 Exceptional Graphic Novel & Manga Titles for All Ages | SLJ 2025 Stars So Far
Life During Wartime: 16 Untold World War II Stories | Great Books
9 Middle Grade & YA Graphic Novels About the Holocaust

Coretta Scott King Book Awards

Coretta Scott King Author Award
Will's Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes
  Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: WILL’S RACE FOR HOME by Jewell Parker Rhodes
  42 Stellar Middle Grade & Hi-Lo Titles | SLJ 2025 Stars So Far
  10 Exemplary Audiobooks for Young Listeners | SLJ 2025 Stars So Far
  23 Audiobooks to Inspire Hope in Kids, Tweens, and Teens | Audio Reviews
  Review of the Day: Will’s Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes | A Fuse #8 Production

   Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books
The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes
  Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: THE INCREDIBLY HUMAN HENSON BLAYZE by Derrick Barnes
  32 Outstanding Middle Grade Titles from Heavy-Hitter Authors
  Longlist Announced for 2025 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature

The Library in the Woods by Calvin Alexander Ramsey
59 Stellar Picture Books by Tracey Baptiste, Sophie Blackall, Lane Smith, and More
SLJ Reviews Stonewall Book Award Recipients | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

Split the Sky by Marie Arnold
44 Compelling Books for Every Kind of YA Reader

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award
The Library in the Woods by Calvin Alexander Ramsey
59 Stellar Picture Books by Tracey Baptiste, Sophie Blackall, Lane Smith, and More
SLJ Reviews Stonewall Book Award Recipients | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Honor Books
André: André Leon Talley—A Fabulously Fashionable Fairy Tale by Carole Boston Weatherford & Rob Sanders (text) & illus. by Lamont O’Neal
City Summer, Country Summer by Kiese Laymon (text) & illus. by Alexis Franklin
SLJ Talks to Kiese Laymon About His New Picture Book City Summer, Country Summer
59 Stellar Picture Books by Tracey Baptiste, Sophie Blackall, Lane Smith, and More
Review of the Day: City Summer, Country Summer by Kiese Laymon, ill. Alexis Franklin | A Fuse #8 Production

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award
Under the Neon Lights by Arriel Vinson

Pura Belpré Awards

Pura Belpré Illustration Award
Popo the Xolo by Paloma Angelina Lopez. illus. by Abraham Matias

Pura Belpré Illustration Honors
A-Ztec: A Bilingual Alphabet Book by Emmanuel Valtierra
20 Must-Have Spanish-Language Titles for All Ages
21 Outstanding Spanish-Language and Bilingual Titles for All Ages
The Invisible Parade by Leigh Bardugo. illus. by John Picacio
5 Picture Books for Dia de Muertos
Throw Wide Those Cemetery Gates: Leigh Bardugo and John Picacio Discuss The Invisible Parade | A Fuse #8 Production

Pura Belpré Children's Author Award
The Pecan Sheller by Lupe Ruiz-Flores. Lerner/Carolrhoda

Pura Belpré Children's Author Honors
A Hero’s Guide to Summer Vacation by Pablo Cartaya
School’s Out! 3 Middle Grade Novels about Vacation | Spotlight
Pablo Cartaya visits The Yarn
The Island of Forgotten Gods by Victor Piñeiro
  Reinvigorating Puerto Rico’s Indigenous Mythology, a guest post by Victor Piñeiro | Teen Librarian Toolbox
  A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez by María Dolores Águila
SLJ Reviews Pura Belpré Award Winners and Honors | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026
32 Outstanding Middle Grade Titles from Heavy-Hitter Authors
  2026 Orbis Pictus and Charlotte Huck Awards Announced
  Longlist Announced for 2025 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature

Pura Belpré YA Author Award
On the Wings of la Noche by Vanessa L Torres
BABYSITTING, WAITING TABLES, FIREFIGHTING, AND WRITING A NOVEL, a guest post by Vanessa L. Torres | Teen Librarian Toolbox

  Pura Belpré YA Author Honors
  Rosa by Any Other Name by Hailey Alcaraz
  Silenced Voices: Reclaiming Memories from the Guatemalan Genocide by Pablo Leon
  SLJ Reviews the Robert F. Sibert Informational Award and Honors Recipients | ALA Youth Media Awards 2026
  23 Riveting Graphic Novels for Tweens and Teens
  The Story of My Anger by Jasminne Mendez
  Book Review: The Story of My Anger by Jasminne Mendez | Teen Librarian Toolbox
  La historia de mi furia by Jasminne Mendez

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2026 Youth Media Awards

SLJ 2026 Youth Media Awards Coverage

SLJ Individual Reviews of YMA Winners and Related Content

John Newbery Medal

Randolph Caldecott Medal

Michael L. Printz Award

Coretta Scott King Book Awards

Pura Belpré Awards

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