Awards – ALAN

ALAN’s 2022 Bill Konigsberg Award Recipient

November 10, 2022November 10, 2022Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN)

ALAN’s 2022 Bill Konigsberg Award Recipient

ALAN’s 2022 recipient of the Bill Konigsberg Award for Acts and Activism for Equity and Inclusion through Young Adult Literature is shea wesley martin!

The Konigsberg Award, established in 2018, is presented annually to an individual who has acted in selfless advocacy of marginalized youth through the creation, teaching, funding or other form of promotion of young adult literature. This award was initiated to recognize individuals standing up for groups of young people who are victimized by hate speech or actions. For wielding the power of young adult literature with thought and intention to make the world a better place, the winner will receive $300 and be recognized at the ALAN Breakfast.

https://www.sheawesleymartin.com/work

Press Release: ALAN Award 2022

August 19, 2022August 19, 2022Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN)

Press Release: ALAN Award 2022

The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN) is pleased to announce Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop as the recipient of the 2022 ALAN Award. The award is given to honor those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of adolescent literature. Join us at the ALAN Breakfast to celebrate Dr. Bishop’s achievements.

Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop is Professor Emerita of Education at The Ohio State University, where she has taught courses on children’s literature. Dr. Bishop is often referred to as the mother of multicultural literature and is the author of several books including Shadow and Substance: Afro-American Experience in Contemporary Children’s Fiction (1982), Presenting Walter Dean Myers (1990), Kaleidoscope: A Multicultural Booklist for Grades K-8 (1994), Wonders: The Best Children’s Poems of Effie Lee Newsome (1999), and Free within Ourselves: The Development of African American Children’s Literature (2007). Shadow and Substance provided a framework for analyzing cultural authenticity in children’s books, which remains today a standard in the field. Dr. Bishop’s essay, “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors (1990)” focused on the need for black children to see themselves in the books that they read. The metaphor continues to be widely referenced by educators, librarians, academics, textbooks, conference presentations and academic journals; it’s also the subject of TEDx talks, podcasts, and blogs. Dr. Bishop’s work was used to inspire the We Need Diverse Books movement, an organization devoted to promoting, celebrating and supporting diverse representations in publishing and youth literature.

Dr. Bishop received the distinguished 2017 Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Library Association (ALA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Outstanding Educator in English Language Arts Award, and the International Literacy Association’s (ILA) Arbuthnot Award. She was the chair of the Coretta Scott King Award Jury and has been on the selection committee for both the Newbery and Caldecott Awards. Also, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) , a division of ALA, selected Dr. Bishop to give the 2021 Lecture. Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s work has been pivotal in the change in publishing trends, public and school library collections, teaching practices at all levels, and the lives of children and adolescents who have had access to books with increased diversity.

Dr. Christina Dorr will provide remarks on behalf of Dr. Bishop at the upcoming ALAN breakfast to be held on November 19 during The 2022 NCTE Conference in Anaheim, CA. ALAN Award Committee members are Chair Lisa Morris-Wilkey, Dr. Rob Bittner, Jewel Davis, Shalonda Foster, and Morgan Jackson.

2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Winner & Finalists Announced

May 11, 2022May 11, 2022Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN)

2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Winner & Finalists Announced

The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is pleased and proud to announce the 2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult Fiction winner and finalists. Established in 2008 to honor the wishes of young adult author Amelia Elizabeth Walden, the award allows for the sum of $5,000 to be presented annually to the author of a young adult title selected by the ALAN Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Committee as demonstrating a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit.

The 2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award winner is:

In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner
(Crown Books for Young Readers / Random House)

The 2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award finalists are:

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez
(Algonquin Young Readers / Algonquin Books)

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vásquez Gilliland
(Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
(Random House Graphic / Random House Children’s Books)

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
(Clarion Books / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

The winning title and finalists will be honored at the 2022 ALAN Workshop on Monday, November 21st in Anaheim, CA and the authors will be invited to participate in a panel discussion.

The 2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee would like to thank: the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Foundation, the ALAN Executive Council, the ALAN Board of Directors, NCTE, and the many publishers who submitted titles for consideration.

The 2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee considered nearly 300 young adult titles throughout the process. The committee was comprised of eleven members representing the university, K-12 school, and library communities. They are:

Jodi Blair, Committee Chair
Librarian
Alcoa High School, Alcoa, TN

Sarah Mulhern Gross, Past Committee Chair
Teacher
High Technology High School, Lincroft, NJ

Edith Campbell
Associate Librarian
Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN

Alison Daniels
English Teacher/11th Grade English Team Leader
Long Reach High School, Columbia, MD

Maria Goff
Secondary ELA & Social Studies Facilitator
Renton School District, Renton, WA

Morgan Jackson
English Teacher
Bishop Gorman High School, Las Vegas, NV

Jung Kim
Associate Professor of Literacy
Lewis University, Romeoville, IL

L.E. Oldham
English Language Arts Content Specialist
Deming Public Schools, Deming, NM

Elizabeth Parker
Professor/Lecturer
University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI

Shannon Schilling
Teen Librarian
Delaware County District Library, Delaware, OH

Julia Torres
ELA Teacher
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College/Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO

For more information on the award, please visit ALAN Online: The Official Site of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents: http://www.alan-ya.org/awards/walden-award/.

2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Finalists Announced

May 4, 2022May 10, 2022Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN)

2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Finalists Announced

The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is pleased and proud to announce the 2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult Fiction finalists. Established in 2008 to honor the wishes of young adult author Amelia Elizabeth Walden, the award allows for the sum of $5,000 to be presented annually to the author of a young adult title selected by the ALAN Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Committee as demonstrating a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit.

The 2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award finalists are:

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez
(Algonquin Young Readers / Algonquin Books)

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vásquez Gilliland
(Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)

In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner
(Crown Books for Young Readers / Random House)

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
(Random House Graphic / Random House Children’s Books)

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
(Clarion Books / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

The winning title will be announced May 11th. The winner and finalists will be honored at the 2022 ALAN Workshop on Monday, November 21st and the authors will be invited to participate in a panel discussion.

The 2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee considered almost 300 young adult titles throughout the process. The committee included ten members representing the university, K-12 school, and library communities. They are: