2023 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 2023 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 a cash prize 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 2023 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award finalists are:
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
(Razorbill / Penguin Random House)
The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor
(Astra Young Readers / Astra Books for Young Readers)
Medusa by Jessie Burton
(Bloomsbury YA / Bloomsbury)
We Can Be Heroes by Kyrie McCauley
(Katherine Tegen Books / HarperCollins)
The winning title and finalists will be honored at the 2023 ALAN Workshop on Tuesday, November 21st in Columbus, OH, and the authors will be invited to participate in a panel discussion.
The 2023 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 2023 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee considered nearly 350 young adult titles throughout the process. The committee was comprised of eight members representing the university, K-12 school, and library communities. They are:
Elizabeth Parker, Committee Chair
Professor/Lecturer
University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI
Jodi Blair, Past Committee Chair
Librarian
Alcoa High School, Alcoa, TN
Alison Daniels
English Teacher/10th Grade English Team Leader
Long Reach High School, Columbia, MD
Jung Kim
Professor of Literacy
Lewis University, Romeoville, IL
L.E. Oldham
English Language Arts Content Specialist
Deming Public Schools, Deming, NM
Karen Scott
Librarian
Thompson Middle School, Alabaster, AL
Hunter Strickland
Director of Secondary Education/Assistant Professor of Literacy Education
Anderson University, Anderson, SC
Carisa Valle
Access Services & Resource Sharing Specialist
William & Mary Law School Library, Williamsburg, VA
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/.
