And The Winners Are.... : The American Library Association Children's Book Awards for 2017 Are Announced

The American Library Association leads off book awards for the year with their Youth Media Awards each January, honoring the best of children's literature.

Taking the Newbery, awarded since 1922 for the best in children's fiction and nonfiction, was Kelly Barnhart for her fantasy novel, The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Algonquin Books, 2016).

Newbery Honor winners were Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams, Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan Adam Godwitz' The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog, (Dutton, 2016), and Lauren Wolk's Wolf Hollow (Dutton, 2016).

The Caldecott Award for the best illustrator of books for young people went to Javaka Steptoe's Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (Little, Brown). Caldecott Honor Medals were given to Vera Brosgol for her Leave Me Alone! Freedom in Congo Square, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, Carson Ellis' Du Iz Tak? and Brendan Wenzel's They All Saw a Cat.

The sweeps-the-awards honor goes to March: Book Three, written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, which won four awards: the Coretta Scott King (author) Book Award, the Michael L. Printz Award for young adult literature, the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award, and the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults.

Read all about ALA's books and media awards here.