Make some room on your kiddo's bookshelf! The American Library Association just announced the 2016 youth media award winners [1], and there's something for every young reader on the list.
Read through for 29 award-winning books — from illustrated children's reads to young adult novels — that could potentially become your child's new favorite!
The Last Stop on Market Street
Winner of the John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature, The Last Stop on Market Street [2] ($13) is an illustrated story about a little boy who learns to appreciate the beauty in his own life. The book was also a Caldecott Honor Book and a King Illustrator Honor Book.
The War That Saved My Life
A Newbery Honor Book, The War That Saved My Life [3] ($10) is a "moving story of triumph" that takes place during World War 2. It also won the Schneider Family Book Award "for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience" for ages 11-13, and took home the Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children.
Roller Girl
Roller Girl [4] ($8) was also a Newbery Honor Book. It's a graphic novel about a 12-year-old girl named Astrid who falls in love with roller derby.
Echo
The final Newbery Honor Book — and an Odyssey Honor Recording — Echo [5] ($12) is a story about a mysterious harmonica that ties together the destinies of several young children.
Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear
Winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children, Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear [6] ($9) is an illustrated book that tells the true tale of the bear that inspired Winnie the Pooh.
Trombone Shorty
Trombone Shorty [7] ($11) is a Caldecott Honor Book that won its illustrator, Bryan Collier, the King Illustrator Book Award. An autobiography of Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews's life, this book is a passionate celebration of jazz music.
Waiting
Waiting [8] ($10) is also a Caldecott Honor Book and features five stuffed-toy friends who are all waiting for extraordinary things to happen as they sit on their child-owner's windowsill.
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
The final Caldecott Honor Book is Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement [9] ($14), a collection of illustrations and poems to celebrate Frannie Lou Hamer, a champion of equal voting rights. It is also a Sibert Honor Book and won illustrator Ekua Holmes the Steptoe Illustrator Award.
Gone Crazy in Alabama
Gone Crazy in Alabama [10] ($15) — the King Author Book winner — tells the story of three sisters who travel from Brooklyn, NY, to Alabama for the Summer and learn along the way that family ties run deeper than they ever imagined.
All American Boys
A King Author Honor Book, All American Boys [11] ($11) is about two teens who are unexpectedly forced to deal with the reality of racial tensions in their community and, ultimately, the country.
The Boy in the Black Suit
The Boy in the Black Suit [12] ($14) is a King Author Honor Book about two teens who are both dealing with grief in their own way.
X: A Novel
Cowritten by Malcolm X's daughter, X: A Novel [13] ($12) is the story of a man whose voice and actions still resonate with us today.
Hoodoo
Written by Ronald L. Smith, the Steptoe author award winner, Hoodoo [14] ($15), is about a young boy named Hoodoo who comes from a family that practices folk magic — also called hoodoo — but he can't cast a single spell.
Bone Gap
Bone Gap [15] ($11) won the Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults and addresses the ways in which the world never truly sees the sum of who we are.
Out of Darkness
Out of Darkness [16] ($15) is a Printz Honor Book about "segregation, love, family, and the forces that destroy people."
The Ghosts of Heaven
The second Printz Honor Book, The Ghosts of Heaven [17] ($12) tells four stories linked together through time.
Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah
Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah [18] ($13) tells the inspiring true story of a cyclist who proves that disability does not mean inability. The book won the Schneider Family Book Award — for books that "embody an artistic expression of the disability experience" — for ages 0-10.
Fish in a Tree
Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award for ages 11-13, Fish in a Tree [19] ($10) is an uplifting story about a girl who attempts to hide her dyslexia from the world.
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B [20] ($12) won the Schneider Family Book Award for ages 13-18 and tells the story of Adam, who is hopelessly drawn to a girl named Robyn he meets in an OCD support group.
All Involved
Winner of one of 10 Alex Awards for the best adult books that appeal to teen audiences, All Involved [21] ($20) is "a mesmerizing epic of crime and opportunity, race, revenge, and loyalty, set in the chaotic streets of South Central LA."
Between the World and Me
Between the World and Me [22] ($14) is another Alex Award winner. In the New York Times bestseller, author Ta-Nehisi Coates attempts to answer some of the biggest questions about American history and ideals in a letter to his son.
Bones & All
Alex Award winner Bones & All [23] ($21) is a unique take on a typical coming-of-age story.
Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits
Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits [24] ($13) is an Alex Award winner about "a futuristic city in which one can find elements of the fantastic, nightmarish, and ridiculous on any street corner."
Girl at War
Girl at War [25], ($16) another Alex Award winner, is about a 10-year-old Croatian girl named Ana whose childhood is affected by a civil war in Yugoslavia.
Half the World
Another Alex Award winner, Half the World [26] ($11) is the second book in the Shattered Sea trilogy.
Humans of New York: Stories
Based on a blog started to create a photographic census of New York City, Humans of New York [27] ($16) is a New York Times Bestseller and Alex Award winner.
Sacred Heart
In a neighborhood in which the parents have left all of the teenagers to fend for themselves, terrible tragedy strikes. Sacred Heart [28] ($25) is Liz Suburbia’s debut graphic novel and an Alex Award winner.
Undocumented: A Dominican Boy's Odyssey From a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League
Undocumented: A Dominican Boy’s Odyssey From a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League [29] ($18) is another Alex Award winner about an undocumented immigrant’s journey to the top of his class at Princeton University.
The Unraveling of Mercy Louis
The final Alex Award winner is The Unraveling of Mercy Louis [30] ($22), which is a psychological suspense novel surrounding a fatal discovery near a high school.