And the award goes to....

Today's post is all about award winners. I love buying books for the library that have won awards because I then KNOW they are going to be good. In our latest book purchase, - a whopping 125+ books added - we added several award winners. Here's the list and a brief run down:

We talked about Scythe in a precious blog post, so I won't get into the details again; however, I did want to point out that it is a Michael L. Printz Award Nominee.

It's also on my Nook to read over Thanksgiving Break, and I am so excited!

A mystery that will certainly have you coming back for more! Monday's Not Coming, written by Tiffany D. Jackson, won the Coretta Scott King Award for New Talent.

Monday Charles has disappeared off the face of the earth, and no one seems to care. No one except Monday's best friend Claudia. When Claudia asks Monday's mom and sister about where the teenager is, they are super shady and secretive about it. This has Claudia concerned, especially when no one else seems to remember the last time they saw Monday.

How can a teenager just disappear with no one noticing? Claudia is determined to get to the bottom of it.

Ready for a good Fantasy Fiction? Damsel, by Elana K. Arnold, is a Michael L. Printz Award Nominee because of it masterful new twist on an age old concept: a damsel in distress.

In a rite of passage as old as time, the crown prince has to venture into the dark forest, slay a fierce dragon, and rescue a damsel in distress in order to be worthy to inherit the crown. Well, Prince Emory completes the task and rescues Ama from her distress.

Except, Ama remembers none of this. The only thing she knows is now she is to marry Prince Emory and sit on the throne beside him. But Ama soon realizes that more danger lies ahead of her because there is more to the legend of dragons and damsels than anyone knows.

The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees, written and illustrated by Don Brown, weaves together nonfiction and graphic novels to tell the stories of real people whom many ignore and have forgotten.

Winner of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, this graphic novel explores the ongoing Syrian Refugee crisis, highlighting the despair and hope these individuals experience on a daily basis as they escape a war zone in search of survival.

Looking into the experiences of a crisis that is often forgotten is an eye-opener we all need to experience.

Kelly Loy Gilbert's novel, Picture Us in the Light, is the 2019 Stonewall Book Award winner for Children and Young Persons Literature. It is a gripping coming of age story about a teenage boy named Danny who is about to go to art school to pursue his dream. That is until he discovers a taped up box in his dad's closet containing secrets that, once brought to light, start to break away at the facade his parents have built.

Not only is the thought of life without his best friend Harry eating away at Danny, but now he has to tackle the secrets of his family's past in order to try and make a future of his own.

Claire Hartfield, winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for Author, shakes the foundation of Chicago history with her new nonfiction work titled A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919.

When a white man begins to throw rocks at five black youths who accidentally wandered too close to the "white" section of the beach, he kills one of the boys. This is the spark that ignites the racial tensions in Chicago and leads to one of the most defining riots of the 20th century. Hartfield's narrative of the events is a reminder that we always have more to learn from history than we think.

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor's adaptation of her memoire for young adults is a YALSA Award Nominee for Excellence in Nonfiction. The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor follows the obstacles and trials Justice Sotomayor overcame in order to become the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.

A truly inspiring piece that reminds us all that regardless of our background or perceived stumbling blocks, we can achieve great things that positively impact others.

With Thanksgiving Break starting in a few days, make sure you check out some books to take home to enjoy over the holiday!