10 Exciting STEM Library Books + Activities for 2025
December 27, 20242025 ALA Award-Winners List + FREE Award-Book Explore Pane
THIS YEAR'S 2025 AWARD-WINNERS reminded me a lot about the talented creatives that produce books: the authors and illustrators (and those who do both), as well as the agents and editors that get behind books and rally them to the bookshelf.
Arthur Levine, Levine Querido, award-winning editor, posted titles in many categories.
Cynthia Leitich Smith with Quill Tree Books earned the ALSC Children's Literature Lecture.
Our Newbery Winner, Erin Entrada Kelly won a prior Newbery for Hello, Universe and is one top talent to watch.
Our 2025 Caldecott Medalist, Rebecca Lee Kunz, is a debut illustrator so a top award goes out to fresh talent.
Our Sibert Medalist, Lynn Brunelle, an extraordinary nonfiction author teams up with extraordinary talent Jason Chin (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House).
And its good to see Nancy Paulsen Books on the award list with author Ruth Behar's Across So Many Seas.
Enjoy the list of Excellent reads:
Celebrating A Year of Powerful Word-Image Creations
John Newbery Medal
John Newbery Medal
The First State of Being, written by Erin Entrada Kelly (Greenwillow Books), is the 2025 Newbery Medal winner.
Four Newbery Honor Books Selected
- The Wrong Way Home by Kate O'Shaughnessy (Knopf Book for Young Readers)
- One Big Open Sky by Lisa Cline-Ransom (Holiday House)
- Magnolia Wu Unfolds it All, by Chantel Miller (Philomel Books)
- Across So Many Seas, by Ruth Behar (Nancy Paulsen Books)
Randolph Caldecott Medal
Randolph Caldecott Medal
Chooch Helped, illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz, written by Andrea L. Rogers (Levine Querido), is the 2025 Caldecott Medal winner.
Five Caldecott Honor Books Selected
- Up, Up, Ever Up, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu, written by Anita Yasuda, (Clarion Books)
- My Daddy is a Cowboy, illustrated by C.G. Esperanza, written by Stephanie Seales (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
- Noodles on a Bicycle, illustrated by Gracey Zhang, written by Jason Reynolds (Random House Studio)
- Home in a Lunchbox, illustrated by Cherry Mo, written by Cherry Mo (Penguin Workshop)
Coretta Scott King Author
Coretta Scott King Author Awards
24 Seconds From Now, written by Jason Reynolds, is the King Author Book winner (Caitlyn Dloughy Books, Simon & Schuster).
Three Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books Selected
- Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson (Kokila,Penguin Random House )
- Black Star by Kwame Alexander (Little, Brown, Hachette Publishing)
- One Big Open Sky by Lisa Cline-Ransome (Holiday House)
Coretta Scott King Illustrator
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award
My Daddy is a Cowboy, illustrated by Dare C.G. Esperanza, written by Stephanie Seales (Abrams Books for Young Readers) is the King Illustrator Book winner.
Three Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books Selected
- Coretta: The Autobiography of Mrs. Coretta Scott King by Coretta Scott King, illustrated by Ekua Holmes (Godwin Books)
- Everywhere Beauty is Harlem: The Vision of Photographer Roy DeCarava, illustrated by E.B Lewis, written by Gary Golio (Calkins Creek)
- Fo Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Storyteller, illustrated by April Harrison, written by Breanna J. McDaniel (Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House)
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent - Author
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award
Kwame Crashes the Underworld by Craig Kofi Farmer, is the Steptoe author award winner (Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan).
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent - Illustrator
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award
Jimmy's Rhythm & Blues: The Extraordinary Life of James Baldwin, illustrated by Jamiel Law, written by Michelle Meadows (Harper, HarperCollins Publishers), is the Coretta Scott King/Steptoe illustrator award winner.
Lifetime
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Carolyn L. Garnes is the winner of the Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. The award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton.
Michael L. Printz Award
Michael L. Printz Award
Brownstone, written by Samuel Teer, illustrated by Mar Julia, co-published by Versa and HarperAlley, HarperColllins Publishers.
Four Michael L. Printz Honor Books Selected
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Bright Red Fruit, written by Safia Elhillo (Make Me a World, Random House Children’s Books, Penguin Random House).
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Compound Fracture, written by Andrew Joseph White (Peachtree Teen, an imprint of Peachtree Publishing).
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The Deep Dark, written by Molly Knox Ostertag (Graphix, Scholastic).
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Road Home, written by Rex Ogle (Norton Young Readers, W.W. Norton & Company).
Schneider Family Book Award
Schneider Family Book Award
The book that best embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience: A Little Like Magic by Jenn Bailey, illustrated by Mika Song (Chronicle Books) wins the award for young children (ages 0 to 8).
Two Schneider Young Children Honor Books Selected
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Monster Hands, written by Karen Kane and Jonaz McMillan, illustrated by Dion MBD (Nancy Paulsen Books, Penguin Random House)
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You’re So Amazing! written by James and Lucy Catchpole, illustrated by Karen George (Little, Brown, Hachette Book Group).
Schneider Family Book Award - Middle Grade
Schneider Family Book Award (Middle Grades)
Popcorn, written and illustrated by Rob Harrell (Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House) is the winner in the Middle Grade category (ages 9 to 13).
Two Schneider Middle Grade Honor Books Selected
- Louder Than Hunger, written by John Schu and (Candlewick Press)
- Shark Teeth, written by Sherri Winston and (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
Schneider Family Book Award - Young Adult
Schneider Family Books Award (Young Adult)
Chronically Dolores, written by Maya Van Wagenen (Dutton Books, Penguin Random House), is the winner in the Young Adult category (ages 14-18)
Two Schneider Teen Honor Books Selected
- Light Enough to Float, written by Lauren Seal (Rocky Pond Books, Penguin Random House)
- On the Bright Side, written by Anna Sortino (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Penguin Random House).
Alex
Alex Awards
Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences named and the 2025 Alex Award winners are:
Ten Best Teen to Adult Crossover Books Selected
- Beautiful People: My Thirteen Truths About Disability by Melissa Blake (Hachette Go)
- Big Jim and the White Boy: An American Classic Reimagined by Marcus Kwame Anderson, illustrated by David F. Walker, (Ten Speed Graphic)
- I Fell Awful, Thanks, by Lara Pickle, (Oni Press)
- I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga Press, Simon & Schuster)
- The Witch of Colchis by Rosie Hewlett (Sourcebooks Landmark)
- I Witchstone by Henry H. Neff, (Blackstone Publishing)
- Women, Life, Freedom by Marjane Satrapi, translated by Una Dimitijevic, (Seven Stories Press)
- Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung, (Berkley, Penguin Random House)
- The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by Djélí Clark, (Tordotcom, Macmillan)
- How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin, (Dutton, Penguin Random House)
ALSC
Cynthia Leitich Smith - ALSC Children's Literature Lecture
The ALSC Children's Literature Lecture is an annual event featuring an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children’s literature. Cynthia Leitich Smith will deliver the 2025 ALSC Children’s Literature Lecture.
Legacy
Children’s Literature Legacy Award
Children’s Literature Legacy Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences. This year’s winner is Carole Boston Weatherford. Her award-winning works include "Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre," which won the Coretta Scott King Author Award in 2022, and "BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom," recipient of the Newbery Medal Honor in 2021, among others.
Mildred L. Batchelder Award
Mildred L. Batchelder Award
Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States: John the Skeleton is the Batchelder Award winner. Originally published in Estonian as “Luukere Juhani juhtumised,” the book was written by Triinu Laan, illustrated by Marja-Liisa Plats, translated by Adam Cullen (Yonder, Restless Books for Young Readers)
Three Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Books Selected
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Home, written and illustrated by Isabelle Simler (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.) and translated by Vineet Lal.
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Johnny, the Sea, and Me, written by Melba Escobar, illustrated by Elizabeth Builes (Enchanted Lion Books), and translated by Sara Lissa Paulson.
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Mr. Lepron’s Mystery Soup, written by Giovanna Zoboli, illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio (Candlewick Studio, Candlewick Press) and translated by Denise Muir.
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A Sleepless Night, written by Micaela Chirif, illustrated by Joaquín Camp (Transit Children’s Editions, Transit Books) and translated by Jordan Landsman.
Odyssey
Odyssey Award
Odyssey Award for the best audiobooks produced for children and young adults, available in English in the United States: El Deafo, produced by Matie Argiropoulos for Listening Library, an imprint of Penguin Random House Audio, written by Cece Bell and narrated by a full cast, is the 2024 Odyssey Award winner for children. Promise Boys, produced by Macmillan Young Listeners, a Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company, written by Nick Brooks and narrated by a full cast.
Four Odyssey Honor Audiobooks Selected
- Black Girl You Are Atlas, produced by Brian Ramcharan (Listening Library, Penguin Ransom House).
- Dispatches From Parts Unknown, produced by Almeda Beynon (HarperAudio, HarperCollins Publishers).
- Girls Like Her, by Malory Sumrow, produced by Abigail Marks (HarperAudio, HarperCollins Publishers).
- You Are Brave: A Book About Trying New Things, by Margaret O'Hair and Sofia Sanchez, produced by Paul R. Gagne and John Pels (Scholastic Audio).
Pura Belpré - Illustrator
Pura Belpré Illustrator Awards
Honoring Latinx writers and illustrators whose children's and young adult books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience is The Dream Catcher, written and illustrated by Marcelo Verdad (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), is the 2024 Pura Belpré Youth Illustration Award winner.
Two Pura Belpré Youth Illustrator Honor Books Selected
- Abuelo, the Sea, and Me, illustrated by Tatiana Gardel, written by Ismée Williams (Roaring Brook Press).
- A Maleta Full of Treasures, illustrated by Juana Medina, written by Natalia Sylvester (Dial Books).
Pura Belpré - Author
Pura Belpré Author Awards
Lola by Karla Arenas Valenti, written by Pedro Martín (Knopf Books for Young Readers), is the 2024 Pura Belpré Children’s Author Award winner.
Two Pura Belpré Youth Author Honor Books Selected
- Cruzita and the Mariacheros, written by Ashley Granillo (Carolrhoda Books)
- Ultra Violet by Aida Salazar (Scholastic Press)
Margaret A. Edwards Award
Margaret A. Edwards Award
Tiffany D. Jackson is the recipient for the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her distinguished contributions to children and young adult literature.
Pura Belpré - Young Adult Author
Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Award
Shut Up This Is Serious, written by Carolina Ixta (Quill Tree Books) is the 2024 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Award winner.
Two Pura Belpré Youth Author Honor Books Selected
- Libertad by Bessie Flores Zaldívar, (Dial Books)
- Wild Dreamers, by Margarita Engle (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award
The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children: The Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall by Lynn Brunelle and illustrated by Jason Chin, is the 2025 Sibert Award winner (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House).
Four Sibert Honor Books Selected
- The Enigma Girls by Candace Fleming (Scholastic Focus)
- Wings of an Eagle by Billie Mills and Donna Janell Bowman, illustrated by S.D. Nelson (Little, Brown)
- Call Me Roberto: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos written by Nathalie Alonso and illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez (Calkins Creek)
- The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival by Estelle Nadel, Bethany Strout, illustrated by Sammy Savos (Roaring Brook Press)
Stonewall Book Children's Award
Stonewall Book Children's Awards
Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award given annually to English-language works of exceptional merit for children or teens relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience is Lunar Boy, written and illustrated by Jes and Cin Wibowo (HarperAlley, HarperCollins Publishers)
Four Stonewall Children's Honor Books Selected
- Marley’s Pride, written by Joëlle Retener, illustrated by DeAnn Wiley (Barefoot Books)
- Murray Out of Water, written by Taylor Tracy (Quill Tree Books, HarperCollins Publishers)
- The Flicker, written by H.E. Edgmon (Feiwel & Friends, Macmillan Publishing Group)
- What I Must Tell the World: How Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice, written by Jay Leslie, illustrated by Loveis Wise and (Hillman Grad Books, Zando)
Stonewall Book Young Adult Award
Stonewall Book Young Adult Awards
The 2024 recipient of the Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Award is Canto Contigo, written by Jonny Garza Villa (Wednesday Books, St. Martin’s Publishing Group)
Four Stonewall Young Adult Literature Honor Books Selected
- Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa (Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Publishing Group)
- Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli (Balzer + Bray,/HarperCollins Publishers)
- The Long Run by James Acker (Inkyard Press)
- The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White (Peachtree Teen)
Theodor Seuss Geisel
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
Vacation written by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by Mark Teague (Beach Lane Books, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing), is the Geisel Award winner.
Two Geisel Honor Books Selected
- Fox Versus Fox by Corey R. Tabor (Harper, HarperCollins Publishers)
- Towed by Toad, written and illustrated by Jashar Awan and (Tundra Books, Tundra Book Group, Penguin Random House of Canada).
William C. Morris Award
William C. Morris Award
The 2025 William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens: Not Like Other Girls, written by Meredith Adamo (Bloomsbury YA, Bloomsbury Publishing) is the Morris Award winner.
William C. Morris Honor Books Selected
- Aisle Nine by Ian X. Cho (HarperCollins)
- Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear, written by Robin Wasley (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
- Shut Up, This Is Serious, written by Carolina Ixta (Quill Tree Books, HarperCollins Publishers)
- The Wilderness of Girls, written by Madeline Claire Franklin (Zando Young Readers, Zando).
YALSA Award
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults: Rising from the Ashes: Los Angeles, 1992. Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King, and a City on Fire, written by Paula Yoo (Norton Young Readers, W.W. Norton & Company Inc)
Four YALSA Award Honor Books Selected
- A Greater Goal: The Epic Battle For Equal Pay in Women's Soccer—and Beyond written by Elizabeth Rusch (Greenwillow Books, HarperCollins Publishers)
- Homebody, written by Theo Parish (HarperAlley, HarperCollins Publishers)
- Shackled: A Tale of Wronged Kids, Rogue Judges, and a Town that Looked Away, written by Candy J. Cooper (Calkins Creek, Astra Books for Young Readers, Astra Publishing House)
- The Unboxing of a Black Girl, written by Angela Shanté (Page Street Publishing Co)
Asian/Pacific American Award - Young Adult
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature - Young Adult
The Young Adult Literature winner is Everything We Never Had, written by Randy Ribay (Kokila, Penguin Random House)
One Young Adult Honor selected
- Lunar New Year Love Story, written by Gene Luen Yang, illustrated by LeUyen Pham (First Second, Roaring Brook Press, Holtzbrinck Publishing)
- Dragonfruit, written by Makiia Lucier (Clarion Books, HarperCollins Publishers).
Sydney Taylor Book Award - Picture Book
Sydney Taylor Book Award - Picture Book
Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. This year's Picture Book winner is An Etrog from Across the Sea, written by Deborah Bodin Cohen and Kerry Olitzky, illustrated by Stacey Dressen McQueen (Kar-Ben Publishing, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group Inc).
Four Picture Book Honor Titles selected
- Amazing Abe: How Abraham Cahan's Newspaper Gave a Voice to Jewish Immigrants, written by Norman H. Finkelstein, illustrated by Vesper Stamper (Holiday House).
- Joyful Song: A Naming Story, written by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Susan Gal (Arthur A. Levine, an imprint of Levine Querido).
- Rising, written by Sidura Ludwig, illustrated by Sophia Vincent Guy (Candlewick Press).
- The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World, written by Elisa Boxer, illustrated by Alianna Rozentsveig (Rocky Pond Books, Penguin Random House).
Sydney Taylor Book Award - Middle Grade
Sydney Taylor Book Award - Middle Grade
Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. This year's middle grade winner is The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival, written by Estelle Nadel and Sammy Savos with Bethany Strout, illustrated by Sammy Savos (Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing).
Four Picture Book Honor Titles selected
- Across So Many Seas, written by Ruth Behar (Nancy Paulsen Books, Penguin Random House)
- Finn and Ezra’s Bar Mitzvah Time Loop, written by Joshua S. Levy (Katherine Tegen Books, HarperCollins Publishers)
- Just Shy of Ordinary, written by A.J. Sass (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Hachette Book Group)
Sydney Taylor Book Award - Young Adult
Sydney Taylor Book Award - Young Adult
Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. This year's young adult winner is Night Owls, written by A.R. Vishny (Harper, HarperCollins Publishers)
Four Picture Book Honor Titles selected
- The Forbidden Book, written by Sacha Lamb (Arthur A. Levine, an imprint of Levine Querido)
- Trajectory, written by Cambria Gordon (Scholastic Press, Scholastic Inc)
Add an Award Book Explore Pane to Your Alex
Here's How
- Download Image + Award-Book.txt file
- Open /ExploreBuilder/
- Save to Desktop
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