(New York City, NY) At BookExpo America, The Horn Book’s editor in chief Roger Sutton and 2010 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award-winning author Rebecca Stead (When You Reach Me, Random House) announced the 2013 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners.
“The Boston Globe-Horn Book awards have always had an independent spirit and this year is no different,” said Sutton. “Each of the judges brings a unique perspective on children’s literature, which combined always makes for a wonderful variety and high quality of winners and honor books and almost always provides us with a few surprises as well.”
Celebrating its 46th year, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are among the most prestigious honors in the field of children’s and young adult literature. Winners and two Honor Books are selected in each of three categories: Picture Book, Fiction and Poetry, and Nonfiction.
PICTURE BOOK AWARD WINNER:
Building our House written and illustrated by Jonathan Bean (Farrar Straus and Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan)
Drawing on childhood memories from his own family’s house construction, Bean creates an engaging story as well as a glimpse into a warm family setting. A little girl narrates, and her childlike voice provides an immediacy that removes any hint of nostalgia. She relates her contributions not as they are but as she perceives them in all their exaggerated glory; illustrations tell a different tale.
PICTURE BOOK HONOR WINNERS:
Open this Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier, illustrated by Suzy Lee (Chronicle Books)
Black Dog written and illustrated by Levi Pinfold (Templar Books, an imprint of Candlewick Press)
FICTION AWARD WINNER:
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (St. Martin’s Griffin an imprint of Macmillan)
It’s the start of a new school year in 1986 Omaha when sophomores Eleanor and Park meet for the first time on the bus. They are an unusual pair: she’s the new girl in town, an ostracized, bullied “big girl” with bright red curly hair, freckles, and an odd wardrobe; he’s a skinny half-Korean townie who mostly wears black and tries to stay out of the spotlight. But as they sit together on the school bus every day, an intimacy gradually develops between them.
FICTION HONOR WINNERS:
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (Random House Books for Young Readers)
A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty (Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.)
NONFICTION WINNER:
Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin written and illustrated by Robert Byrd (Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Group)
With a jacket showing Benjamin Franklin as a cross between a mad scientist and a superhero standing amid wild lightning bolts and surrounded by all manner of electrical devices, this book shimmers with excitement, begging to be read. Byrd divides Franklin’s life into seventeen often whimsically labeled double-page spreads, highlighting his scientific, literary, and political endeavors in a fresh new way.
NONFICTION HONOR WINNERS:
Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building written and illustrated by Christy Hale (Lee & Low Books)
Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney (Disney/Jump at the Sun Books, an imprint of Disney Book Group)
Previous winners include luminaries Ezra Jack Keats (1970, Picture Book Award Winner), David Macaulay (1989, Non-Fiction Award Winner), Lois Lowry (1987 Fiction Award Winner, 1993 Fiction Honor Winner) and Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, 2012 Picture Book Award Winners for Extra Yarn. More information can be found by visiting the awards website: www.hbook.com/boston-globe-horn-book-awards.
The awards are chosen by an independent panel of three judges appointed by Mr. Sutton. The 2013 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards judges are: Chair, Sarah Ellis, Horn Book reviewer, author and teacher at The Vermont College of Fine Arts (Vancouver, B.C.); Pamela Yosca, children’s librarian and library consultant at MATCH Charter Public High School (Jamaica Plain, MA); Karen Kosko, retired school librarian (Cambridge, MA).
The winning titles must be published in the United States, but they may be written or illustrated by citizens of any country.
The awards will be given at the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards Ceremony, a part of The Horn Book at Simmons Colloquium (October 4 and 5, 2013) at Simmons College in Boston, MA. The event kicks off with the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards ceremony with speeches from the awardees, followed by an autographing session and a celebratory evening reception. The following day, The Horn Book at Simmons Colloquium features the award winners and honorees in talks, panel discussions and small group sessions offering librarians, educators and children’s literature professionals a chance to examine critical issues relevant to children’s and young adult literature. For more information, please visit www.hbook.com/hbas
First published in 1924, The Horn Book Magazine provides its readership with in-depth reviews of the best new books for children and young adults as well as features, articles, and editorials. The Horn Book Guide, published twice annually, provides comprehensive reviews and a numerical rating for every hardcover children’s book published in the United States during the previous publishing season. The Horn Book Magazine, Guide, and Guide Online are publications of Media Source Inc., which is also the parent company of Library Journal, School Library Journal, and Junior Library Guild.
