{"id":13168,"date":"2012-08-17T22:38:02","date_gmt":"2012-08-18T02:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=13168"},"modified":"2023-08-14T22:38:37","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T02:38:37","slug":"conference-corner-morris-awards-and-yalsa-nonfiction-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=13168","title":{"rendered":"Conference Corner — Morris Awards and YALSA Nonfiction Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

The final event of ALA Midwinter Meeting that I attended was the Morris Award and YALSA Nonfiction Award ceremony. I like the way those two awards announce a short list, so that the winners can be there for the ceremony. This year, it turned out that Morris Award Winner John Corey Whaley also won the Printz Award. He was a happy man. I spotted him in the exhibits after the award announcements.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nThose are the Morris Award stickers for his book.<\/p>\n

Of course, I had to get a picture with him, as did many other youth services librarians. We wanted him to know<\/em> that to us, he’s a rock star.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At the Award ceremony, some of the authors spoke by video, but I took notes for the ones who spoke in person.<\/p>\n

First was Guadalupe Garcia McCall, Morris Honor winning author of Under the Mesquite<\/em>:
\nShe got the news of winning the Honor while teaching, which was so appropriate, because she wrote the book while teaching.
\nShe remembered being hungry for understanding. Books showed the world to her, empowered her.
\nShe wrote, not to be published, but to be read.
\nShe wrote this story for young people who can\u2019t talk about this. They have great strength within them.
\nThe most important destination of all: Young Readers\u2019 Minds
\nala<\/em> means \u201cwings\u201d in Spanish. So appropriate!<\/p>\n

Ruta Sepetys, Honor winner for Between Shades of Gray<\/em>:
\nHistory has secrets.
\nThrough stories, these people become human.<\/p>\n

John Corey Whaley, Morris Award Winner for Where Things Come Back<\/em> (He also learned on the same day that he won the Printz Award.):
\nThursday was his birthday. He feels sorry for all his other birthdays.
\n\u201cI get to be a writer. It means so much to say that.\u201d
\n\u201cMy life is a constant state of shock.\u201d
\n\u201cThere\u2019s no other community I\u2019d rather be part of than the People of YA.\u201d
\n\u201c\u2026the cool kids who run into things because they\u2019re walking while reading books.\u201d
\n\u201cI had given up hope that I could be a happy adult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then were the YALSA Awards for Excellence in Nonfiction:<\/p>\n

Karen Blumenthal, Honor Award for Bootleg<\/em>:
\nOne of the strengths of nonfiction: Real stories and real consequences.
\n\u201cNonfiction provides a context for a complicated world.\u201d
\n\u201cIn real life, the girl doesn\u2019t always end up with the sparkly vampire.\u201d
\nThe world isn\u2019t black and white, but many shades of messy.
\nThose who passively observe get to live with the results.<\/p>\n

Sue Macy, Honor Award for Wheels of Change<\/em>
\nAs a teen, her favorite books were This Fabulous Century<\/em>. She imitated these books.
\nShe takes a thematic approach to this era of history.
\nThere was lots of serendipity in her search.<\/p>\n

Steve Sheinkin, Award Winner for The Notorious Benedict Arnold<\/em>
\n\u201cBenedict Arnold made people nervous.\u201d
\nThis is a straight-ahead action-adventure rise and fall story.<\/p>\n

Afterward, we were given free copies of many of the books and got them signed. Here’s Sue Macy signing Wheels of Change<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This award ceremony isn’t nearly as fancy as the Newbery\/Caldecott Banquet or as the Printz Reception, but I think with first-time authors winning the Morris Award, and nonfiction authors who don’t always get as much recognition, it’s guaranteed that the Morris and Nonfiction award ceremony will always be deeply heartfelt.<\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a>