Two Twin Cities writers and a local publisher were honored today in Boston when the winners of the Caldecott and Newbery medals were announced.
Wayzata writer Joyce Sidman's book "Red Sings From Treetops," won one of two Caldecott honor medals, and Phillip Hoose, formerly of St. Paul, won both a Newbery honor medal and a Robert F. Sibert honor for nonfiction. Hoose's book, "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice," had already won a National Book Award.
"This is great," he said in an e-mail. "This is the most excited for an honor I've been since I was runner-up at the Minnesota State Fair in 1984 for my song about moving to Minnesota entitled 'Whose Idea Was This?' " (Hoose now lives in Vermont.)
Meanwhile, a book published by local publisher Carolrhoda Books won the Coretta Scott King Book Award. "Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal," was written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.
The top honors this morning went to Rebecca Stead, whose "When You Reach Me" was awarded the John Newbery Medal for best children's book, and Jerry Pinkney, whose wordless book "The Lion and the Mouse" won the Randolph Caldecott prize for picture books. Both books were based on beloved old stories -- Stead's was inspired in part by Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time," and Pinkney's book was a re-telling of a classic Aesop fable.
The awards were announced today in Boston at the American Library Association's annual midwinter meeting.
Other awards and honors went to:
The Robert F. Sibert Award for the most distinguished informational book went to "Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream" by Tanya Lee Stone. In addition to Hoose's book, "The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer's Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors," by Chris Barton, illustrated by Tony Persiani, and "Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11," written and illustrated by Brian Floca, took honors.
Julia Alvarez, known to adults for the best-selling "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents," won the Pura Belpre Author Award, for best book by a Latino or Latina, for "Return to Sender." The Belpre prize for illustration was given to Rafael Lopez for "Book Fiesta!," written by Pat Mora.
The King award for best illustrator went to Charles R. Smith Jr. for "My People," with text written by poet Langston Hughes.
Libba Bray's "Going Bovine" won the Michael L. Printz Award for young adult literature. Jim Murphy, whose tales of American history include "The Long Road to Gettysburg" and "A Young Patriot," received the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in young adult books.
Laurie Hertzel is the Star Tribune books editor. This story contains material from the Associated Press.
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