Nonfiction Monday -- ALA Youth Media Awards

Today is Monday. Besides being Nonfiction Monday, it is also the day the American Library Association announces their Youth Media Awards.
Newbery
Caldecott
Sibert  (nonfiction)
Printz
and much more (see the home page for ALA for the press release of today's winners)

For those of you NOT involved in the library world, this is like the Oscars of the Children's Book World.  Some of the winners were notified last night and had to keep their notification secret until this morning.  Others are being notified this morning, as I type.

I've had close contact with several winners and even had a book in consideration myself one year.  What year was that?  In 2003, my book To Fly, the Story of the Wright Brothers gathered many awards including ALA Notable Book.  But did I get "THE CALL" that January?  Actually -- I got FOUR phone calls that morning, but none of them were from the ALA award committees, darn it. (Just imagine my excitement each time I answered the phone in my hotel room.)

The closest contact I had with a major winner was sitting next to Rita Williams-Garcia at Vermont College of Fine Arts several years ago as the whole class and faculty watched the presentation instead of attending whatever lecture was scheduled that morning.

It so happened that there were several empty seats next to me and as the presentation began on the large screen at the front of the room, Rita and several other faculty members slid into them. I could tell she was trying to keep a straight face, while inwardly bouncing with news, so I crossed my fingers for her and was one of the loudest screamers when her name was announced for her book, One Crazy Summer.  By the end of the day, that book had gathered FOUR awards:

2011 Coretta Scott King Award Winner

2011 Newbery Honor Book

2011 Scott O’Dell Prize for Historical Fiction

2010 National Book Award Finalist   

Hurrah for BOMB, the Race to Build -- and Steal -- the World's Most Dangerous Weapon.  This nonfiction book is sweeping the 2013 Youth Media Awards!

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is at Laura Salas' blog, Writing the world for kids. The Roundup is hiding about halfway down the page. Click on the words, Mister Linkey, and you'll find it.