I [Kellee] am excited to announce this year’s winner! The deliberations to narrow down all of the titles we received to these top five then to the top one were so intense because many of the titles we received were worthy of being honored; however, I really believe we came up with the best. This announcement is bittersweet as it is my final one on the committee, but I will definitely continue working with and promoting the Walden Award because of its focus on things I believe in: literary merit, positive approach to life, and widespread appeal.
Congratulations to A.S. King and Little, Brown!
2015 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Winner & Finalists Announced
The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is pleased and proud to announce the finalists for the 2015 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult Fiction. Established in 2008 to honor the wishes of young adult author Amelia Elizabeth Walden, the award allows for the sum of $5,000 to be presented annually to the author of a young adult title selected by the ALAN Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Committee as demonstrating a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit.
The 2015 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award winner is:
Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future by A.S. King
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
The 2015 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award finalists are:
Diamond Boy by Michael Williams
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero
Cinco Puntos Press
The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
Penguin Young Readers Group
Revolution (The Sixties Trilogy) by Deborah Wiles
Scholastic Press
All Walden Award titles will be identified by an award sticker—gold for the winner and silver for the four finalists. The winning title and finalists will be honored on at the 2015 ALAN Workshop on Monday, November 23rd at 4:25pm in Minneapolis, MN, and authors will be invited to participate in a panel discussion.
The 2015 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee would like to thank: the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Foundation, the ALAN Executive Council, the ALAN Board of Directors, NCTE, and the thirty-six publishers who submitted titles for consideration.
The 2015 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee considered nearly 300 young adult titles throughout the process. The committee was comprised of eleven members representing the university, K-12 school, and library communities. They are:
2015 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee
Lois Stover, Committee Chair
Dean – School of Education and Human Services
Marymount University, Arlington, VA
Kellee Moye, Past Committee Chair
Teacher/Reading Coach
Hunter’s Creek Middle School, Orlando, FL
Cathy Blackler
English/Journalism Teacher
Santana Alternative High School, La Puente, CA
Nancy J. Johnson
Professor, Children’s/YA Literature and English/Language Arts Education
Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
Sara Kajder
Assistant Professor English Education
University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Mark Letcher
Assistant Professor English Education
Lewis University, Romeoville, IL
Joellen Maples
Associate Professor, Graduate Literacy Program
St. John Fisher College, Rochester, NY
Suzanne Metcalfe
Librarian
Dimond High School, Anchorage, Alaska
Beth Scanlon
Teacher
Cypress Creek High School, Orlando, FL
Lisa Scherff
English Teacher
Cypress Lake High School, Fort Myers, FL
Jessica Lorentz Smith
Librarian
Bend Senior High School, Bend, OR
For more information on the award, please visit ALAN Online: The Official Site of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents http://www.alan-ya.org/
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