The 2026 American Library Association Youth Media Awards were recently announced celebrating children and young adult literature, authors and illustrators.
Tracy Kampa, children’s librarian at the Grand Rapids Area Library and avid enthusiast of children’s books and the awards season, recently recapped the award ceremony and her reaction to the winners with What We’re Reading producer and host Tammy Bobrowsky.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Tammy Bobrowsky: Tracy, you and I have had a couple of days to recuperate from Newbery Monday, where we heard the winners of the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards. Before we get into the awards, let's remind people why these are so important: Why do we even take the time to talk about them?
Tracy Kampa: Well, I can tell you why I think they're important. I think overarching everything, books themselves matter. Books engage. Books can heal. Books teach. Books provide refuge. Books matter because kids need them and kids really matter. I also am fascinated by the historical component of the awards. They've been happening for over 100 years. And it's fascinating to me to see what won, say, 50 years ago compared to what wins today. And have things changed? Maybe, although not as much as one might think. But this always remains the same. The Newbery committee works hard to flesh out what they think is the best, and it's 15 people. It's not just three people, it's 15. And they have to come to a consensus every year. And I always find it fascinating to compare my best with theirs. It's also really fascinating to me to see how the awards as a body of work itself evolves. We have over 20 categories of awards, including books that best represent the Jewish experience, the Latino experience, award books by American Indian authors and illustrators, African-American authors and illustrators, books written for young adults, books written for beginner readers, and specifically non-fiction books, among others. And although these categories are specific in their books, most of these books are also eligible for the Newbery. So, it's fun to see books win more than one award. So what did you think, Tammy, about the Newbery winner? Did you know anything about All the Blues in the Sky?
"Books engage. Books can heal. Books teach. Books provide refuge. Books matter because kids need them and kids really matter." —Children's librarian Tracy Kampa
Tammy Bobrowsky: I knew that it was on your list because I worked with you on putting that out last week. So, I recognized it right away. And that made me happy--I know it's a good book because you recommended it. How did you feel when you saw that?
Tracy Kampa: I was surprised. First of all, I was really surprised that it didn't win a Coretta Scott King Award, which goes to Black American authors and illustrators, just because Renée Watson has won Coretta Scott King Awards in the past. For people who have been listening for a while, you may remember a poetry book that I really liked last year called Black Girl, You Are Atlas — that's also written by Renée Watson. So I've known her work for a while, and I really appreciate her. This one ... I loved the book. I'm surprised it took the whole Newbery.
Tammy Bobrowsky: Can you remind us what the book is about?
Tracy Kampa: Absolutely. The book is about a young girl named Sage. And the book actually starts after her best friend has been killed by a hit-and-run driver. And Sage's best friend was actually on her way to Sage's house to celebrate Sage's birthday with her when she was killed. And so the entire book is a book of healing. It's also a book about Sage coming to terms with the fact that she did not cause her friend's death because she firmly believed that it was her fault. She also meets with a grief group at school, and Sage eventually realizes that she has to lean on them as new friends because her best friend is gone.
The book is a book-in-verse, and it's a really, really fast read. I'd highly recommend it because the book is really good and it ends on such a positive note. Although the ending made me cry. And that doesn't happen a lot in books, but this one I was crying. After the Newbery's were awarded, I messaged my husband and I said, ‘Hey, you know that book-in-verse that made me cry when I was reading it? It just won the Newbery.’ He said, ‘Well, that's cool, I guess, but I wish they would have picked a happy book.’ And I thought, 'That's, I guess, kind of true.’
And maybe that's the perception of the Newbery for a lot of people who aren't inside of the Newbery, that they aren't very happy books, although some of them are pretty good. Any list that includes Frog and Toad--you know that's a good list.
Tammy Bobrowsky: Another book that popped out at me is Will's Race for Home, by Jewell Parker Rhodes, because I think you've actually talked about this a couple times. You reviewed it once, and then you also mentioned it on your segment on Monday with your Newbery hopefuls. What happened with that title?
Tracy Kampa: It did win a Coretta Scott King Author Award, and so I'm thrilled for that. Jewell Parker Rhodes is the author, and she has written some really, really amazing stuff over the past several years. The book itself is just one of those books that I really love handing to people because it's got history. It's about a black family who heard about the Oklahoma land rush and they went to participate in that. And so we have all of the excitement of racing across the state to try to find a place and how their color hampered them, certainly. But it wasn't the only thing that hampered them. And how they eventually got their land and the journey was just a really great adventure story. So anybody who's looking for just a really good adventure, I highly recommend it.
Tammy Bobrowsky: Were there any other highlights from the awards for you?
Tracy Kampa: Something did happen in this year's awards that has never happened before. Candace Fleming is the author of Death in the Jungle--that's the non-fiction book that follows Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. And I spoke about it just last week. Death in the Jungle not only won an Excellence in Nonfiction Award, but Fleming herself--this is amazing--she won the Margaret Edwards Award, which is given for a body of work for young adults. And she won the Children's Literature Legacy Award, which is given for a body of work for children's books. She's the only person to ever win both in the same year. And only three people in the history of the awards have won both of these awards: Jacqueline Woodson, Walter Dean Myers, and Madeleine L'Engle. So, she is in some amazing company. But it was so cool to see her recognized for both her young adult work and her children's work because she is outstanding.
Tammy Bobrowsky: Are there any books that did not receive any kind of award or honor that you still really want people to check out?
Tracy Kampa: Absolutely. My first favorite of this year was The Trouble with Heroes, and that's by Kate Messner. And that is the story of a young man who is having some great difficulty in accepting his father's death. The story opens as he is in front of a judge for vandalizing a cemetery, and somebody steps up and says 'Can I give this young man a challenge rather than sending him to juvenile detention?' And the book itself is exciting. It ends in a really great note. And I just it brings a lot to the table for me. And we see so much character growth, which I love seeing in children's literature.
The Winter of the Dollhouse , by Laura Amy Schlitz. I love anything that she writes. The Winter of the Dollhouse, I think, has a pretty specific kind of audience because you have a young girl growing up, going through all of the difficult stages of life on one hand. And those chapters are alternating with literal dolls in a dollhouse, and they are also telling their story as well until, of course, the two stories come together. I was surprised at the ending of that because there's some really good historical significance at the ending of that book. So if you're just looking for a good book, I highly recommend The Winter of the Dollhouse.
I've talked previously about Blood in the Water, by Tiffany D. Jackson. That's just a really great mystery. And then two books I really wish had been recognized—one was Bad Badger: A Love Story, by Maryrose Wood. This book is just all heart and love. If Frog and Toad were a full-length book, it would be Bad Badger. And then the other one that I really wish had gotten some notice was the picture book, The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice: How to Discover a Shape, by Amy Alznauer. I talked about this months ago, but I still think it's one of the best picture book biographies I've ever read.
Tammy Bobrowsky: What happens next for these award-winning books?
Tracy Kampa: Well, these books, when you have a Newbery label on them, you're pretty much guaranteed not to go out of print, which is important in children's literature because books go in and out of print a lot. And that doesn't mean that books that are out of print now won't come back into print because they do. But these books you can probably get your hands on at any time you want to. So that's important for the book, for the story. But what happens for me is that I'm now looking at 2026. So I'm starting to look at copyrights of 2026 and start thinking, ‘Oh, well, that's a good book. Maybe that one.’ I won't get serious about it until midsummer, but it's fun. It's a fun time of year.
The full list of 2026 Youth Media winners are available here.
Curious to see how many Newbery Award books you’ve read? This checklist includes all of the Newbery Medal and Honor books dating back to 1922.
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