Awards –

• ·       Printz – The criteria for this award is having a book with diversity. A book that will be talked about by readers from 12-18 years of age. The book should contain story, voice, style, setting, accuracy, characters, theme, illustrations, and design. The award is given out in June.
• ·       YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction – Criteria must be a book for 12-18 year old published Nov.1-Oct 31 preceding year. Nonfiction, excellent writing, individual merits, and self-published. Award given at Midwinter Youth Media Awards Press Conference.
• ·       Great Graphic Novels for Teens – Criteria young adult and adult titles with strong teen appeal, fiction and non-fiction, original work or if adapted must remain true, published between January 1 – December 31, integration of images, clarity of visual flow, images to convey meaning, outstanding quality of artwork, narrative enhanced, narrative dominated by sequential art component. Award given in January.
• ·       Best Fiction for Young Adults – Criteria is title must appeal to personal reading tastes of young adults, appeal and popularity are not synonymous, and individual merits. As well as language, plot, style, setting, dialog, characterization, and design. The awards are given Midwinter.
• ·       Margaret A. Edwards Award – Criteria: Author individual or co-author, must be living at time of nomination, Titles specifically for young adults, must be print, must be published no less than five years prior to Midwinter meeting, Literary cornerstone for YA. Award given Midwinter.
• ·       ALEX Award – Criteria: Book is appealing to personal reading tastes of young adults ages 12-18 years old, Appeal and popularity are not synonymous, language, plot, style, setting, dialog, characterization, and design. Awards are given in January.
• ·       Odyssey Award – Criteria: Sounds effects, stimulate listeners’ interest, production qualities, narration, sound quality, and background music. Award given Midwinter.
• ·       Morris Award – Criteria: Excellence by first time author for YA, must exemplify the highest standards of YA literature, story, voice, setting, accuracy, style, characters, design, format, theme, illustration, organizations, must have teen appeal, and represent highest achievement of debut work for YA. Award is given Midwinter.
• ·       Outstanding Books for the College Bound – Criteria: Books in print or out of print, hardcover or paperback, Appeared on earlier Outstanding Books Lists, all titles widely available. List created every 5 years.
• ·       Popular Paperbacks – Criteria: must be print and in paperback, YA and adult titles, Popularity is important, Fiction and Non-Fiction, Authors or publishers of their own titles not eligible, and diversity.  Award given Midwinter.
• ·       Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers – Criteria: Physical appearance, Style, Fiction, and Informational Books. Awards are given Midwinter.
• ·       Readers’ Choice – Criteria: Titles must be published between November 1 prior year  and October31 current year, Titles must be widely available in US, Titles must be marketed by publisher for teen/YA audience, Popularity takes precedence, Titles must be identified with one stated broad category: horror/thriller, mystery/crime, nonfiction, realistic fiction, romance, science fiction/fantasy, and wild card category, Material needs to be in different formats, nominations by authors or publishers of own work not eligible. Awards are given first week of December.
• ·       Teens Top Ten – Criteria: Teens nominate and choose favorite books of previous year. Readers ages 12-18. Award given a week after October 15^th.
• ·       Amazing Audiobooks – Criteria: Appeal to all potential listeners ages 12-18, Original work or if adapted must remain true, Effective uses of voices, music, sounds effects, and language, Appropriateness of material for audio presentation, Suitability of match between performer and text, Possible expansion of audience of young adults, Professional production quality, Correct pronunciation of all text words is required, Clarity of recording is required, and Informative packaging is preferred. Award is given Midwinter.
• ·       YA Choices – Criteria: Must be for middle and secondary students, Published in 2016, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry, Some adult books for advanced young reader for students grades 7-12, Books from all imprints, Paperbacks only originals, and Series books only one of the series. Award given Midwinter.
• ·       Lone Star Reading List – Criteria: Recommended reading list developed by public and school librarians, Encourage students in 6-8 grade to explore current books, Intended for recreational reading. Award given Midwinter.
• ·       TAYSHAS Reading List – Criteria: Designed for grades 9-12, Balance in areas of genre, gender appeal, interest, subject, and difficulty, No limit of titles, Book may not be re-nominated from previous year, Book may not be considered if chosen for Lone Star Reading List in previous year, and Diversity. Award given Midwinter.
• ·       Maverick Reading List – Criteria: Relevant for  students in grades 6-12, Relevant in subject, language, and age, Have literary merit and wide appeal, Intended for recreational reading.  Award given after October.
• ·       Edgar Award for Mystery – Criteria: Genre-Mystery and Crime fiction. Award given every Spring.
• ·       NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children – Criteria: Literary merit, Poet’s or anthologist’s contributions, Evolution of the Poet’s or anthologist’s work, and Appeal to children. Award given November 17-20.
• ·       Orbis Pictus – Criteria: Accuracy, Organization, Design, Style, and Encourage thinking and reading. Award given November 19^th.
• ·       Batchelder Award - Criteria: Focus of attention, Relationship to original work, and Quality of the US book. Award given Midwinter.
• ·       Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction- Criteria: Book needs to be published for children or YA, Set in the New World, Published by a publisher in US, Must be written in English by a US citizen. Award given Midwinter.
• ·       Pura Belpre Award – Criteria: Author of outstanding book, Illustrations, Self-contained entity, Literary quality, and Cultural authenticity. Award given Midwinter.
• ·       Schneider Family Award- Criteria: Content, Style, and Illustration and Design. Award given June.
• ·       Sibert Award – Criteria: Excellent, engaging, and distinctive use of language,Excellent, engaging, and distinctive visual presentation, Appropriate organization and documentation, Clear, accurate, and stimulating presentation of facts, concepts, and ideas, Appropriate style of presentation for subject and for intended audience, Supportive features (index, table of contents, maps, timelines, etc), Respectful and of interest to children. Award given Midwinter.
• ·       Stonewall Award – Criteria: English language works, Published a year prior to announcement, Non-Fiction, Relate to GLBT.  Award is given in June or July.

Literary Elements

Literary Elements

• ·       Antagonist – An antagonist usually is against the protagonist of a story.  In most cases the antagonist is the bad guy and the protagonist is the good guy. Sometimes this is not the case though.
• ·       Character – Can be identified as a person or animal in a story. For example Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web and Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web both are characters only difference is one is a human and the other is an animal.

·       Conflict – A problem between two conflicting forces in a story. The four types of conflicts are: Person Against Person – A conflict between characters in a story, Person Against Self –A conflict between a character’s own thoughts, Person Against Society- A conflict between character and society, school, law, or tradition, the last type of conflict is Person Against Nature – A conflict between a character (person or animal) and some type of component of nature.

• ·       Mood And Tone – The mood of a story wants the reader to feel depending on the information given, the tone gets the reader to react in a certain way.
• ·       Plot – The plot is the main result following the sequence of events or order of the story.
• ·       Protagonist – The good guy of the story. Usually confronted by the antagonist.
• ·       Setting – The setting tells us when, where, and the mood of the story.
• ·       Themes – The theme is the main emphasis of the story that deals with life or human nature.

Literary Devices

• ·       Allegory - a story in which the characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life or for a political or historical situation
• ·       Allusion – An allusion adds meaning to story by incorporating a famous person, place, event, or work of art to enhance the story.
• ·       Archetype - the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies
• ·       Deus ex machine - a character or thing that unexpectedly enters the story and solves a problem that had previously seemed impossible to solve
• ·       Hyperbole – Hyperbole is the   language that describes something as better or worse than it really is, it helps emphasize the emotion.
• ·       Imagery – Imagery is when the author uses specific words or phrases that causes people to imagine pictures in their mind.
• ·       Metaphor – A metaphor is a word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing to show or propose that they are similar
• ·       Motif – Motif is repeating a specific theme throughout the story.
• ·       Point of view – Point of view is the viewpoint from which the story is being told. We have First-person: which is the narrator, using “I” or “we”; Third-person which is the narrator outside the story using “he”, “she”, or “they”; Third-person limited which is the narrator states only what a specific character perceives; and finally Third-person omniscient which the narrator can view the thoughts of all the characters.
• ·       Simile – When the author uses the word “like” to compare two unrelated things, people, places, or concepts. 
•     Symbolism – Symbolism is using symbols to represent something more than its literal meaning.

How do adolescents develop? 

Physical Development –Puberty: Their bodies changing. Normality. Children focus on their development intensely. We should assure them they are normal.

Intellectual: Piaget teaches us how students grow through the stages. Transition from concrete to formal thinking.

Developmental: Learning to get along, Easy relationship with the opposite sex, working for pay, changing relationship with parents, Developing morals and values, Adapting to physical bodies, and defining appropriate sex roles. Seek for peers that share same things they like. Grouping based on mutual interests.

Morals:  Kohlberg’s Theory- Levels Preconventional, Conventional, and Post-conventional. 

 Preconventional: Children behavior deals with reward and punishments. Adults do the same. 

Conventional: Follow the rules regardless. Post-conventional: Putting others before ourselves. Books that students can read that will help them move from current stage they are at to another.

Developing as Readers: The stages a person goes through as they read. Getting lost in a book. Reading autobiographically read about people like us. Reading for vicarious experiences windows that allow us to see out. Fantasy and Science Fiction. Reading for philosophical speculation is found in nonfiction. Feelings are concerned. Reading for aesthetic experiences is just for the love of reading. 

What is YA literature? 

              We can find a protagonist in YA literature.  The story is told by the adolescent’s point of view. We can put ourselves in their shoes. It has both direct exposition and confrontation.  We can see how the life of the main character evolves as the story goes on.  It tells how the main character faces the consequences of his or her actions.  The story takes place over a limited period of time and mainly in the same setting, with few characters. It shows how adolescents develop.

Genres and Formats

              Genres are fiction and non-fiction.  There are subtopics such as fiction – has realism and fantasy.  Non-fiction has informational. Biography, narrative, and expository.  Then we have categories/subjects such as mystery, horror, action, and war.  We also have formats like poetry, drama, short stories, and graphic novels as well as others.  We just need to make sure to clarify what genres are. 

Divisions of Young People’s Literature

              Children’s Literature – 0-8 years old. Picture books, Easy Readers, Illustrated chapter books, Chapter books, Charlotte’s Web.

              Middle Grade/Tween – 8-12 years old. George and Roller Girl. Middle School is not the same as Middle grade.  Middle school books takes place during middle school and cover tough topics some pertaining to abuse. Ages 11-13. Be careful not to give middle grade book to children who are younger than 11 years old.

              Young Adult –  13-18 years old. Grasshopper Jungle and Firsts. Deal with language and sex. Explicit topics.  

              New Adult – 18-30 years old. “Cutting edge fiction with protagonists who are slightly older than YA and can appeal to adult audience.” This is Falling, Sweet Home, and November 9.  Recent high school graduates going off to first college experiences, leaving home for first time, first relationships. 

Why do we share literature with children?

 It is important to instill the love of reading in our children.  It aids in educational success. The more they read the larger their vocabulary bank becomes. The higher they will likely score on standardized tests. If we start reading to them before they start school we can nurture their love for reading, and most likely they will begin reading themselves. Reading helps them develop lifelong readers and their awareness of human behavior. Reading encourages the use of imagination. They can travel to magical places as they read. Reading also helps share the many cultures of our world.