A book about a gender nonconforming Mexican revolutionary has received a prestigious Caldecott Honor, while other LGBTQ-inclusive children’s and young adult books also won recognition at the American Library Association’s annual Youth Media Awards.
The Youth Media Awards recognize the best in literature for children and young adults. Most awards have a top winner along with several “honor” books. Below are the ones with LGBTQ representation. (Linked titles mean I’ve written a full review of the book, which you can click through to read; unlinked ones mean young adult (YA) books, which I do not typically cover.)
A Caldecott Honor went to Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter, by Aida Salazar, illustrated by Molly Mendoza (Scholastic), a biography of Mexican revolutionary Jovita Valdovinos, who cut her hair and wore men’s clothing to lead her troops during Mexico’s 1925-35 Cristero War. While Jovita’s gender identity and sexual orientation are unstated (and to the best of my knowledge unknown), she was clearly gender nonconforming for her time (Bookshop; Amazon). The book is also available in Spanish.
The Stonewall Book Award—Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s Literature Award, for a book of “exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience,” went to:
Cross My Heart and Never Lie, by Nora Dåsnes (Hippo Park), a diary-style graphic novel about a 12-year-old girl navigating shifting friendships and her first crush. Dåsnes explores the awkward transition time between childhood and the teen years with compassion, light humor, and an insightful eye (Bookshop; Amazon).
Four Stonewall Honor Books for Children’s Literature were also chosen:
Desert Queen, by Jyoti Rajan Gopal, illustrated by Svabhu Kohli (Levine Querido), a dazzling biography in verse of drag performer Queen Harish (Harish Kumar), known as the Whirling Desert Queen of Rajasthan (Bookshop; Amazon).
Not He or She, I’m Me, by A. M. Wild, illustrated by Kah Yangni (Henry Holt), a simple, cheery book that takes us through a day in the life of a nonbinary child as they wake up, get ready for school, play with friends, and go to bed (Bookshop; Amazon).
The Otherwoods, by Justine Pucella Winans (Bloomsbury), about a nonbinary tween pulled into the land of spirits. Fearsome monsters, mysterious clues, original worldbuilding, and exciting battles make this a thrilling read, even as it weaves in deeper messages about friendship and belief in oneself (Bookshop; Amazon).
Stars in Their Eyes: A Graphic Novel, by Jessica Walton and Aska (Graphix), about a teen going to a fan convention to meet her favorite TV hero, who has a lower leg amputation like herself. Along the way, however, she meets another fan (who happens to be nonbinary), and realizes she might be falling in love. (The publisher categorizes this as YA (12+), and the protagonists are 14 and 15, so I have not reviewed this for my Database, where I stick to books for ages 0 to 12 and for LGBTQ parents—but it admittedly targets the early end of the YA range.) (Bookshop; Amazon)
The Stonewall Award for Young Adult Books went to:
- Only This Beautiful Moment, by Abdi Nazemian (Balzer + Bray), about three generations of boys in the same Iranian family (Bookshop; Amazon).
Four Stonewall Honors for Young Adult Books went to:
- Ander & Santi Were Here, written by Jonny Garza Villa (Wednesday Books), about about a nonbinary Mexican American teen falling for the new waiter at their family’s taqueria (Bookshop; Amazon).
- Imogen, Obviously, by Becky Albertalli (Balzer + Bray), about a teen who considers herself the World’s Greatest Ally—but she’s not queer herself, is she? (Bookshop; Amazon)
- The Long Run, by James Acker (Inkyard Press), about the romance between two high school boys, both athletes, but otherwise very different (Bookshop; Amazon).
- The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, by Andrew Joseph White (Peachtree Teen), a historical gothic horror novel with an autistic trans protagonist (Bookshop; Amazon).
All of the Stonewall Awards and Honors are hugely well-deserved. As I’ve said before, though, I would still love to see a third category, splitting out picture books from middle grade. As my own Database of LGBTQ Family Books shows, there are now dozens of books in each age range every year, and some truly excellent ones in each—enough, I believe, to support awards in both age ranges. (I’ve been told this is in large part an issue of funding, so if you have the means and desire to fund such an award, I encourage you to reach out to the ALA.)
Awards in other categories also went to a number of LGBTQ-inclusive books, proof of our intersectional identities. Most are YA, but one is a middle grade title I reviewed and loved:
- Don’t Want to Be Your Monster, by Deke Moulton (Tundra Books), a middle grade novel about a boy in a two-mom vampire family, explores issues of fear, marginalization, community, and family, while also giving us a gripping murder mystery, with well-thought-out worldbuilding and some unexpected twists. It was a Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medalist, for books “that authentically portray the Jewish experience.” (Bookshop; Amazon).
- The Collectors: Stories, ed. A. S. King (Dutton), a collection of short stories, includes one from David Levithan about a nonbinary kid, and won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature (Bookshop; Amazon).
- Fire From the Sky, by Moa Backe Åstot (Levine Querido), about a Sami boy navigating family, tradition, and first love, was named a Printz Honor Book (Bookshop; Amazon).
- Going Bicoastal, by Dahlia Adler (Wednesday Books), a humorous romance about a bisexual protagonist navigating family and relationships across time zones, was also a Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medalist (Bookshop; Amazon).
In additional news, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has announced that author Kyle Lukoff has received the Children’s Literature Lecture Award and will deliver the 2025 ALSC Children’s Literature Lecture. Lukoff’s 2021Too Bright to See won a Newbery Honor, the Stonewall Award, and was a National Book Award finalist; his 2019 When Aidan Became a Brother won the Stonewall Book Award.
These awards are further proof that banning LGBTQ-inclusive books not only removes vital representation for LGBTQ children and youth and their peers, but also deprives them of some of the best literature around. One could say the same about books featuring protagonists from other marginalized groups, many of which have their own ALA award categories but also win in broader ones. If you want to take action against book banning, Unite Against Book Bans is a good place to start.
Here is the full list of this year’s ALA Youth Media Award winners. As always, you can find the Stonewall winners from previous years (for board, picture, and middle grade books) tagged as such in my database.
Congratulations to them all!
(As an Amazon Associate and as a Bookshop Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.)