Schneider Family Book Award
The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.
About
History of the Schneider Family Book Award
Dr. Katherine Schneider and her family endowed this American Library Association Award in 2003. Cheryl Malden was the ALA awards liaison tasked to form a Jury and to establish the criteria for the award. In its first year, the Jury selected three winners in early 2004 to be honored at the ALA Awards presentation at ALA Annual. The American Library Association (ALA) staff liaison arranged for the President of ALA to announce the 2005 Schneider Award winners at the ALA Youth Media Award Press Conference where all ALA children’s literature awards are officially announced.
The Schneider Family Book Award recognizes three categories for recognition: Younger Children (ages 4-8), Middle Grade (ages 9-13), and Young Adult (ages 14-18). Awards are presented to English language works published the year prior to the announcement date. The award is announced in January/February and presented to the winning authors or editors at the American Library Association Annual Conference in June. The award winners each receive a commemorative plaque and $5,000. If a winning title features both an author and an illustrator, the $5,000 will be divided equally between the creators. Honor titles also receive a commemorative plaque from ALA.
Suggest a title to the Schneider Family Book Awards Jury
The application period for 2025 Schneider Family Book Award submissions is now closed. Use this link to submit titles for the Younger Children, Middle Grade, or Young Adult Category. Upon review and confirmation of eligibility, a member of the SFBA Jury will contact you with where to send copies of the book for jury review.
Anyone may suggest a title to the Schneider Family Book Awards Jury for consideration. Books must be published in English and the award can be given posthumously. However, the publisher of a proposed title, agents or representatives of the author, or anyone else who may stand to gain directly from the nomination of the book should disclose this information via the form below. All suggestions must be submitted by the deadline of December 1st. Books themselves must also be received by December 1st. If a book will be published after December 1st but before December 31st, the jury may accept a galley copy or an eBook.
Eligibility
The title must feature a main or secondary character with a disability and must portray disability as part of a full life, and information on disability must be accurate. For full criteria, please refer to the Schneider Family Book Award Manual and criteria shared in the Application Information section below.
For information regarding the Schneider Family Book Awards (including the awards ceremony and promotional material), please contact the ALA Governance Office at governance@ala.org.
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Award Information
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
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Where You See Yourself
2024 - Honor(s) Where You See Yourself combines an unforgettable coming-of-age tale, a riveting romance, and much-needed disability representation in this story about Effie, a girl who's determined... |
2024 - Honor(s) |
|
The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn
2024 - Winner(s) Maudie, a neurodivergent young woman, loves spending summers with her dad in California. When a wildfire forces an evacuation, they move to a trailer on... |
2024 - Winner(s) |
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Simon Sort of Says
2024 - Honor(s) Simon O’Keeffe’s biggest claim to fame should be the time his dad accidentally gave a squirrel a holy sacrament. But the story the whole world... |
2024 - Honor(s) |
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Tilly in Technicolor
2024 - Honor(s) Tilly Twomley is desperate for change. She feels like she's white-knuckling her way through high school as flawed executive functioning has left her burnt out. Things... |
2024 - Honor(s) |
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Forever is Now
2024 - Winner(s) Sadie is an Oakland, California activist who shares her passion for social justice online. After witnessing a violent incident of police brutality, her chronic anxiety... |
2024 - Winner(s) |
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Good Different
2024 - Honor(s) A extraordinary novel-in-verse about a neurodivergent girl who comes to understand and celebrate her difference. In this dynamic novel, Selah navigates the challenges of day-to-day... |
2024 - Honor(s) |
|
Henry, Like Always
2024 - Winner(s) Share Time happens on Fridays in Ms. Tanaka’s class. When it is displaced by a special parade and moved to Thursday, Henry, who is autistic... |
2024 - Winner(s) |
|
What Happened to You?
2024 - Honor(s) Every time Joe goes out the questions are the same . . . what happened to his leg? But is this even a question Joe... |
2024 - Honor(s) |
|
Dancing Hands
2024 - Honor(s) This picture book about friendship and sign language, originally published in the Philippines in concert with nonprofit Room to Read, is revised for this global... |
2024 - Honor(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Hummingbird
2023 - Honor(s) a heartfelt story about a girl who -- armed with her trusty, snazzy wheelchair -- refuses to let her brittle bone disease stand in the... |
2023 - Honor(s) |
|
Honestly Elliott
2023 - Honor(s) Gillian McDunn explores boyhood in a funny, big-hearted story about a kid trying to find the best way to be his best self. Elliott has been struggling since... |
2023 - Honor(s) |
|
Breathe and Count Back From Ten
2023 - Honor(s) In this gorgeously written and authentic novel, Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park... |
2023 - Honor(s) |
|
Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion
2023 - Winner(s) As a child, Evelyn Glennie loved music. After the nerves in her ears began to degenerate, she became deaf. Defying doctors’ predictions, Evelyn persevered to... |
2023 - Winner(s) |
|
In the Blue
2023 - Honor(s) An emotional and tender award-winning picture book that accessibly explores depression within a family, through the use of color. As one father embarks on... |
2023 - Honor(s) |
|
WILDOAK
2023 - Winner(s) Maggie’s parents send her to her grandfather’s home in hopes that the Cornish countryside will improve her stuttering. There, she finds and saves an abandoned... |
2023 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Words in my Hands
2022 - Winner(s) In this work of speculative fiction, Piper searches for her identity as a Deaf teenager through her art and activism in a futuristic Australia rife... |
2022 - Winner(s) |
|
My City Speaks
2022 - Winner(s) Photographer Darren Lebeuf and paper artist Ashley Barron collaborate on the tale of a girl with a visual impairment and her father as they journey... |
2022 - Winner(s) |
|
A Walk in the Words
2022 - Honor(s) An ode to persistence and determination, this inspiring autobiographical picture book recounts the author’s struggles and triumphs in learning to read. Drawing came easily to... |
2022 - Honor(s) |
|
A Sky-Blue Bench
2022 - Honor(s) Set in Afghanistan, this brightly illustrated picture book shows readers the power of determination and cooperation. Living with war has impacted many aspects of Aria’s... |
2022 - Honor(s) |
|
A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome
2022 - Winner(s) Ariel and her identical sister were born with a rare condition called Crouzon Syndrome, a disorder preventing the typical growth of the skull, affecting the... |
2022 - Winner(s) |
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A Kind of Spark
2022 - Honor(s) Addie is Autistic. She explains to people that it is who she is. Being neurodivergent, she often hears and feels things more deeply than most... |
2022 - Honor(s) |
|
Stuntboy, in the Meantime
2022 - Honor(s) Portico Reeves is dealing with a lot in his life - his parents’ impending divorce, his own anxiety, and middle school friendships. But never fear... |
2022 - Honor(s) |
|
A Bird Will Soar
2022 - Winner(s) Myers employs poetry and science to create a bird-loving autistic boy whose disability strongly shapes his identity. As Axel seeks to help heal his broken... |
2022 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
All the Way to the Top: How One Girl's Fight for American with Disabilities Changed Everything
2021 - Honor(s) Experience the true story of lifelong activist Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins and her participation in the Capitol Crawl in this inspiring autobiographical picture book. |
2021 - Honor(s) |
|
Itzhak: A Boy Who Loved the Violin
2021 - Honor(s) This picture-book biography of violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman will inspire young readers to follow the melody within themselves |
2021 - Honor(s) |
|
This is My Brain in Love
2021 - Winner(s) Told in dual narrative, I.W. Gregorio’s second YA novel is an own voices story exploring mental illness stigma, race and culture, and relationships. Jocelyn... |
2021 - Winner(s) |
|
Get A Grip Vivy Cohen
2021 - Honor(s) In this perfectly pitched novel-in-letters, autistic eleven-year-old Vivy Cohen won't let anything stop her from playing baseball--not when she has a major-league star as... |
2021 - Honor(s) |
|
When Stars are Scattered
2021 - Honor(s) Heartbreak, hope, and gentle humor exist together in this graphic novel about a childhood spent waiting, and a young man who is able to create... |
2021 - Honor(s) |
|
Show Me A Sign
2021 - Winner(s) Ann Clare LeZotte, a Deaf librarian and author, tells the story of Mary Lambert, a young deaf girl growing up on the island of Martha’s... |
2021 - Winner(s) |
|
I Talk Like A River
2021 - Winner(s) Jordan Scott, poet and debut picture book author, and award-winning illustrator Sydney Smith tell an own voices story of a young boy who feels isolated... |
2021 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Each Tiny Spark
2020 - Winner(s) |
2020 - Winner(s) |
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The Silence Between Us
2020 - Winner(s) |
2020 - Winner(s) |
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A Friend for Henry
2020 - Winner(s) |
2020 - Winner(s) |
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Song For A Whale
2020 - Winner(s) |
2020 - Winner(s) |
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Cursed
2020 - Winner(s) |
2020 - Winner(s) |
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Just Ask
2020 - Winner(s) In Just Ask, United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor celebrates the different abilities kids (and people of all ages) have. Using her own experience as... |
2020 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
(Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation about Mental Health
2019 - Honor(s) |
2019 - Honor(s) |
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The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
2019 - Winner(s) |
2019 - Winner(s) |
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The Collectors
2019 - Honor(s) |
2019 - Honor(s) |
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Rescue & Jessica A Life-Changing Friendship
2019 - Winner(s) |
2019 - Winner(s) |
|
The Remember Balloons
2019 - Honor(s) |
2019 - Honor(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess
2018 - Winner(s) This tender, free-verse novel welcomes readers into sixth-grader Macy’s world. Through an intergenerational relationship with her neighbor, Iris, Macy learns to navigate friendships, family changes... |
2018 - Winner(s) |
|
Silent Days, Silent Dreams
2018 - Winner(s) Allen Say’s distinctive biographical picture book spotlights the work and life of James Castle, an outsider artist. Deaf and autistic, this artist used his untraditional... |
2018 - Winner(s) |
|
You’re Welcome, Universe
2018 - Winner(s) Julia is an artist; her medium graffiti. She thrives on the thrill of creating and the risk of getting caught. When she is expelled from... |
2018 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
When We Collided
2017 - Winner(s) |
2017 - Winner(s) |
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as brave as you
2017 - Winner(s) |
2017 - Winner(s) |
|
Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille
2017 - Winner(s) |
2017 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Emmanuel
2016 - Winner(s) Against almost insurmountable odds, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, born with only one strong leg, sets out to ride a bike 400 miles across Ghana to raise... |
2016 - Winner(s) |
|
Fish
2016 - Winner(s) Ally moves through multiple elementary schools without learning to read by using her strengths in math and art along with some behavior distractions. When a... |
2016 - Winner(s) |
|
War
2016 - Winner(s) Set during World War II, Ada is a resourceful character who slowly and believably makes accommodations for her untreated club foot. Her growth as a... |
2016 - Winner(s) |
|
unlikely
2016 - Winner(s) Enter 13B, where the support group for young adults with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder meets each week. Here an unlikely band of “superheroes” led by their... |
2016 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
RAIN REIGN
2015 - Winner(s) |
2015 - Winner(s) |
|
Girls Like Us
2015 - Winner(s) |
2015 - Winner(s) |
|
A BOY AND A JAGUAR
2015 - Winner(s) |
2015 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Handbook for Dragon Slayers
2014 - Winner(s) Reluctant Princess Tilda, sheltered due to her deformed foot, longs to escape her destiny. A thwarted kidnapping sends Tilda, Lord Parzifal and her handmaiden Judith... |
2014 - Winner(s) |
|
Splash of Red
2014 - Winner(s) This picture book biography of self-taught African American folk artist Horace Pippin demonstrates the dogged determination of a wounded soldier to paint again. After a... |
2014 - Winner(s) |
|
Rose under fire
2014 - Winner(s) After a daring flight maneuver, young pilot Rose Justice is captured by Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious women’s concentration camp. Assigned to a... |
2014 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am
2013 - Winner(s) Ben surprises everyone by enlisting in the army after his high school graduation. When his convoy is caught in an IED explosion, Ben suffers a... |
2013 - Winner(s) |
|
A Dog Called Homeless
2013 - Winner(s) A year after her mother’s death, Cally, a fifth grader, has stopped speaking when no one seems to care about what she has to say. ... |
2013 - Winner(s) |
|
Back to Front and Upside Down!
2013 - Winner(s) Stan is excited about making a birthday card for his principal, Mr. Slippers, until he discovers that he has to write a message. For him... |
2013 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
close to famous
2012 - Winner(s) Twelve-year-old Foster dreams of growing up to become a famous celebrity chef despite her reading disability. Can the quirky townsfolk of tiny Culpepper help Foster... |
2012 - Winner(s) |
|
Wonderstruck: A Novel in Words and Pictures
2012 - Winner(s) Rose and Ben are children who are deaf living 50 years and worlds apart, yet both marvel and connect with the world around them. The... |
2012 - Winner(s) |
|
The Running Dream
2012 - Winner(s) When sixteen-year-old track star Jessica loses her leg in an accident, she is devastated believing she will never run again. Rehabilitation forces Jessica to... |
2012 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
The Pirate of Kindergarten
2011 - Winner(s) Ginny’s eyes play tricks and, in her world, there are two of everything. Reading, math, and kindergarten activities are a challenge. Wearing an eye patch... |
2011 - Winner(s) |
|
After Ever After
2011 - Winner(s) Tells the story of Jeffrey who is free of cancer, but not the fallout from the treatment. Tad, his cancer survivor buddy and he swap... |
2011 - Winner(s) |
|
Five Flavors of Dumb
2011 - Winner(s) Dumb is not the name Piper, a high school senior who is Deaf, would have chosen for a heavy metal band, yet she volunteers to... |
2011 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Marcelo in the Real World
2010 - Winner(s) “Marcelo in the Real World” tells the story of Marcelo Sandoval who has Asperger Syndrome. Marcelo is pushed beyond his comfort zone when he is... |
2010 - Winner(s) |
|
Django
2010 - Winner(s) “Django” is the biography of musician Django Reinhardt, who was in an accident that severely burned his hands and threatened to end his career. Through... |
2010 - Winner(s) |
|
Anything but Typical
2010 - Winner(s) While Jason Blake who has autism, considers himself to be anything but typical, his life is that of a conventional 12-year-old boy. He wants a... |
2010 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum
2009 - Winner(s) Jazz musician Art Tatum, who was born with limited vision and lost much of it as he grew, never felt sorry for himself. In this... |
2009 - Winner(s) |
|
Waiting for Normal
2009 - Winner(s) Addie has spent most of her twelve years “waiting for normal,” a stable family and a real home. Connor’s resilient heroine uses humor, creativity and... |
2009 - Winner(s) |
|
Jerk, California
2009 - Winner(s) After graduating from high school, Sam/Jack begins a cross country quest to learn the truth about his dead father and embraces his inherited Tourette Syndrome... |
2009 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Kami and the Yaks
2008 - Winner(s) Kami, a young Sherpa boy who is deaf, rescues his family’s yaks and livelihood during a violent storm. Stunning, realistic watercolors add depth to a... |
2008 - Winner(s) | |
|
Reaching for Sun
2008 - Winner(s) Zimmer uses lyrical free verse to tell the story of one girl’s thirteenth year. Josie, a young teen with cerebral palsy, blossoms through her relationship... |
2008 - Winner(s) |
|
Hurt Go Happy
2008 - Winner(s) Initially isolated by her mother’s refusal to let her learn American Sign Language (ASL), Joey grows from a lonely teen to a mature animal rights... |
2008 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
The Deaf Musicians
2007 - Winner(s) After losing his hearing, jazzman Lee learns to make music in a new way. The book’s upbeat narrative, along with its bright colors, teaches the... |
2007 - Winner(s) |
|
Rules
2007 - Winner(s) A realistic depiction of 12-year-old Catherine’s quest to find her place in a family consumed by her autistic brother David’s needs. Catherine copes by developing... |
2007 - Winner(s) |
|
Small Steps
2007 - Winner(s) Armpit’s humorous adventures portray the unexpected friendship between a recently released juvenile delinquent and 10-year-old Ginny, who has cerebral palsy, as they help each other... |
2007 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Dad, Jackie, and Me
2006 - Winner(s) This exceptional portrayal of a young boy's affectionate relationship with his deaf father hits home when his dad identifies with baseball player Jackie Robinson and... |
2006 - Winner(s) | |
| Tending to Grace
2006 - Winner(s) Cornelia “Corny” Thornhill, a self-described bookworm who stutters, is judged to be a poor student because of her reluctance to speak or read aloud. During... |
2006 - Winner(s) | |
|
Under the Wolf, Under the Dog
2006 - Winner(s) This compelling narrative of journal entries by a 16-year-old boy immerses the reader into his deteriorating mental state. Unable to cope with his mother's death... |
2006 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Becoming Naomi León
2005 - Winner(s) Ryan uses imaginative language and great sensitivity in portraying an 11-year-old girl’s emergence from the timidity of an emotionally abusive relationship to becoming a lioness... |
2005 - Winner(s) |
|
My Thirteenth Winter: A Memoir
2005 - Winner(s) The book was chosen for its honest and sensitive portrayal of the author’s youth as she struggles with dyscalculia, a learning disability in mathematics. The... |
2005 - Winner(s) |
|
My Pal Victor/Mi amigo, Victor
2005 - Winner(s) The bilingual text and bold, colorful illustrations weave the story of two Latino boys who share the joys of friendship—telling scary stories and outrageous riddles... |
2005 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Looking Out For Sarah
2004 - Winner(s) In this outstanding picture book, the beautiful harmony between text and illustrations conveys the special bond between Perry, a black Labrador retriever guide dog, and... |
2004 - Winner(s) |
|
Things Not Seen
2004 - Winner(s) In this thought-provoking novel, main character Bobby, 15, wakes up one morning invisible. He feels isolated until he meets Alicia, a teenager who has experienced... |
2004 - Winner(s) |
|
A Mango Shaped Space
2004 - Winner(s) The main character Mia is a sensitive 13-year-old girl who comes to terms with a rare neurological condition called Synesthesia. The story is an introspective... |
2004 - Winner(s) |
● May be fiction, biography/memoir, or general nonfiction.
● Must portray the emotional, mental, or physical disability as part of a full life, not as something to be pitied.
● Representation of characters with disabilities should be realistic, avoiding exaggeration or stereotypes.
● Person with a disability should be integral to the presentation, not merely a passive bystander.
● Information on a disability must be accurate.
● Should be well-written and engaging, with distinctive use of language for plot and character development
● Book should be judged on its own merit as a self-contained entity, not as part of a series.
● Text and images should complement or enhance each other
● Format and typeface must be of age-appropriate size, clearly readable, and free of typographical errors.
● Layout should be easy to follow, enhancing the flow of the story or information.
Application Instructions:
Please use the application form linked to submit a title for consideration. Anyone may suggest a title to the Schneider Family Book Awards Jury for consideration. Books must be published in English and the award can be given posthumously. However, the publisher of a proposed title, agents or representatives of the author, or anyone else who may stand to gain directly from the nomination of the book should disclose this information via the form below. All suggestions must be submitted by the deadline of December 1st. Books themselves must also be received by December 1st. If a book will be published after December 1st but before December 31st, the jury may accept a galley copy or an eBook.
Once submitted, all titles will be reviewed for eligibility to be considered. Once eligibility is determined, further instructions on sending copies of the book to jury members will be shared.
The SFBA Jury shall be composed of not more than nine members, including two Co-Chairs, and an optional ex-officio American Library Association member with experience in book selection and knowledge of disability experiences. Jury members are appointed by the ALA Award Chair with assistance from staff liaison and current Co-Chairs of the Schneider Jury to ensure the jury pool includes people or their family members with disabilities. The normal term on the Jury shall be two years with the option of reappointment for additional year(s), from June to June, contingent upon active contributions to and participation in committee responsibilities. Please contact governance@ala.org for the latest award jury roster.
The Jury shall include one current member from each of the following ALA divisions:
- ALSC, the Association for Library Service to Children
- YALSA, the Young Adult Library Service Association
- The committee will consult the children’s or young adult librarian from the Library of Congress, National Library Service for Blind and Print Disabled (NLS/BPH).
- Alternatively, a librarian from the Library of Congress, NLS/BPH or from the NLS network of state libraries may be appointed to fill a position on the Jury.
- Ex-officio, non-librarian that works with the disability experience.
