YMA highlights 2025 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature youth category winners

PHOENIX —The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), announced the 2025 winners of its Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature youth categories today during the ALA’s LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience held January 24 – 27 in Phoenix. “Aloha Everything” was selected for best picture book. “Continental Drifter” was chosen as winner for Children’s Literature. And “Everything We Never Had” won in the Young Adult Literature category.

The Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature celebrate Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage. The awards are based on literary and artistic merit within three youth categories including Picture Book, Children’s Literature and Young Adult Literature.

Picture BookAward: The 2025 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature Picture Book winner is “Aloha Everything,” written by Kaylin Melia George, illustrated by Mae Waite and published by Red Comet Press.

Through the medium of hula, a young girl learns the true meaning of aloha. Verses richly interspersed with the Hawaiian language and lush, eye-catching illustrations honor the beauty and vitality of the Hawaiian people, history, ecology and folklore.

The committee selected one Picture Book Honor title:

“The Rock in My Throat,” written by Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Jiemei Lin and published by Carolrhoda Books, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group Inc.

Children’s Literature Award: The 2025 Asian/Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature winner is “Continental Drifter,” written and illustrated by Kathy MacLeod, and published by First Second, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing.

While Kathy loves the idyllic beauty of her father’s hometown in Maine, she doesn’t look like the other kids at summer camp there and misses parts of her life at home in Bangkok, Thailand. With her mixed background, Kathy yearns to belong in Thailand, Maine or simply anywhere.

The committee selected two Children’s Literature Honor titles:

“Mabuhay!,” written and illustrated by Zachary Sterling, and published by Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.;

“Clairboyance,” written by Kristiana Kahakauwila, and published by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Young Adult Literature Award: The 2025 Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature winner is “Everything We Never Had” written by Randy Ribay, and published by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Ribay tackles generational trauma, mental health, and toxic masculinity in families while interrogating issues of immigration, racism, and class to create a deeply powerful and emotional narrative of four generations of Filipino American teenage boys navigating their identities, dreams, and familial relationships, and ultimately, hope.

The committee selected two Young Adult Literature Honor titles:

“Lunar New Year Love Story,” written by Gene Luen Yang, illustrated by LeUyen Pham,

and published by First Second, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing.

“Dragonfruit,” written by Makiia Lucier, and published by Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Winning and Honor Books were chosen from titles by or about Asian Pacific Americans published between September 2023 to August 2024. Each award will be named and given the award seal during the annual APALA Literature Award Ceremony taking place during the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia in June.

For a complete list of Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature including adult fiction and nonfiction titles, please visit http://www.apalaweb.org/awards/literature-awards/.

The 2025 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature committee members include:

Co-Chairs: Jamie Kurumaji, Fresno County Public Library, California; Candice Wing-yee Mack, Los Angeles Public Library; and Zoë McLaughlin, Michigan State University, East Lansing.

Picture Book Award Jury: Chair Charlene Hsu Gross, DeKalb County Public Library, Ellenwood, Georgia; Christine Chai Haw, Los Angeles Public Library; Becky Leathersich, SUNY Geneseo, New York; Yun Ji (Angie) So, William M. Rains Library, Loyola Law School, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles; and Xuemin Zhong, Los Angeles County Library.

Children's Literature Award Jury: Chair Jane Martinez Khaytin, Vernon Area Public Library, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Sine Hwang Jensen, UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library, California; Isariya Locke, Fresno County Public Library, California; Miyo Sandlin, The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York; and Neha Thakkar, Illinois State Board of Education, Chicago.

Young Adult Literature Award Jury: Chair Ariana Hussain, The Blake School, Hopkins, Minnesota; Jade Alburo, University of California, Los Angeles; Crystal Chen, Facing History & Ourselves, New York; Connie Lin, San Francisco Public Library; and Stephanie E. Mahar, Washington State University, Seattle.

About the American Library Association

The American Library Association (ALA) is the only non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated entirely to America's libraries and library professionals. For almost 150 years, ALA has provided resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. The ALA serves academic, public, school, government, and special libraries, advocating for the profession and the library's role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit www.ala.org

About the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association

The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) was founded in 1980 by librarians of diverse Asian/Pacific ancestries committed to working together toward a common goal: to create an organization that would address the needs of Asian/Pacific American librarians and those who serve Asian/Pacific American communities.

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