Pura Belpré Award Young Adult Author Award
The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. It is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), divisions of the American Library Association (ALA), and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, an ALA affiliate.
More information, including a listing of the winners of the Children's Author Award and the Youth Illustrator Award can be found here.
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2024 Young Adult Author Award Winners
“Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir”
Written and illustrated by Pedro Martin
“Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir” is a graphic memoir set in 1977 about Pedro and his family on a road trip to Mexico in their Winnebago. They are on their way to bring their grandfather home to live with them, but first they must help him accomplish a special mission. The book was written by Pedro Martín and published by Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
“Saints of the Household”
By Ari Tison
Saints of the Household is a haunting contemporary YA about an act of violence in a small-town--told by a debut Indigenous Costa Rican-American writer.
YOUTH ILLUSTRATION HONOR BOOKS
“Mi papá es un agrícola/My Father, the Farmworker”
Illustrated by José B. Ramírez
Written by J. Roman Pérez Varela
Published by Lil’ Libros.
Ramirez quietly centers the dignity and humanity of the farmworker in warm and cool colored illustrations depicting earth, sky and the agrícola. The use of bright, warm colors under a large sun and opened hands on two of the double-page spreads effectively show the physical toil of this job.
“Papá’s Magical Water-Jug Clock”
Illustrated by Eliza Kinkz
Written by Jesús Trejo
Published by Minerva, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, a division of Astra Publishing House.
Eliza Kinkz’s mixed-media illustrations in “pencil, ink, gouache, crayons – and a few drops of queso” make this already heartwarming and laugh-out-loud story exceptional. Kinkz is adept at portraying humor from a child’s perspective with visual gems: the luchadora end pages, trees with faces, sunbathing cats and skateboarding peacocks.
“Remembering”
Illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia
Written by Xelena González
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.
Garcia’s illustrations gracefully depict the honoring of a beloved, deceased pet on Día de los Muertos. They are rendered in acrylic paint on paper in rich cool colors with sparks of warmth, symbolizing the love and emotional heart of this story. Garcia excels at beautifully depicting a longstanding tradition.
CHILDREN’S AUTHOR HONOR BOOKS
“Alebrijes”
Written by Donna Barba Higuera
Illustrated by David Álvarez
Published by Levine Querido.
In “Alebrijes,” Higuera’s dystopian Earth setting has been a wasteland for 400 years when Leandro, a poor, oppressed Cascabel descendant of San Joaquin Valley workers is banished from Pocatel. The ruling elite do not expect his exile to result in an upheaval of their world, one that frees the Cascabeles.
“Aniana del Mar Jumps In”
Written by Jasminne Mendez
Published by Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Aniana loves the ocean and dreams of joining a swim team, but her mother is terrified and refuses to let her swim competitively. Then, at just 12 years old, Ani is diagnosed with a painful, chronic inflammatory disease that changes her body forever. The only relief for her pain is the water.
“Benita y las Criaturas Nocturnas”
Written by Mariana Llanos
Illustrated by Cocoretto
Published by Barefoot Books.
Benita is settling in for the night with her book when she gets a visit from three different monsters straight from Peruvian folklore: Terrifying Cuco, chilling Tunche and petrifying Supay. But the tables are turned as Benita tames the monsters, turning them into book lovers, too.
“Papá’s Magical Water-Jug Clock”
Written by Jesús Trejo
Illustrated by Eliza Kinkz
Published by Minerva, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, a division of Astra Publishing House.
Jesús accompanies his father, a landscaper, on his Saturday jobs. They take a magical water-jug clock to mark time, but the water runs out before the work is done. The text conveys a childlike sense of wonder and imagination, the bonds of familial love and the dignity of work.
“Something Like Home”
Written by Andrea Beatriz Arango
Published by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House.
Laura makes a call to 911 that changes her life forever. She is taken away from her parents–forced to live with her strict, overbearing Titi. She’s desperate to reunite with her loving mother and father and devises a plan, with the help of a puppy, to get them back.
“Saints of the Household”
By Ari Tison
It is the story of two Bribri brothers who come across their cousin arguing in the woods with her boyfriend–and violently attack him. As each brother considers the consequences of his actions, readers delve into a past filled with anger, grief and trauma. The book was written by Ari Tison and published by Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group.
Tison reveals the complex interplay between Latino identities, colonization of Indigenous people, and layers of intergenerational trauma and oppression in spare, transcendent prose vignettes and poetry,” Makoff said.
YOUNG ADULT AUTHOR HONOR BOOKS
“The Prince and the Coyote”
Written by David Bowles
Illustrated by Amanda Mijangos
Published by Arthur A. Levine, an imprint of Levine Querido.
As the grip of the Tepaneca Empire weakens, rival Mexican city-states jockey for power, and the crown prince of Acolhua is forced into exile after a coup. The young prince bides his time and awaits his redemption. As he comes of age the Aztec empire is born.
“Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey”
Written and illlustrated by Edel Rodriguez
Published by Metropolitan Books, an imprint of Henry Holt and Co.
In words and pictures, Rodriguez chronicles his childhood in Cuba under the Castro regime, his exodus to Miami during the Mariel boatlift, and his career as an artist for “Time” magazine. It serves as a powerful reminder of what immigrants leave when they come to this country.
The members of the 2024 Pura Belpré Award Committee:
Chair Eileen Makoff, PS 234 Independence School, New York; Monica P. Anchondo, Las Vegas-Clark County Library District; Lissette González, Berkeley Public Library, California; Jonathan Hunt, San Diego County Office of Education; Daniella C. Pagán, BookOps/New York Public Library & Brooklyn Public Library; Ruth E. Quiroa, National Louis University, Lisle, Illinois; Beatriz Pascual Wallace, Seattle Public Library; and Emily Zorea, Ithaca School District, Richland Center, Wisconsin (award administrative assistant).
2023 Pura Belpre Award Winners