Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award

The Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award, presented by The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English (ALAN), is an annual award in the United States for a book that exemplifies literary excellence, widespread appeal, and a positive approach to life in young adult literature. It is named for Amelia Elizabeth Walden who died in Westport, Connecticut in 2002 and was a pioneer in the field of Young Adult Literature. The national award is presented annually to the author of a title selected by ALAN's Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee.[1]

Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award
Awarded for"literary excellence, widespread appeal, and positive approach to life in young-adult literature"
CountryUnited States
Presented byThe Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN)
First awarded2009
Websitehttps://www.alan-ya.org/awards/walden-award/ 

History

The Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award was established in 2008 to honor the wishes of Amelia Elizabeth Walden. It allows for the sum of $5,000 to be awarded annually to the winning title, and was first awarded on Monday, November 23, 2009.[2] The award highlights works written for a young adult audience that demonstrate a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit.[1]

Amelia Elizabeth Walden was born in New York City on January 15, 1909. She graduated from Columbia University in 1934 and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. From 1935 to 1945, she taught English and Dramatics at Norwalk High School (Connecticut). She married John William Harmon in 1946. Her first novel, Gateway, was published in 1946. Walden told her editor that she intended the novel for young people who lived at the gateway, on that middle ground between adolescence and adulthood. Walden claimed, “I respond to young people because I remember my own adolescence so vividly – and fondly. It was a period of total involvement, of enjoying life to the hilt.” Walden wrote over 40 young adult novels. She died in 2002 in Westport, Connecticut. A collection of some of her literary manuscripts and correspondence with McGraw-Hill between 1954 and 1977 relating to book production is available for review in the Special Collections and University Archives of the University of Oregon Libraries.[1]

Criteria

The selection committee composed of ten The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) members (3 teachers, 3 university professors, 3 librarians, and 1 chair) appointed by the previous year's chair and current ALAN President for a one-year term with the possibility of re-election for a second term.[1] They award one winning title and honor up to four additional titles on their shortlist.

  • Per Walden’s request

The selected title 'MUST:[1]

  1. be a work of fiction, ideally a novel (stand-alone or part of a series);
  2. be published within one year prior to the call for titles;
  3. be published in the United States but may have been published elsewhere prior; and
  4. possess a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit (please see below for additional guidance).
  • A Positive Approach to Life [1]

Submitted titles should:

    • treat teen readers as capable and thoughtful young people
    • offer hope and optimism, even when describing difficult circumstances
    • have a credible and appropriate resolution
    • portray characters involved in shaping their lives in a positive way, even as they struggle with the harsh realities of life
  • Widespread Teen Appeal [1]

Submitted titles should:

    • be intended expressly for readers aged 12–18
    • have universal themes that transcend time and place
    • have themes that resonate with a wide variety of readers, regardless of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation
    • provide readers with a window to the world and/or reflect their own experiences
  • Literary Merit [1]

Submitted titles should:

    • contain well-developed characters
    • employ well-constructed forms suitable to function
    • include language and literary devices that enhance the narrative
    • suggest cogent and richly-realized themes
    • present an authentic voice

Recipients
Walden Award Winner and Finalists[3]
Year Author Book Citation
2020 Julie Berry The Lovely War Winner
2020 Elizabeth Acevedo With Fire on High Finalist
2020 Abdi Nazemian Like a Love Story Finalist
2020 Randy Ribay Patron Saints of Nothing Finalist
2020 Kip Wilson White Rose Finalist
2019 Elizabeth Acevedo The Poet X Winner
2019 Shaun David Hutchinson The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza Finalist
2019 Adib Khorram Darius the Great is Not Okay Finalist
2019 Joy McCullough Blood, Water, Paint Finalist
2019 Emily X.R. Pan An Uninterrupted View of the Sky Finalist
2018 Angie Thomas The Hate U Give Winner
2018 Nic Stone Dear Martin Finalist
2018 Jason Reynolds Long Way Down Finalist
2018 Amy Reed The Nowhere Girls Finalist
2018 Melanie Crowder An Uninterrupted View of the Sky Finalist
2017 Jeff Zentner The Serpent King Winner
2017 Kathleen Glasgow Girl in Pieces Finalist
2017 Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock The Smell of Other People's Houses Finalist
2017 Ruta Sepetys Salt to the Sea Finalist
2017 Nicola Yoon The sun is also a star Finalist
2016 Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely All American Boys Winner
2016 Jennifer Niven All the Bright Places Finalist
2016 Neal Shusterman Challenger Deep Finalist
2016 Ashley Hope Pérez Out of Darkness Finalist
2016 Ryan Graudin Wolf by Wolf Finalist
2015 A.S. King Glory O'Brien's History of the Future Winner
2015 Michael Williams Diamond Boy Finalist
2015 Isabel Quintero Gabi, A Girl in Pieces Finalist
2015 Laurie Halse Anderson The Impossible Knife of Memory Finalist
2015 Deborah Wiles Revolution (The Sixties Trilogy) Finalist
2014[4][5] Rainbow Rowell Eleanor & Park Winner
2014 Patrick Flores-Scott Jumped In Finalist
2014 Sylvia Whitman The Milk of Birds Finalist
2014 Bill Konigsberg Openly Straight Finalist
2014 Andrew Smith Winger Finalist
2013[6] John Green The Fault in Our Stars Winner
2013 Benjamin Alire Sáenz Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Finalist
2013 A. S. King Ask the Passengers Finalist
2013 Eliot Schrefer Endangered Finalist
2012[7] Lauren Myracle Shine Winner
2012 Robert Sharenow Berlin Boxing Club Finalist
2012 Moira Young Blood Red Road Finalist
2012 Ruta Sepetys Between Shades of Gray Finalist
2012 Guadalupe Garcia McCall Under the Mesquite Finalist
2011[8] Francisco X. Stork The Last Summer of the Death Warriors Winner
2011 Jordan Sonnenblick After Ever After Finalist
2011 Matt de la Peña I Will Save You Finalist
2011 Matthew Quick Sorta Like a Rockstar Finalist
2011 Kristen Chandler Wolves, Boys, & Other Things That Might Kill Me Finalist
2010[9] Kristin Cashore Fire Winner
2010 Francisco X. Stork Marcelo in the Real World Finalist
2010 Rick Yancey The Monstrumologist Finalist
2010 Justina Chen Headley North of Beautiful Finalist
2010 Jill S. Alexander The Sweetheart of Prosper County Finalist
2009[2] Steve Kluger My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park Winner
2009 Jacqueline Woodson After Tupac and D Foster Finalist
2009 Kristin Cashore Graceling Finalist
2009 Neil Gaiman The Graveyard Book Finalist
2009 Jenny Valentine Me, the Missing, and the Dead
(originally Finding Violet Park, UK, 2007)		 Finalist

See also
  • Printz Award – American Library Association medal recognizing the year's best book for teens
  • Newbery Medal – American literature for children (children or young adults prior to 2000)
  • Carnegie Medal – British literature for children or young adults
  • Guardian Prize – fiction for children or young adults by British and Commonwealth writers

References
  1. "Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award". ALAN. Archived 2011-08-20. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
  2. "Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Winner Announced". December 1, 2009. ALAN. Archived 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
  3. "Walden Award" Archived 2015-04-19 at the Wayback Machine. ALAN (alan-yabeta.org). Retrieved 2015-04-12.
  4. 2014 (read press release) Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. "Special Announcement: 2014 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Winner". July 30, 2014. Unleashing Readers (unleashingreaders.com). Retrieved 2015-04-12.
  6. 2013 (read press release) Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. "Shine wins Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award". YALSA: The Hub. Young Adult Library Services Association (yalsa.ala.org). July 24, 2012. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
  8. "2011 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Finalists". June 20, 2011. ALAN. Archived 2011-08-27. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
  9. "2010 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Winner & Finalists Announced". July 19, 2010. ALAN. Archived 2010-08-18. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
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