The American Library Association’s annual book awards season is an exciting time for school librarians: will our favorite titles get the recognition they deserve? This year’s awards, announced on January 27, spread the love among a large and diverse group of fantastic books.
By Kate Pritchard, MS/HS Librarian
Every January, second graders enjoy a unit on the Caldecott Award, given to “the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children,” and eagerly anticipate the announcement of the newest winner. This year, we gathered in the library’s Story Room on Monday, Jan. 27, to watch the awards ceremony. The room was full of cheers when the Caldecott went to “The Undefeated,” by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. This beautiful and powerful book celebrates the richness of black history through the lives of historical figures, both famous and unknown.
The Newbery Award is America’s oldest and most prestigious award for children’s books, presented annually to “the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.” This year, the Newbery made history when the award went to Jerry Craft’s “New Kid,” the first time that a graphic novel has won the medal. “New Kid” tells the story of seventh-grader Jordan Banks, who is starting a new school and is one of the few black students there. The book handles heavy topics with a light touch and is one of the most popular books in our middle school collection.
Other ALA awards include the Printz and Morris awards for young adult fiction; the Sibert and YALSA awards for nonfiction; the Stonewall Award, for books about LGBTQ youth and families; and several prizes that celebrate the heritage and experiences of different cultural groups, including the Coretta Scott King Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the Sydney Taylor Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award, and the American Indian Youth Literature Award.
If you are participating in our Spring Reading Challenge, remember that one category in our Spring Reading Challenge is “A book that has won an award.” Visit our What Should I Read? LibGuide to learn more about these prizes and to see all the wonderful books that have won.
Aliza Ahmed '26, Uma Ehrig '26, Victor Peng '26, Ruchika Ramachandran '27, and Yvonne Wang '27 participated in the Asian Educators Alliance conference this year in Atlanta, Georgia.
Anna Brook '30, Claire Yu '30, Clio Cherry-Pulay '29, and Liam Mooney '28 took him the championship during the 4th annual USN Middle School Quiz Bowl Championships. Two teams will travel to Chicago to compete in the National Academic Quiz Tournaments Middle School National Championships on Saturday, May 10.
Cpl. Robert Gibson joined University School of Nashville in November as a School Resource Officer, a certified police officer who is primarily assigned to a school and provides safety and security-related functions, including emergency response, safety training, traffic direction, and patrol functions.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.