A non-profit and a
grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates
essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote
literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people.
WE ARE NOT FREE is a 2021 Walter Honoree!!! 🎉 Established in 2016, the Walter Dean Myers Award celebrates diversity in children’s literature in two categories, Teens and Younger Readers, and I am just so blown away that this year’s judging committee chose We Are Not Free as one of their honor books! ✨ @weneeddiversebooks does such incredible work promoting inclusive literature, creating opportunities for marginalized creators, and building a more equitable industry, so this is such a huge, huge honor. 🌸 Thank you so much to WNDB and the judges, and congratulations to the winners and my fellow honorees!
Winner, Teen Category: PUNCHING THE AIR by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam (illus. by Omar T. Pasha)
Honors, Teen Category: WE ARE NOT FREE by Traci Chee, ALMOST AMERICAN GIRL by Robin Ha
Winner, Younger Readers Category: WHEN STARS ARE SCATTERED by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed (color by Iman Geddy)
Honors, Younger Readers Category: KING AND THE DRAGONFLIES by Kacen Callender, EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE by Daniel Nayeri
We Need Diverse Books is so excited to share an exclusive look at the art that award-winning author/illustrator Don Tate created for our 2020 Walter Dean Myers Awards, along with a Q&A with Don!
Please
be advised We Need Diverse Books will cancel the Diversity in
Children’s Literature Symposium and the Walter Dean Myers Award Ceremony
on Friday, March 13, 2020, out of an abundance of caution.
The
health of the authors, educators, librarians, and students scheduled to
attend the event is of greatest concern to We Need Diverse Books. In
the next several weeks, we will be assessing our options for holding
these events at another time and will keep everyone informed.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any questions about this cancellation, you may email carolinerichmond@diversebooks.org.
The Walter Awards are just a few days away, and The Library of Congress featured a Q&A with Ceremony Emcee and author Grace Lin about her work and why diversity in publishing is so important.
