Walter Dean Myers Award Winners Announced

Youth Literature Awards season is in full swing. We Need Diverse Books recently published their awards recognizing diverse authors whose works fetaure diverse main characters and address diversity in a meaningful way.

2024​ ​Walter​ ​Award,​ ​Younger​ ​Readers​ ​Category

Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House)

2024​ ​Walter​ ​Honors,​ ​Younger​ ​Readers​ ​Category
Grounded by Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, and S.K. Ali (Amulet/Abrams)

2024​ ​Walter​ ​Award,​ ​Teen​ ​Category
Saints of the Household by Ari Tison (Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan)

2024​ ​Walter​ ​Honors,​ ​Teen​ ​Category
All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyerr (Amulet/Abrams)

The​ ​Walter​ ​Dean​ ​Myers​ ​Award,​ ​also​ ​known​ ​as​ ​“The​ ​Walter,”​ ​is​ ​named​ ​for​ ​prolific​ ​children’s​ ​and young​ ​adult​ ​author​ ​Walter​ ​Dean​ ​Myers​ ​(1937-2014).​ ​Myers​ ​was​ ​the​ ​third​ ​National​ ​Ambassador for​ ​Young​ ​People’s​ ​Literature,​ ​appointed​ ​in​ ​2012​ ​by​ ​the​ ​Library​ ​of​ ​Congress.​ ​He​ ​was​ ​a​ ​champion of​ ​diversity​ ​in​ ​children’s​ ​books.​ ​The​ ​Walter​ ​Awards​ commemorate ​Myers’​ ​memory​ ​and​ ​his​ literary legacy,​ ​as​ ​well​ ​as​ ​celebrate​ ​diversity​ ​in​ ​children’s​ ​literature.

The eighth annual​ ​Walter​ ​Awards ​Ceremony​ and Symposium ​will be held​ ​Wednesday,​ ​March​ ​13,​ ​2024.​

National Book Award-winning author Elizabeth Acevedo, the Young People’s Poet Laureate, will serve as moderator. The​ event ​will​ include a panel discussion with the winners and honorees, followed by a Q&A.

The​ ​2024 Walter​ ​Awards​ ​Judging​ ​Committee:​ Jeremiah Henderson (chair), Sarah DeMicheli, Jamila Felton, Siân Gaetano, Jamie Kurumaji, Hanna Lee, Sara Martinez, Jenell Penn, Hadeal Salamah

Walter Award Co-directors: Kathie Weinberg and Yukari Matsuyama