2018 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Winner & Finalists Announced

2018 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Winner & Finalists Announced

The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is pleased and proud to announce the 2018 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult Fiction finalists and winning title. Established in 2008 to honor the wishes of young adult author Amelia Elizabeth Walden, the award allows for the sum of $5,000 to be presented annually to the author of a young adult title selected by the ALAN Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Committee as demonstrating a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit.

The 2018 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Winner is:

The Hate U Give ​by Angie Thomas (HarperCollins/ Balzar + Bray)

The 2018 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award finalists are:

Dear Martin ​by Nic Stone

(Penguin Random House/ Crown Books for Young Readers)

Long Way Down ​by Jason Reynolds

(Simon & Schuster/ Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books)

The Nowhere Girls ​by Amy Reed (Simon & Schuster/ Simon Pulse)

An Uninterrupted View of the Sky ​by Melanie Crowder (​Penguin Young Readers​/ Philomel Books)

The winning title and finalists will be honored at the 2018 ALAN Workshop on Monday, November 19th in Houston, TX, and the authors will be invited to participate in a panel discussion.

The 2018 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee would like to thank: the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Foundation, the ALAN Executive Council, the ALAN Board of Directors, NCTE, and the many publishers who submitted titles for consideration.

The 2018 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee considered over 350 young adult titles throughout the process. The committee was comprised of eleven members representing the university, K-12 school, and library communities. 
They are:

Beth Scanlon, Committee Chair Teacher

Cypress Creek High School, Orlando, FL

Lisa Scherff, Past Committee Chair Teacher

South Ft. Myers High School, Ft. Myers, FL

Sheila Benson

Associate Professor, English Education University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA

Robert Bittner

SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Marie LeJeune

Professor, Literacy Education Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR

Lisa Morris-Wilkey

Librarian

Casa Grande Elementary School District, Casa Grande, AZ

Sarah Mulhern Gross

Teacher

High Technology High School, Lincroft, NJ

Kerry Neuberger

Teacher Garner-Hayfield-Ventura High School, Garner, IA

Jennifer Paulsen

Teacher

Holmes Junior High, Cedar Falls, IA

Beth Shaum

Librarian

St. Frances Cabrini Catholic School, Allen Park, MI

Wendy Stephens

School Library Media Specialist Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville AL

For more information on the award, please visit ​ALAN Online: The Official Site of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents http://www.alan-ya.org/awards/walden-award/