American Indian Youth Literature Awards

The American Indian Youth Literature Awards are presented every two years. The awards were established as a way to identify and honor the very best writing and illustrations by and about American Indians. Books selected to receive the award will present American Indians in the fullness of their humanity in the present and past contexts.

Caldecott Medal

The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.

Mildred L. Batchelder Award

The Batchelder Award is given to the most outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States.

Newbery Medal

The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

The Odyssey Award

This annual award is given to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States.

Pura Belpre Medal

The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal

The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in English during the preceding year

Schneider Family Book Awards

The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.

Stonewall Book Awards

The first and most enduring award for GLBT books is the Stonewall Book Awards, sponsored by the American Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table. Award are given for adult, young adult, and children’s books.

Charlotte Zolotow Book Award

The Charlotte Zolotow Award is given annually to the author of the best picture book text published in the United States in the preceding year.

Jane Addams Children’s Book Award

The Jane Addams Children's Book Award annually recognizes children's books of literary and aesthetic excellence that effectively engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all people.

Maryland’s Black Eyed Susan Award

Honors outstanding books for K-12, chosen annually by Maryland students, working with the Maryland Association of School Librarians. The award serves to promote literacy and lifelong reading habits by encouraging students to read quality, contemporary literature

Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Award

The best fiction and nonfiction books published at the K-2nd grade reading level and at the 2nd-4th grade reading level, both for children reading at grade level and for reluctant older readers.

The Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children

The Orbis Pictus Award was established in 1990 by the National Council of Teachers of English to promote and recognize excellence in nonfiction writing.

The Scott O’Dell Award

Honors authors of historical fiction for children or young adults.

The Sydney Taylor Book Awards

Recognizes the best in Jewish children's literature each year. Gold medals are awarded for outstanding books that authentically portray the Jewish experience. Silver seals are awarded to Honor Books in each category.

Wanda Gag Read Aloud Book Award and the Comstock Read Aloud Book Awards

The Comstock-Gág Reading Aloud Book Awards program supports two awards, the Wanda Gág Read Aloud Book Award (for toddlers to age 8) and the Comstock Read Aloud Book Award (for ages 9-12). These first annual awards were given in 2005. Below is the list of award books. The date given is the year of publication.

Alex Awards

The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing.

Michael L. Printz Award

The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.

Morris Award

The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first awarded in 2009, honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.

YALSA Nonfiction Award

YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year.

Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction

The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were established in 2012 to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. the previous year. Shortlist of finalists is drawn from the previous year’s Booklist Editors’ Choice and RUSA Notable Books lists.

Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature

The prizes promote Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and are awarded based on literary and artistic merit..

The Christian Book Awards

Among the most prestigious awards in the religious publishing industry, as well as the oldest.

Christy Awards

Established in 1999 this Christian fiction award was created to recognize novelists and novels of excellence in half a dozen genres of Christian fiction. The Christy Award, named in honor of Catherine Marshall’s novel and of her contribution to growth of the Christian fiction.

The Edgar Awards

In honor of Edgar Allan Poe, is given by The Mystery Writers of America to the best in mystery fiction and nonfiction produced the previous year. Listed here are the winners in the fiction category. The first Edgar was awarded in 1954

Hugo Awards

The Hugo Award was named in honor of Hugo Gernsback, "The Father of Magazine Science Fiction," as he was described in a special award given to him in 1960. The Hugo Award, also known as the Science Fiction Achievement Award, is given annually by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS).

James Beard Book Awards

The James Beard Book Awards, the oldest recognition program for books on culinary topics in the United States, were originally established in 1966 as the R.T. French Tastemakers Awards. After R.T. French discontinued its funding for the program, the awards were sponsored by a number of organizations before becoming a permanent part of the James Beard Foundation Awards in 1990.

Lambda Awards

The Lambda Literary Awards (also known as the "Lammies") are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award.

Man Booker

The Booker prize for Fiction, first awarded in 1969, promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding the very best book of the year. The Man Booker International Prize, awarded every two years, recognizes one writer for their achievement in fiction. This prize was first awarded in 2005

National Book Awards

Given to recognize achievements in American literature. Awards in four genres include: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature. Lists all award winners from 1950 to present.

• National Jewish Book Award
  This long-running awards program identifies quality books of Jewish content that will appeal to a broad reading audience.
• Nebula Awards
  Science fiction and fantasy book awards given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).

PEN/Faulkner Awards

Named for William Faulkner, who used his Nobel Prize funds to create an award for young writers, and affiliated with PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists), the international writers' organization, the PEN/Faulkner Award was founded by writers in 1980 to honor their peers, and is now the largest juried award for fiction in the United States.

Pulitzer Prize

Honoring excellence in journalism and the arts since 1918.

Spur Award

The Western Writers of America's award for distinguished writing in the western field, from 1953- present.

Willa Awards

Annual award for outstanding literature featuring women's stories set in the west.