The Black-Eyed Susan Book Award

The Black-Eyed Susan Book Award is a student choice award for the state of Maryland that has been awarded each year since 1992. The award seeks to promote literacy and lifelong reading habits by encouraging students to read quality, contemporary literature. ... The nominated books are expected to be outstanding books that broaden the human experience and provide students with new insights into their own lives. Books may be suggested for consideration by students, teachers, parents, or other interested readers.

Criteria for Nominated Books:

• May be fiction or nonfiction.
• Published within the last 4 years (2023 or newer).
• Readily available.
• Positively reviewed in at least 2 professional review sources (such as School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, etc.)

This award gets its name from the State flower of Maryland - the Black-eyed Susan:

You can see the 2025-26 nominees here. I was pleased to see I have already read several of these:

Balto and Togo: Hero Dogs of Alaska by Helen Moss

Gracie Under the Waves by Linda Sue Park

Invisible Isabel by Sally Pla, illustrated by Tania De Regil

Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All by Chanel Miller

Max in the House of Spies (Operation Kinderspion, Book 1) by Adam Gidwitz

The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie

Olivetti by Allie Millington

The Sherlock Society (The Sherlock Society, Book 1) by James Ponti

A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall by Jasmine Warga

Tree Table Book by Lois Lowry

Previous winners 

2024-25

• Picture Book – Yoshi and the Ocean: A Sea Turtle's Incredible Journey Home by Lindsay Moore
• Grades 3-5 -- Dogtown by Katherine Applegate 
• Graphic Novels Grades 3-5 –Saving Sunshine by Saadia Faruqi, illustrated by Shazleen Khan

Other past winners (here are the ones I have talked about previously): Odder; The Barnabus Project; A wolf called Wonder; Front Desk; Wishtree; Starfish; The Wild Robot; The fourteenth Goldfish; Escape from Mr Lemoncello's Library; Wild Wings; The Girl who could fly; Out of my Mind; The World according to Humphrey; and The 13th floor a Ghost story.

Newbery Award 2000-2025 Books I have read

After I read Magnolia Wu unfolds it all I was curious to see which Newbery books (winners and honor titles) I had read and of course the ones I had missed. This week I also revisited Charlotte's Web which was a Newbery honor title in 1953. You can see covers of all the winners from 1922 onwards in this video (I have read 44 of the books she shares - it is odd the way she cannot pronounce so many author names). 

The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children". The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. ... To be eligible, a book must be written by a United States citizen or resident and must be published first or simultaneously in the United States in English during the preceding year. Six authors have won two Newbery Medals each, several have won both a Medal and Honor, while a larger number of authors have won multiple Honors. (Wikipedia)

There is always some controversy about awards - we have our own share of this here in Australia - so I was interested to read this School Library Journal article from 2010 by Anita Silvey. Then ALSC President Pat Scales responded, "the criterion has never been popularity. It is about literary quality. How many adults have read all the Pulitzer Prize-winning books and... liked every one?"

So here are some of the books I have either talked about here on this blog or read in the past (prior to the start of this blog in 2008). This activity reminded me of so many titles I thoroughly enjoyed, but interestingly, I had no idea that many of these were in fact past Newbery awardees. I have added Newbery as a label to this post and when you click that you will find my posts about each of these books (that was quicker than linking every title) although I did link a few extra special ones. 

Newbery 2000-2025 Books I have read ... 

2025 Honor Books:

The wrong way home by Kate O'Shaughnessy

Magnola Wu Unfolds it all by Chanel Miller

2024 Medal Winner: The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggers 

2024 Honor Books:  

Elf Dog and Owl Head, by M.T. Anderson, illus. by Junyi Wu 

Simon Sort of Says, by Erin Bow

2023 Medal Winner: Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson 

2023 Honor Books:  

The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat 

2022 Medal Winner: The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera 

2021 Honor Books: 

We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly, illustrated by Erin Entrada Kelly and Celia Krampien 

A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat 

2020 Honor Books: 

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga 

2019 Honor Books: 

The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, illustrated by Ian Schoenherr 

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani 

2018 Medal Winner: 

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly 

2018 Honor Books: 

Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson 

2017 Medal Winner: 

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill 

2017 Honor Books 

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk 

2016 Medal Winner: 

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña 

2016 Honor Books 

The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley  

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan 

2015 Honor Books: 

El Deafo by Cece Bell 

2014 Medal Winner:  

Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo 

2014 Honor Books:  

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

One Came Home by Amy Timberlake 

2013 Medal Winner:  

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate 

2013 Honor Books:  

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage 

2012 Honor Books:  

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai 

2011 Medal Winner:  

Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool 

2011 Honor Books:  

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia 

2010 Medal Winner:  

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead 

2010 Honor Books:  

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly  

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin 

2009 Medal Winner:  

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, illus. by Dave McKean

2009 Honor Books:  

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt, illus. by David Small 

Savvy by Ingrid Law 

2008 Honor Books:  

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis   

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt  

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson 

2007 Honor Books:  

Rules by Cynthia Lord 

2006 Honor Books:  

Whittington by Alan Armstrong, illustrated by S.D. Schindler 

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale  

2005 Medal Winner:  

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata  

 

2004 Medal Winner:  

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by 

Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering, 

2004 Honor Books:  

Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes 

2003 Medal Winner:  

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi   

2003 Honor Books:  

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff   

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen   

A Corner of The Universe by Ann M. Martin 

2002 Medal Winner:  

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park 

2002 Honor Books:  

Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath 

2001 Medal Winner:  

A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck 

 

2001 Honor Books:  

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick Press)  

2000 Medal Winner:  

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis  

And here are some past winners and honor titles I would like to read:

The Wanderer by Sharon Creech

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D Schmidt

After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

Dead end in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Paperboy by Vince Vawter

Genesis begins again by Alicia D Williams

When you trap a tiger by Tae Keller

Looking further back at the Newbery lists I also spied other books I loved such as A Cricket in Times Square; On the Banks of Plum Creek; The Hundred dresses; My Father's Dragon; From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler; Summer of the Swans; Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH; The Upstairs Room; The Dark Is Rising; Bridge to Terabithia; The Great Gilly Hopkins; Dicey's Song; Sarah, Plain and Tall; The Whipping Boy; Hatchet; Number the Stars; Shiloh; Missing May; The Giver; Walk Two Moons; Catherine, Called Birdy; The Midwife's Apprentice; The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963; The View from Saturday; Out of the Dust; Lily's Crossing; Ella Enchanted; and Wringer.

The Jane Addams Children’s Book Award and Notable Books for a Global Society

Jane Addams Children's Book Award 

Not Nothing is a 2025 Jane Addams winner 

I loved this book and will talk further about it here soon

Just when I think I have discovered all the possible children's book awards, my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything alerts me to yet more - these two - Notable Books for a Global Society Award and The Jane Addams Children's Book Awards - both of these are from the US.

I loved browsing the past recipients of the Jane Addams award because there are a handful that I have read. And similarly, I was familiar with quite a few books from the Global Society book awards lists.

The Jane Addams Children's Book Award is given annually to a children's book published the preceding year that advances the causes of peace and social equality.

The Jane Addams Children’s Book Award is awarded to books that effectively promote the cause of peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races as well as meeting conventional standards for excellence. Founded in 1953, the award is funded by the Peace Education Project, a part of the Jane Addams Peace Association and names two awards each year, one for Older Readers and one for Younger Readers. Honor books can also be named in each category. Jane Addams was one of the country’s first social workers, founding Hull House in 1889. A lifelong pacifist, she was also the founder of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, the first American woman to do so. The award honors her memory and her life’s work by celebrating books that promote peace and equality.

Here is the full list of previous winners and honours. Or take a look here. 

These are the 2025 winners Jane Addams Award

These are the winners from 2010 to 2019

Now onto the Notable Books for a Global Society:

 Wishtree 2018 Notable Books for a Global Society

Notable Books for a Global Society: Annually, a committee of the CL/R SIG (Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group) of the International Literacy Association selects 25 outstanding trade books for enhancing student understanding of people and cultures throughout the world. The committee reviews books representing all genres intended for students K-12. 

Criteria for Selection of NBGS Titles:

Selection and Criteria:

• Accuracy and authenticity of the people depicted in terms of physical characteristics, social and economic status, intellectual and problem-solving abilities, and displays of leadership and cooperation
• Richness of detail concerning the group or groups depicted
• An approach that honors and celebrates diversity as well as the common bonds of humanity
• In-depth treatment of issues
• Depiction of substantive and authentic interaction among characters within and across groups
• Inclusion of members of a "minority" group for purposes other than tokenism or fulfillment of any type of "quota"
• Thought-provoking content that invites reflection, critical analysis, and response
• Uniqueness of language or style
• High quality as determined by evaluation in terms of generally accepted criteria for the genre
• Appealing format
• Enduring quality

In 2011 our Australian book Mirror by Jeannie Baker was included on these lists. And in 2023 We are wolves by Katrina Nannestad. Room on our Rock by Kate and Jol Temple is also included on these lists. 

We are Wolves

I talked about Threads Zlata's Ukrainian Shirt just yesterday and last week I talked about Stars of the Night. You can see all the past winners of this award - Notable Books for Global Society - here. Other books from these lists that I have read, loved but not blogged here are The Name Jar; Goin' Someplace Special; When my name was Keoko; Parvana’s journey; My Name is Yoon; Hana's suitcase; Iqbal: A novel; The cats in Krasinski Square; Rosa; Christmas in the Trenches; Ten little fingers and ten little toes; The Red Pencil; Last stop on Market Street. There are lots of wonderful books I need to add to my own 'to read' lists that I saw as I was browsing through these long award lists. 

Here are a few that I have read (2000-2023):

Homeless Bird

Bud not Buddy

A Single Shard

The Kite Rider

Counting on Grace

Four Feet Two Sandals

How to Steal a Dog

Chains

Where the Mountain meets the Moon

A Long walk to Water

Peaceful Pieces

The No 1. Car Spotter

Each Kindness

The Man with the Violin

El Deafo

Stella by Starlight

Orbiting Jupiter

Star Fish

Planting Stories

Lubna and Pebble

The Bridge Home

Other Words for Home

The Night Diary

Amal Unbound