William C. Morris Award

Last updated
William C. Morris Award
Awarded for"a strong literary debut in writing for young adult readers" [1] [2]
CountryUnited States
Presented by Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association
First awarded2009
Website ala.org/yalsa/morris

The William C. Morris YA Debut Award is an annual award given to a work of young adult literature by a "first-time author writing for teens". [3] It is administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). It was named for twentieth-century American publisher William C. Morris (born 1928 or 1929 and raised up in Eagle Pass, Texas, died Sept 28, 2003 in Manhattan), whom YALSA calls an innovator and "an influential innovator in the publishing world and an advocate for marketing books for children and young adults". [3]

Contents

The award is funded by the William C. Morris Endowment, established in 2000 and activated in 2003 with a bequest of $400,000 from the Morris estate. [2] Morris gave the money to ALA to fund programs, publications, events, or awards in promotion of children's literature. [2] In addition to being a member of ALA, Morris was the first recipient of its Distinguished Service Award in 1992. [2] The shortlist for the first award was announced on December 8, 2008, and the winner, A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce, was announced on January 26, 2009, at the ALA's midwinter meeting. [4]

"To be eligible, a title must have been designated by its publisher as being either a young adult book or one published for the age range that YALSA defines as 'young adult', i.e., 12 through 18". [1] About 4000 "YA titles" are published annually and about 10% may be debuts. [1]

Recipients

Morris Award winners and finalists [3] [5] [6]
YearAuthorBookCitation
2009 [7] Elizabeth C. Bunce A Curse Dark as GoldWinner
Kristin Cashore Graceling Finalist
Celeste Lecesne [lower-alpha 1] Absolute Brightness
Christina Meldrum Madapple
Jenny Valentine Me, the Missing, and the Dead
2010 [8] L. K. Madigan Flash BurnoutWinner
Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl   Beautiful Creatures Finalist
Amy HuntleyThe Everafter
Nina LaCour Hold Still
Malinda Lo Ash
2011 [9] Blythe Woolston The Freak ObserverWinner
Eishes Chayil Hush Finalist
Karen Healey Guardian of the Dead
Lish McBride Hold Me Closer, Necromancer
Barbara Stuber Crossing the Tracks
2012 [10] John Corey Whaley Where Things Come BackWinner
Rae Carson The Girl of Fire and Thorns Finalist
Jenny Hubbard Paper Covers Rock
Guadalupe Garcia McCall Under the Mesquite
Ruta Sepetys Between Shades of Gray
2013 [11] Rachel Hartman Seraphina Winner
S. D. Crockett After the SnowFinalist
Laura Buzo Love and Other Perishable Items
Emily M. Danforth The Miseducation of Cameron Post  
Hannah Barnaby Wonder Show
2014 [12] Stephanie Kuehn Charm & StrangeWinner
Carrie Mesrobian Sex & ViolenceFinalist
Evan Roskos Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets
Elizabeth Ross Belle Epoque
Cat Winters In the Shadow of Blackbirds
2015 [13] Isabel Quintero Gabi, A Girl in PiecesWinner
Jessie Ann Foley The Carnival at BrayFinalist
E. K. Johnston The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim
Len Vlahos The Scar Boys
Leslye Walton The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
2016 [14] Becky Albertalli Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda Winner
Leah Thomas Because You'll Never Meet MeFinalist
Kelly Loy Gilbert Conviction
Stephanie Oakes The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly
Anna-Marie McLemore The Weight of Feathers
2017 Jeff Zentner The Serpent KingWinner
M-E Girard Girl Mans Up Finalist
Sonia Patel Rani Patel in Full Effect
Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock The Smell of Other People’s Houses
Calla Devlin Tell Me Something Real
2018 Angie Thomas The Hate U Give Winner
Nic Stone Dear MartinFinalist
S.F. Henson Devils Within
S.K. Ali Saints and Misfits
Akemi Dawn Bowman Starfish
2019 Adib Khorram Darius the Great is Not Okay Winner
Joy McCullough Blood Water PaintFinalist
Ngozi Ukazu Check, Please!: #Hockey
Tomi Adeyemi Children of Blood and Bone
Vesper Stamper What the Night Sings
2020 Ben Philippe The Field Guide to the North American TeenagerWinner
Nafiza Azad The Candle and the FlameFinalist
David Yoon Frankly in Love
Alicia D. Williams Genesis Begins Again
Katy Rose Pool There Will Come a Darkness
2021 Kyrie McCauley If These Wings Could FlyWinner
Echo Brown Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage WizardFinalist
Christina Hammonds Reed The Black Kids
Nina Kenwood It Sounded Better in My Head
Isabel Ibañez Woven in Moonlight
2022 [15] Angeline Boulley Firekeeper's Daughter Winner
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Ace of Spades Finalist
Margie Fuston Vampires, Hearts & Other Dead Things
Amber McBride Me (Moth)
Cory Anderson What Beauty There Is
2023 [16] Isaac Blum The Life and Crimes of Hoodie RosenWinner
Jen Ferguson The Summer of Bitter and Sweet Finalist
Elizabeth Kilcoyne Wake the Bones
Sonora Reyes The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School
Andrew Joseph White Hell Followed with Us
2024 [17] Byron Graves Rez BallWinner
Hannah V. Sawyerr All the Fighting PartsFinalist
Kiyash Monsef Once There Was
Ari Tison Saints of the Household
Trang Thanh Tran She Is a Haunting

Notes

  1. ↑ Nominated as James Lecesne.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "William C. Morris YA Debut Award Policies and Procedures". YALSA. ALA. Revised March 2013. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Maughan, Shannon (June 29, 2007). "New ALA Award Honors Bill Morris". Publishers Weekly . Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  3. 1 2 3 "The William C. Morris YA Debut Award". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). American Library Association (ALA). Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  4. ↑ "Elizabeth C. Bunce wins first-ever William C. Morris Award".
  5. ↑ "Previous Morris Winners". YALSA. ALA. Retrieved 2013-05-05. With annual links to information about the winner and finalists.
  6. ↑ "Morris Award". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  7. ↑ "2009 Morris Award". www.ala.org. American Library Association. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  8. ↑ "2010 Morris Award". www.ala.org. American Library Association. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  9. ↑ "2011 Morris Award". www.ala.org. American Library Association. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  10. ↑ "2012 Morris Award". www.ala.org. American Library Association. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  11. ↑ "2013 Morris Award". www.ala.org. American Library Association. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  12. ↑ "2014 Morris Award". www.ala.org. American Library Association. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  13. ↑ "2015 Morris Award". www.ala.org. American Library Association. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  14. ↑ "2016 Morris Award". www.ala.org. American Library Association. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  15. ↑ Morales, Macey (2022-01-24). "American Library Association announces 2022 Youth Media Award winners". American Library Association. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  16. ↑ SKUENN (2012-02-27). "Morris Award". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  17. ↑ "American Library Association announces 2024 Youth Media Award winners" (PDF). American Library Association. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
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