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Arnold Adoff Poetry Award Recipients

2020

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Early Readers

  • Anika Aldamuy DenisePlanting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré (Harper / HarperCollins)
  • Honor Award: Timbaland and Christopher Myers, Nighttime Symphony (Atheneum / Simon & Schuster)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Middle Readers

  • Kwame Alexander, The Undefeated (Versify / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
  • Honor Award: Patricia Hruby Powell, Struttin’ with Some Barbecue (Charlesbridge)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens

  • Nikki Grimes, Ordinary Hazards (Wordsong / Highlights)
  • Honor Award: Margarita Engle, Jazz Owls (Atheneum / Simon & Schuster)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for New Voices

  • Jo Ann Allen Boyce, This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality (Bloomsbury)
  • Honor Award: R. L. Toalson, The Colors of the Rain (Yellow Jacket / Little Bee Books)

Special Recognition

  • Tony Medina, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy (Penny Candy Books)

2018

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Early Readers

  • Carole Boston WeatherfordThe Legendary Miss Lena Horne (Atheneum / Simon & Schuster)
  • Honor Award: Hope Anita Smith, My Daddy Rules the World (Christy Ottaviano Books / Henry Holt)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Middle Readers

  • Nikki Grimes, One Last Word (Bloomsbury)
  • Honor Award: Janice N. Harrington, Catching a Storyfish (Wordsong / Highlights)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens

  • Jason Reynolds, Long Way Down (Atheneum / Simon & Schuster)
  • Honor Award: Patricia Hruby Powell, Loving vs. Virginia (Chronicle Books)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for New Voices

  • Marcus Wicker, Silencer (Mariner Books / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
  • Honor Award: Laura Shovan, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary (Wendy Lamb Books / Penguin Random House)

Special Recognition

  • Javaka Steptoe, Radiant Child (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

2017

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Early Readers

  • Carole Boston WeatherfordFreedom in Congo Square (Little Bee Books)
  • Honor Award: Charles R. Smith, Jr.28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World (Roaring Brook Press)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Middle Readers

  • Ashley Bryan, Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life (Atheneum Books / Simon & Schuster)
  • Honor Award: Ann E. Burg, Unbound (Scholastic Press)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens

  • Marilyn Nelson, American Ace (Dial Books / Penguin)
  • Honor Award: Carole Boston Weatherford, Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer (Candlewick Press)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for New Voices

  • A. L. Sonnichsen, Red Butterfly (Simon & Schuster)
  • Honor Award: Marilyn Hilton, Full Cicada Moon (Dial Books / Penguin)

2016

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Early Readers

  • Angela Johnson, All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom (Simon & Schuster)
  • Honor Award: Carole Boston Weatherford, Sugar Hill: Harlem’s Historic Neighborhood (Albert Whitman & Company)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Middle Readers

  • Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming (Nancy Paulsen / Penguin)
  • Honor Award: Nikki Grimes, Poems in the Attic (Lee & Low Books)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens

  • Margarita Engle, Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings, A Memoir (Atheneum / Simon & Schuster)
  • Honor Award: Marilyn Nelson, How I Discovered Poetry (Dial / Penguin)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for New Voices

  • Melanie Crowder, Audacity (Philomel / Penguin)
  • Honor Award: Mariko Nagai, Dust of Eden (Albert Whitman & Company)