RHCB Authors and Illustrators Receive Accolades from the ALA Youth Media Awards!
The American Library Association (ALA) announced the 2026 Youth Media Awards on Monday, January 26 at the Hilton Chicago Hotel, and several Random House Children’s Books titles and authors were recognized.
Candace Fleming received the Children’s Literature Legacy Award, which honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences. Fleming has also won this year’s Margaret A. Edwards Award. This award honors an author, as well as a specific body of her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. Among the books Candace is being honored for are AMELIA LOST, MURDER AMONG FRIENDS, and THE RISE AND FALL OF CHARLES LINDBERGH.
In addition, Fleming’s 2025 DEATH IN THE JUNGLE was named the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Winner, which honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12–18) during the Nov. 1–Oct. 31 publishing year. The book earned eight starred reviews for its propulsive and accessible narrative chronicling the rise and fall of Peoples Temple, a cult that has captivated public imagination for decades. School Library Journal called Fleming’s writing “riveting . . . gripping and wrenching,” while Kirkus Reviews praised the book as “extraordinary and illuminating.” Art direction by Angela G. Carlino, Associate Director, Art/Design, interiors by Cathy Bobak, Senior Designer.
Candace Fleming’s longtime editor is Anne Schwartz, Editor-at-Large, Anne Schwartz Books, while her AMELIA LOST editor was Ann Kelley, Executive Editor, Random House Studio. Cover and Jacket design for both AMELIA LOST and THE RISE AND FALL OF CHARLES LINDBERGH by Rachael Cole, Director Art/Design.
Vanessa L. Torres was named the Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Award Winner for ON THE WINGS OF LA NOCHE. 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. The novel, a paranormal gothic romance steeped in Mexican folklore, was awarded the International Latino Award Gold Medal and received two starred reviews, which hailed the book as “poignant” (Publishers Weekly) and “sure to captivate anyone who has experienced loss and looked for hope” (Booklist). The novel was edited by Gianna Lakenauth, Editor, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, with cover and jacket designed by Trisha Previte, Senior Designer.
A WORLD WITHOUT SUMMER by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Yas Imamura, has been named a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book. 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. This captivating story of Mount Tambora’s catastrophic eruption and the darkness that followed received four starred reviews, with the New York Times saying “Nicholas Day excels at pointing out connections, ironies and paradoxes to young readers, and in A World Without Summer he skillfully presents the hard science and long-buried emotions around this disaster.” The book was also a YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Finalist. The book was edited by Ann Kelley, Executive Editor, Random House Studio, with art direction by Jade Rector, Designer.
Greg Pizzoli’s EARL & WORM #2: THE BIG MESS AND OTHER STORIES has been named a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book. The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. The second book in the series, which follows the unlikely friendship of a bird and a worm, has been called “charming” (School Library Journal, starred review) and “another surefire hit” (Kirkus Reviews). All of the books in the series have been edited by Rotem Moscovich, Executive Editorial Director, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, with art direction by Taline Boghosian.
I HEAR THE SNOW, I SMELL THE SEA by Janice Milusich and illustrated by Chris Raschka has been named a Schneider Family Book Award Honor. The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator of a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. This lyrical picture book invites readers to share in a blind child’s joyful experience of the changing seasons. In two starred reviews, the book was described as “empowering” (Booklist) and “an excellent choice for storytime” (School Library Journal). The book was edited by Anne Schwartz, Editor-at-Large, Anne Schwartz Books, with art direction by Martha Rago, VP & Executive Creative Director.
HALFWAY TO SOMEWHERE by Jose Pimienta is the winner of the Stonewall Book Award. The Stonewall Book Award is given annually to English-language works of exceptional merit for children or teens relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender experience. A coming-of-age journey about a middle school teen navigating their parents’ divorce while moving to a new country, Pimienta’s graphic novel was a Booklist Best Book of the Year and was hailed in a starred review from the magazine as “a love letter to borderland kids working to shape, nurture, and forge their own cultural identities.” The book was edited by Whitney Leopard, Executive Editor, Random House Graphic, with art direction by Michelle Cunningham, Senior Designer.
MANY THINGS AT ONCE by Veera Hiranandani, illustrated by Nadia Alam, has been named the Asian American Picture Book Winner. In this poignant picture book about family and belonging, the child of a Jewish mother and a South Asian father hears stories about her family history. Kirkus Reviews called the book “a quiet reflection on belonging and acceptance.” The book was edited by Ann Kelley, Executive Editor, Random House Studio, with art direction by Rachael Cole, Director, Art/Design.
HICK: THE TRAILBLAZING JOURNALIST WHO CAPTURED ELEANOR ROOSEVELT’S HEART by Sarah Miller has been named a Stonewall Book Award Honor Book. This riveting YA nonfiction traces Lorena Hickok’s—or Hick’s—rise from a devastating childhood to becoming a renowned journalist, when she forms the most significant friendship and romantic relationship of her life with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The biography was a School Library Journal and Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year and received three starred reviews, calling the book “engaging” (School Library Journal), “engrossing” (The Horn Book), and “captivating” (Shelf Awareness). The biography was edited by Ann Kelley, Executive Editor, Random House Studio, with cover and jacket designed by Angela Carlino, Associate Director, Art/Design and interiors by Cathy Bobak, Senior Designer.
Elly Swartz’s SAME PAGE has been named a Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable Book. The award recognizes titles for children and teens that exemplify high literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience. This timely middle grade novel brings together students and librarians to fight a book ban and was hailed as a “powerfully emotive story that is a perfect read for a budding reformer or activist” (Booklist). The novel was edited by Wendy Loggia, VP & Publisher, Delacorte Press, with cover and jacket designed by Katrina Damkoehler, Associate Director, Art/Design and interiors by Ken Crossland.
The inaugural GNCRT Outstanding Comics Award for Best Series was awarded to Sophie Escabasse for WITCHES OF BROOKLYN (Books 1–5). Established in 2024, the Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table (GNCRT) Outstanding Comics Award honors exceptional graphic novels that appeal to adults, teens, and children across the categories of fiction, nonfiction, and series. Escabasse’s books center on young witch Effie as she discovers that magic runs in her family. Entertainment Weekly calls the series “charming beyond belief,” while Booklist praises it as “a wonderfully cozy suburban fantasy.” Witches of Brooklyn was edited by Whitney Leopard, Executive Editor, Random House Graphic, with Art Direction by April Ward, Executive Director, Art/Design, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult, and Senior Designer Patrick Crotty.
Lucy Knisley received a GNCRT Outstanding Comics Award Honor for Best Series for the PEAPOD FARM series. Knisley’s first graphic novels for children, the Peapod Farm books are heartwarming stories about a city girl who finds herself unexpectedly living on a farm. The acclaimed trilogy was praised by outlets including Entertainment Weekly, which called it “a cathartic and relatable read both for young people currently experiencing it and those who remember doing so.” The trilogy received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and The Horn Book. The Peapod Farm books were edited by Whitney Leopard, Executive Editor, Random House Graphic, with Art Direction by Bob Bianchini, Asst Director, Art/Design, and Senior Designer Patrick Crotty.
Daniel Miyares received a GNCRT Outstanding Comics Award Honor for Nonfiction for HOW TO SAY GOODBYE IN CUBAN. The book is a powerful and beautifully rendered coming-of-age graphic memoir about a twelve-year-old boy named Carlos—who would grow up to become the author’s father—chronicling his life during the Cuban Revolution and his family’s harrowing escape to the United States. The title was named one of the best books of the year by NPR, Publishers Weekly, The Horn Book, and School Library Journal. How to Say Goodbye in Cuban was edited by Anne Schwartz, Editor-at-Large, Anne Schwartz Books, with Art Direction by Juliet Goodman, Senior Designer.