2024 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WINNERS

The Poetry Center at PCCC is happy to announce the 2024 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE winners for three grade levels. In each category, a book is selected, which in the opinion of the judges, is the most outstanding book for young people published in the previous year.

Grades Pre K - 3

Carla Ketner, Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder (University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE)

René Colato Lainez, Do I Belong Here? / Es este mi lugar? (Arte Público Press, Hoúston, TX)

Grades 4 - 6

Kevin Carey, Junior Miles and the Junkman (Regal Hoúse Públishing / Fitzroy Books, Raleigh, NC)

Tracy Occomy Crowder, Montgomery and the Case of the Golden Key (Tú Books, an imprint of Lee & Low Books Inc., New York, NY)

Grades 7 - 12

S. E. Reed, My Heart is Hurting (Wild Ink Públishing, Camphill, PA)

Anica Mrose Rissi, Wishing Season (Qúill Tree Books, An Imprint of Harper Collins Públishers, New York, NY)

Guidelines and an application for the 2025 award are available on our AWARDS page.

THE 2023 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WINNERS

The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, New Jersey is pleased to announce the winning books and authors for the 2023 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

WINNERS

Grade Pre K - 3

Desiree Cooper, Nothing Special (Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI)

Crystal Hubbard, Marvelous Mabel: Figure Skating Superstar (Lee & Low Books Inc., New York, NY)

Grade 4 - 6

Alda P. Dobbs, The Other Side of the River (Sourcebooks Young Readers, Naperville, IL)

Diane Zahler, Goblin Market (Holiday House, New York, NY)

Grade 7 - 12

Barbara Krasner, Ethel’s Song: Ethel Rosenberg’s Life in Poems (Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, New York, NY)

Monica Zepeda, Boys of the Beast (Tu Books, an imprint of Lee & Low Books, New York, NY)

Click here for the rules and an application, and for more information, email sdesai@pccc.edu

2022 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

The following are the winners of the 2022 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE listed by grade levels.

Grade Pre K - 3

Hunter Liguore, The Whole World Inside Nan ’s Soup (Yeehoo Press , La Habra, CA)

Joyce Sidman, Hello Earth! Poems to our Planet (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, MI)

Grade 4 - 6

Alda P. Dobbs, Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna (Sourcebooks Young Readers, Naperville, IL)

Elizabeth Goss, My Way West: Real Kids Traveling the Oregon & California Trails (West Margin Press, Berkeley, CA)

Grade 7 - 12

María José Ferrada, Niños: Poems for the Lost Children of Chile (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, MI)

Joseph Rael & David R. Kopacz, Becoming Who You Are: Beautiful Painted Arrow’s Life &

Lessons for Children ages 10-100 (Condor & Eagle Press, Seattle, WA)

2021 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

The Poetry Center at PCCC is pleased to announce the 2021 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE winners in three grade levels.

Grade Pre K - 3

Anica Mrose Rissi, Love, Sophia on the Moon (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, New York, NY)

Mariana Llanos, Eunice and Kate (Penny Candy Books, Oklahoma City, OK)

Grade 4 - 6

Diane Worthey, In One Ear & Out The Other (Penny Candy Books, Oklahoma City, OK)

Joseph Bruchac, The Powwow Dog (Reycraft Books, New York, NY)

Grade 7 - 12

Beth Kephart, Cloud Hopper (Penelope Editions, Oklahoma City, OK)

Anna K. Scotti, Big & Bad (Texas Review Press, Huntsville, TX)

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2020 Paterson Prize Books for Young People Winners

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s
Paterson Prize Books for Young People.

Grade K-3 Winner

Diana de Anda for Mango Moon (Albert Whitman & Co., Chicago, IL)

Grade 4-6 Winner

Padma Venkatraman for The Bridge Home (Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, New York, NY)

Grade 7-12 Winner

Torran Anderson for Piñata Moon (Look Out Behind You Books, Tucson, AZ)

Honor Books

Bailey Sisoy Isgro - Rosie, A Detroit Herstory (Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI)

Lee Bennett Hopkins - I Am Someone Else: Poems About Pretending (Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc., Watertown, MA)

Deborah Hopkinson - Carter Reads the Newspaper (Peach Tree Publishing Company, Atlanta, GA)

Michael Bronski - A Queer History of the United States for Young People (Beacon Press, Boston, MA) 

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz - An Indigenous People’s History of the United States for Young People (Beacon Press, Boston, MA)

C.J Farley - Around Harvard Square (Akashic Books, Brooklyn, NY)

For information about this prize, see the Poetry Center’s Contest & Awards page

2019 WINNERS of the PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

2019 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Grade Pre K - 3 Winner: Kathleen Contreras for Harvesting Friends (Arte Publico Press, Houston, TX)

Grade 4 - 6 Winner: Elizabeth Van Steenwyk for Blacksmith’s Song (Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta, GA)

Grade 7 - 12 Winner: Daniel Acosta for Iron River (Cinco Puntos Press, El Paso, TX)

HONOR BOOKS

Lester L. Laminack, The King of the Bees (Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta, GA)

Patricia Hruby Powell, Struttin’ With Some Barbeque (Charlesbridge, Watertown, MA)

Ronald Kidd, Lord of the Mountain (Albert Whitman & Co., Park Ridge, IL)

For 2020 rules and application, visit www.poetrycenterpccc.com/awards/ or for more info, write to sdesai@pccc.edu.

2018 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

2018 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Grades Pre-K – 3 Winner
Lori Haskins Houran, Warts and All (Albert Whitman & Company, Chicago, IL)

Grades 4 – 6 Winner
Ruth Freeman, One Good Thing About America (Holiday House, New York, NY)

Grades 7 – 12 Winner
Mariko Tatsumoto, Gutless (Ichiban Books, Pagosa Springs, CO)

HONOR BOOKS

Grades Pre-K – 3
Gretchen Brandenburg McLellan, Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3 (Peachtree, Atlanta, GA)
Larissa M. Mercado-López, Esteban de Luna, Baby Rescuer! (Arte Público Press, Houston, TX)
Barbara Nye, Somewhere A Bell Is Ringing (Penny Candy Books, Oklahoma City, OK)

Grades 4 – 6
Alison Hart, Leo, Dog of the Sea (Peachtree, Atlanta, GA)
Edward van de Vendel, Sam in Winter (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, MI)
Ellen Wittlinger, Saturdays with Hitchcock (Charlesbridge, Watertown, MA)

Grades 7 – 12
Michael Currinder, Running Full Tilt (Charlesbridge, Watertown, MA)
Seth Michelson, Dreaming America (Settlement House Books, Silver Spring, MD)
Donovan Mixon, Ahgottahandleonit (Cinco Puntos Press, El Paso TX)

Winners of the 2017 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People

Winners of the 2017 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People:

K – Grade 3: The Music in George's Head by Susanne Slade (Calkins Creek, Honesdale, PA)

Grades 4 - 6:  Catching a Storyfish by Janice N. Harrington (Word Song, Honesdale, PA) 

Grades 7 - 12:  Blood Brother by Rich Wallace and Sandra Neil Wallace (Calkins Creek, Honesdale, PA)
 

Honorable Mention:

• At Night by Helga Bansch (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, MI)

• Where Love Begins by Helen Nieto Phillips (Lectura Books, Los Angeles, CA)

• Fearless Flyer by Heather Lang (Calkins Creek, Honesdale, PA)

• Garvey's Choice by Nikki Grimes (Word Song, Honesdale, PA)

• Brown v. Board of Education by Susan Goldman Rubin (Holiday House, Inc., New York, NY)

• Vietnam: A History of a War by Russell Freedman (Holiday House, Inc., New York, NY)

ANNOUNCING THE 2016 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

THE 2016 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE is awarded in each grade category for books, which in the opinion of our judges, are the most outstanding books for young people published in that year. 

Grades Pre-K – 3
Wendy Marloe, Sanctuary (Marloe Press, New York, NY)     
Laurie Wallmark, Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine (Creston Books/Worzalla Books, Stevens Point, WI)

Grades 4 – 6
Ronald Kidd, Night on Fire (Albert Whitman & Company, Chicago, IL)
Michaela MacColl and Rosemary Nichols, Freedom’s Price (Calkins Creek, an Imprint of Highlights, Honesdale, PA)

Grades 7 – 12
Chris Scofield, The Shark Curtain (Black Sheep/Akashic Books, New York, NY)
Valynne E. Maetani, Ink & Ashes (Tu Books/Lee & Low Books, Inc. New York, NY)

Honorable Mention - Paterson Prize For Books For Young People

• Jane Bahk, Juna’s Jar (Lee & Low Books, Inc., NY, NY)
• Maryann Cocca-Leffler, Janine. (Albert Whitman & Company, Chicago, IL)
• Alison Hart, Finder, Coal Mine Dog (Peach Tree Publishers, Atlanta, GA)
• Mary Daniel Hobson and Anna Isabel Rauh, The Wolf Who Ate the Sky (Heyday Books, Berkeley, CA)
• Sirui Li, The Lucky Chipmunk (Far Far Away Graphic Design Studio, Canada)
• Julie Paschkis, P. Zonka Lays an Egg (Peach Tree Publishers, Atlanta, GA)
• Mariko Tatsumoto, Ayumi’s Violin (Ichiban Books)

THE 2015 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

THE 2015 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Grades Pre-K – 3
Jean-François Dumont, The Sheep Go On Strike (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, MI)
Edith Hope Fine, Sleepytime Me (Random House Children’s Books, New York, NY)

Grades 4 – 6
Kwame Alexander, The Crossover (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books, New York, NY)
Amy Gordon, Painting the Rainbow (Holiday House, New York, NY)

Grades 7 – 12
Isabel Quintero, Gabi, A Girl in Pieces (Cinco Puntos Press, El Paso, TX)
Lydia Millet, Pills and Starships (Black Sheep/Akashic Books, New York, NY)

Honor Books – 2015 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People

• Skila Brown, Caminar (Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA)
• Mary Newell DePalma, Two Little Birds (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, MI)
• Russell Freedman, Because They Marched: The People’s Campaign for Voting Rights That Changed America (Holiday House, New York, NY)
• Susan Kuklin, Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out (Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA)
• Bobbi Miller, The Girls of Gettysburg (Holiday House, New York, NY)
• Linda Vigen Phillips, Crazy (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, MI)
• Chris Platt, Wind Dancer (Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta, GA)
• Mara Rockliff, The Grudge Keeper (Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta, GA)
• Julie Sternberg, The Top-Secret Diary of Celie Valentine: Friendship Over (Boyds Mills Press, Honesdale, PA)
• Giovanna Zoboli & Simona Mulazzani, The Big Book of Slumber (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, MI)
• CeCelia R. Zorn, Angels Don’t Get Tattoos (Dog Ear Publishing, Indianapolis, IN)