On April 4, 2019, the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education celebrated the publication of its annual Best Books of the Year list and its yearly awards including the Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for nonfiction, the Claudia Lewis Award for poetry, and the Josette Frank Award for fiction.
The Committee was delighted to have Deb Caletti, author of A Heart in a Body in The World (Simon & Schuster), and David Bowles, author of They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid’s Poems (Cinco Puntos), attend in person to accept their awards. Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy (Delacorte Press), and Yuyi Morales, Dreamers (Holiday House), accepted via video.
“[Annabelle] goes from powerless and voiceless to the power of the voice,” said Caletti. “I wanted to tell my readers that I, like Annabelle, have struggled and I’m still trying to grow from that, but as a writer and a human being, I believe. [I still] deeply believe in the power of one voice—a voice that can speak of pain and fury and a deep need for a better world—a voice that can join other voices. I want to tell my readers that I believe in their voice and I believe in voices. Together is how things can change. ”
You can view Part I and Part II of the ceremony thanks to KidLit TV.
Don’t miss this wonderful article about the day written by Matia Burnett of Publishers Weekly as well as this article by Emily Campisano of the Bank Street Communications team.