Jacqueline Woodson, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature 2018–19

National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jacqueline Woodson is the sixth writer to hold this position, which is co-sponsored by the Library of Congress, the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

Woodson is the 2014 National Book Award winner for her New York Times bestselling memoir Brown Girl Dreaming, which was also a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Book Award, the NAACP Image Award, and Newbery and Sibert Honors. In 2015, Woodson was named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. Her recent adult book, Another Brooklyn, was a National Book Award finalist. She is the author of more than two dozen award-winning books for young adults, middle graders and children. Among her many accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a three-time National Book Award finalist, and a two-time Coretta Scott King Book Award winner.

Her books include The Other Side; Each Kindness; Caldecott Honor book, Coming on Home Soon; Newbery Honor winners Feathers, Show Way, and After Tupac and D Foster; and Miracle’s Boys, which received the LA Times Book Prize and the Coretta Scott King Book Award. Woodson is also the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement for her contributions to young adult literature, the winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and was the 2013 U.S. nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. In March 2018, Penguin Young Readers will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Woodson’s If You Come Softly with a special edition of the beloved story of star-crossed love between an African American teenage boy and his Jewish classmate.

Woodson is preceded as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by Jon Scieszka (2008–9), Katherine Paterson (2010–11), Walter Dean Myers (2012–13), Kate DiCamillo (2014–15), and Gene Luen Yang (2016–17).

Current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jacqueline Woodson has also been a participant in the National Book Festival.

Images

Video

• Jacqueline Woodson’s inauguration ceremony (January 9, 2018)
• Jacqueline Woodson at the 2014 National Book Festival
• Jacqueline Woodson at the 2012 National Book Festival
• Jacqueline Woodson at the 2009 National Book Festival

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Gene Luen Yang, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature 2016–17

Gene Luen Yang was born and raised in California and is the son of Chinese immigrants. He has been drawing comics since the fifth grade. He first found success in 1997, when he received a grant for his Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Greeks, which was eventually published by a comics company. During this time, Yang received a master’s degree in education from California State University, East Bay and began teaching at a school in San Francisco.

His first graphic novel, American Born Chinese, was enormously successful and was the first graphic novel to be named a finalist for the National Book Award. It is about a teenager struggling with his identity—a theme that is common in much of Yang’s work, which emphasizes the importance of celebrating our diverse culture.

American Born Chinese also won the Printz Award from the American Library Association for best young adult book published in 2007. Boxers & Saints, which comprises two companion graphic novels, was Yang’s next solo work; it also was a National Book Award finalist.

Yang is currently writing the graphic novel series “Secret Coders,” which teaches young people about computer programming.

Yang is preceded as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by Jon Scieszka (2008–9), Katherine Paterson (2010–11), Walter Dean Myers (2012–13), and Kate DiCamillo (2014–15).

Former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Gene Luen Yang was a participant in the National Book Festival.

Video

• Gene Luen Yang’s inauguration ceremony (January 7, 2016)
• Gene Luen Yang at the 2014 National Book Festival (Graphic Novels Pavilion)
• Gene Luen Yang at the 2014 National Book Festival (Teens Pavilion)

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Kate DiCamillo, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature 2014–15

Kate DiCamillo is the recipient of the 2014 Newbery Medal for her latest novel, “Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures” (Candlewick Press). This is DiCamillo’s second Newbery, which the American Library Association confers for the “most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.” The award is one of the most prestigious in young people’s literature.

The theme of hope and belief amid impossible circumstances is a common thread in much of Kate DiCamillo’s writing. In her instant No. 1 New York Times best-seller “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” (2006), a haughty china rabbit undergoes a profound transformation after finding himself  face down on the ocean floor -- lost and waiting to be found. “The Tale of Despereaux” (2003), the Newbery Medal-winning novel that later inspired an animated adventure from Universal Pictures, stars a tiny mouse with exceptionally large ears who is driven by love to become an unlikely hero. And “The Magician’s Elephant” (2009), an acclaimed and exquisitely paced fable, dares to ask the question, What if?

Kate DiCamillo’s own journey is something of a dream come true. After moving to Minnesota from Florida in her 20s, homesickness and a bitter winter helped inspire “Because of Winn-Dixie” (2000), her first published novel, which, remarkably, became a runaway best-seller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. “After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole day walking into walls,” she says. “I was stunned. And very, very happy.”

Her second novel, “The Tiger Rising” (2001), went on to become a National Book Award finalist. Since then, the master storyteller has written for a wide range of ages, including two comical early chapter-book series, Mercy Watson, which stars a “porcine wonder” with an obsession for buttered toast, and Bink and Gollie, which celebrates the tall and short of a marvelous friendship. DiCamillo has also penned a luminous holiday picture book, “Great Joy.”

“Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures,” was released in fall 2013 to great acclaim, including five starred reviews, and was an instant New York Times best-seller. “Flora & Ulysses” is a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format: a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black-and-white by up-and-coming artist K.G. Campbell. It was a 2013 Parent’s Choice Gold Award Winner and was chosen by Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews and Commonsense Media as a Best Book of the Year selection.

DiCamillo, the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2014-2015, says about stories, “When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see each other.” Born in Philadelphia, the author lives in Minneapolis, where she faithfully writes two pages a day, five days a week.

Kate DiCamillo has been a frequent participant in the Library of Congress National Book Festival.

Video

• Kate DiCamillo at the 2002 National Book Festival
• Kate DiCamillo at the 2004 National Book Festival
• Kate DiCamillo at the 2009 National Book Festival

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Walter Dean Myers, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature 2012–13

Walter Dean Myers is a critically acclaimed author of books for young people. His award-winning body of work includes “Sunrise Over Fallujah,” “Fallen Angels,” “Monster,” “Somewhere in the Darkness” and “Harlem.” Myers has received two Newbery Honor Awards and five Coretta Scott King Awards. He is the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award (for excellence in young adult literature, given by the American Library Association) as well as the first recipient of Kent State University's Virginia Hamilton Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2008, he won the May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Award. He is considered one of the preeminent writers for young people.

Myers began writing at an early age. “I was a good student, but a speech impediment was causing problems. One of my teachers decided that I couldn't pronounce certain words at all. She thought that if I wrote something, I would use words I could pronounce. I began writing little poems. I began to write short stories too.”

Myers’ 2009 title, “Amiri and Odette: A Love Story,” is a modern retelling of “Swan Lake.” “I had seen the ballet of ‘Swan Lake’ as a child. But it was as an adult, when I saw a production featuring Erik Bruhn, that I first noticed how significant a part the ever-present threat of violence played. This juxtaposition of great beauty and grace with a backdrop of pure evil stayed with me for years. As a writer, I absorb stories, allow them to churn within my own head and heart — often for years — until I find a way of telling them that fits both my time and temperament.”

“In listening to Peter Tchaikovsky's score,” Myers continues, “I found the violence muted, but slowly, in my head; the sometimes jarring rhythms of modern jazz and hip-hop began to intervene. I asked myself if there were modern dangers to young people similar to the magic spells of folklore. The answer of course, was a resounding yes, and I began to craft a modern, urban retelling of the ‘Swan Lake’ballet.”

In 2010, Myers received the Rutgers University Award for Literature for Young Adults, from the New Jersey Center for the Book and the Rutgers School of Communications.

“Myers is a giant among children’s and young adult authors,” said Dean Jorge Reina Schement. He is one of today’s most important writers of books for the youth of our age.”

Walter Dean Myers lives with his wife in Jersey City, N.J.  He was born in Martinsburg, W.Va., and grew up in Harlem.

Walter Dean Myers’ Literary Awards

Newbery Honor

• Scorpions, 1989
• Somewhere in the Darkness, 1993

Coretta Scott King Award

• 1980, “The Young Landlords”
• 1985, “Motown and Didi: A Love Story”
• 1989, “Fallen Angels”
• 1992, “Now Is Your Time: The African American Struggle for Freedom”
• 1997, “Slam”

Coretta Scott King Honor Award

• 1976, “Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff”
• 1993, “Somewhere in the Darkness”
• 1994, “Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary”
• 2000, “Monster”
• 2011, “Lockdown”

Michael L. Printz Award

• 2000, “Monster”

Kent State University Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, 1999

May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Award, 2008

Margaret Edwards Award, 1994

American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults List, 1993 and 2000

National Book Award finalist

• 1999, “Monster”
• 2005, “Autobiography of My Dead Brother”
• 2010, “Lockdown”

Multimedia

• Walter Dean Myers at the National Book Festival, 2001
• Walter Dean Myers (with Christopher Myers) at the National Book Festival, 2003
• Walter Dean Myers at the National Book Festival, 2005

Site

• Visit Walter Dean Myers on facebook

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Katherine Paterson, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature 2010–11

Katherine Paterson, two-time winner of the National Book Award and the Newbery Medal, was named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington on Jan. 5, 2010. Paterson will serve in the position during 2010 and 2011; she succeeds Jon Scieszka, appointed in 2008, who was the first person to hold the title. Paterson has chosen “Read for Your Life” as the theme for her platform.

Katherine Paterson’s international fame rests not only on her widely acclaimed novels but also on her efforts to promote literacy in the United States and abroad. A two-time winner of the Newbery Medal (“Bridge to Terabithia” and “Jacob Have I Loved”) and the National Book Award (“The Great Gilly Hopkins” and “The Master Puppeteer”), she has received many accolades for her body of work, including the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, given by her home state of Vermont. She was also named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress.

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