2020 MLA YOUPER (Young Person) AWARD

The YouPer Award Work Group, chaired by Killian Weston, Youth Services Librarian, Bloomfield Township Public Library, read a total of 128 titles and logged more than 2080 hours reading, evaluating and discussing the best chapter books for youth published in 2019.

2020 YouPer Award Work Group

• Chair: Killian Weston, Bloomfield Township Public Library
• Vice-chair: Brittany Wesner, Clinton-Macomb Public Library
• Lisa Boyd, Canton Public Library
• Robert Chartrand, Capital Area District Libraries
• Heather Draft, Cromaine District Library
• Whitney Hagen, Paw Paw District Library
• Jessica Keeler, Wayne State University
• Jamie Klos, Clarkston Independence District Library
• Nakenya Lewis-Yarbrough, Belleville Area District Library
• Lynn Pearce, Clinton-Macomb Public Library
• Andrea Smalley, Portage District Library

2020 YouPer Award Winner

The winner of the 2020 YouPer (Young Person) award is Planet Earth Is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos, published by Wendy Lamb Books.

In Planet Earth is Blue, Nova has passed from foster home to foster home, along with her older sister Bridget, for most of her life. When she finds herself in a new foster home without her sister – the only person who didn’t dismiss her as severely autistic and nonverbal – Nova clings to their shared love of astronomy and Bridget’s promise that they would watch the upcoming launch of the Challenger together.

"In the YouPer Award Work Group's final vote, Planet Earth is Blue became the clear winner for the year. While many of the titles we read were wonderful, the group felt the book’s main character, Nova, is entirely unique in children’s literature and offers readers a different perspective on autism than our group had seen represented before. This representation allows for a greater understanding of neurodiversity among readers," said Work Group Chair Killian Weston, Youth Services Librarian, Bloomfield Township Public Library. "Ultimately, we chose a winner we felt had an exceptionally unique protagonist who gives readers a window into a world not easily expressed, offered opportunities for parents and children to discuss more recent history, and was so beautifully written that it tugged at everyone’s heartstrings."

2020 YouPer Award Honor Books

The 2020 YouPer Award Honor Books include The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James by Ashley Herring Blake, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Sal & Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez, published by Rick Riordan Presents; Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia, published by Rick Riordan Presents.

2020 YouPer Award Top Ten Titles

2020 Top Ten Titles List (In Random Order)

• Focused by Alyson Gerber
• For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington
• Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
• Lalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly            
• The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James by Ashley Herring Blake
• New Kid (New Kid #1) by Jerry Craft
• To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan, Meg Wolitzer
• Planet Earth Is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos            
• Sal and Gabi Break the Universe (Sal and Gabi #1) by Carlos Hernandez
• Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Tristan Strong #1) by Kwame Mbalia

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