MLA Youth Literary Awards

The MLA Youth Literary Awards promote excellence in literature for youth. Each year work groups made up of library staff in Michigan spend thousands of hours reading, reviewing and discussing hundreds of books to come up with the top titles published in the calendar year.

Mitten Award The Mitten Award recognizes and promotes quality literature for youth in picture book format.	YouPer Award The YouPer (Young Person) Award recognizes and promotes quality literature for youth in chapter book format.	Thumbs Up! Award The Thumbs Up! Award recognizes an outstanding contribution to teen literature that has both literary quality and teen appeal for those 13 to 18 years of age.
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2024 MLA Youth Literary Awards

We are excited to announce the winners of the 2024 Michigan Library Association Youth Literary Awards! The Mitten, YouPer, and Thumbs Up! Awards recognize outstanding contributions to youth literature and celebrate the best titles for children and teens published in 2023.

For the past year, MLA Youth Literary Award workgroups have spent thousands of hours reading, reviewing, and discussing hundreds of books to choose the very best titles for Michigan kids, it's our pleasure to share the winners!

The 2024 Mitten Award goes to An American Story by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Dare Coulter, and published by Little Brown & Co. The winner of the 2024 YouPer Award is The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln, illustrated by Claire Powell, and published by Dutton Books for Young Readers. The 2024 Thumbs Up! Award winner is Warrior Girl Unearthed, by Angeline Boulley, published by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR).

The Mitten Award recognizes and promotes quality literature for youth in picture book format, the YouPer (Young Person) Award recognizes and promotes quality literature for youth in chapter book format; and the Thumbs Up! Award recognizes and promotes an outstanding contribution to teen literature that has both literary quality and teen appeal.

Congratulations to the talented authors, illustrators, and publishers behind these exceptional works! Read on for details about the winners, honor books, and top titles of the 2024 awards. Award seals and graphics are available and free to use. Please use these resources at your library to help us promote the MLA Youth Literary Awards, these great books, and the incredible work of our award committees.