Américas Award

Américas Award for Children’s & Young Adult Literature

2014 AWARD WINNER

Parrots Over Puerto Rico illustrated by Susan Roth and co-authored by Susan Roth and Cindy Trumbore. Lee & Low Books Inc.

2014 HONORABLE MENTIONS

Diego Rivera: An Artist for the People by Susan Goldman Rubin. Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote illustrated and written by Duncan Tonatiuh. Abrams Books for Young Readers.

2014 COMMENDED TITLES

Enrique’s Journey Sonia Nazario. Random House Trade Paperbacks.

Lightning Dreamer by Margarita Engle. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

María Tenía una Llamita/María Had a Little Llama by Angela Dominguez. Henry Holt.

Round is a Tortilla illustrated by John Parra and written by Roseanne Thong. Chronicle Books.

Serafina’s Promise by Ann E. Burg. Scholastic Press.

Tito Puente: Mambo King/Rey del Mundo illustrated by Rafael López and written by Monica Brown. Harper Collins.

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Med Medina. Candlewick Press.

Read the Press Release.

2015 Call for Submissions

History of the Award
CLASP founded the Américas Award in 1993 to encourage and commend authors, illustrators and publishers who produce quality children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States, and to provide teachers with recommendations for classroom use. CLASP offers up to two annual book awards, together with a commended list of titles.

Criteria
Up to two awards (for primary and secondary reading levels) are given in recognition of U.S. published works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or selected non-fiction (from picture books to works for young adults) that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States. By linking the Americas, the intent is to reach beyond geographic borders, as well as multicultural-international boundaries, focusing instead upon cultural heritages within the hemisphere.

Books will be judged for: 1) distinctive literary quality; 2) cultural contextualization; 3) exceptional integration of text, illustration and design; and 4) potential for classroom use.

2014 award ceremony celebrating books published in 2013 will be held on Friday, October 3, 2014. All are welcome to attend the ceremony. The award ceremony will be followed by a K-12 Teacher Workshop open to any educator or librarian. Please check back for more information.

Process
To nominate a 2014 copyright title, publishers are invited to submit review copies to the committee members by January 1, 2015. There is no entry fee. The award/honorable mention/commended list will be announced in the spring of 2015, recognizing works published in 2014; the formal award presentation will be held during Hispanic Heritage month at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. in the fall of 2015. Click here for more information.

Publishers: Please send eight copies of the nominated book (one each) to Américas Review Committee Members (including the ex-officio member) and the Award Coordinators. You can find contact information for committee members and award coordinators in the call for submissions.

To view standards-based online curricula, using Américas Award titles, created by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, please visit the site.

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Vamos a Leer: Teaching Latin America and Literacy blog developed by the Latin American & Iberian Institute at The University of New Mexico.

Members of the 2014 Américas Award Selection Committee:
Chair Barbara D’Ambruoso, Orange, CT; Aaron Forbes, Morris Jeff Community School, New Orleans, LA; Keira Philipp-Schnurer, University of New Mexico, NM; Lucia Acosta, Princeton Public Library, NJ; and Robin Fogle Kurz, Louisiana State University, LA.

Members of the 2015 Américas Award Selection Committee

The awards are administered by the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) and coordinated by both Tulane University’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies and Vanderbilt University’s Center for Latin American Studies. Generous support is also provided by Florida International University, The Ohio State University, University of Florida, University of New Mexico, Stanford University, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.