Whew! The MTA was etermined to thwart me this morning, but I made it in just before Julei Todaro took the stage, and I’ve got my livestream running.

(I didn’t mind being #alaleftbehind until this morning, when I elt so frystrated that the world outside ALA doesn’t stop everything for the YMAs!)

Sarah and Joy are still en route to their workplaces, but they’ll chime in as soon as possible, and we’ll be writing while we watch. YAY YMAs!

Scneiders first, and I am said to say this wasn’t on our radar at all; I would swear I’ve never seen this book before! Agh. Well, the to read list only had 900 books, so now we’ll make it 901.

(Note, we only tend to share our reactions to YA, unless it’s an MG or picture book we read, which isnt too common. But we aren’t skipping the younger stuff out of disrespect!)

Stonewall now (how is the order determined, does anyone know?), which is always a must purchase when it’s YA and not already in my collection.

Honors:

When the Moon Was Ours

Unbecoming

Pride

So, two I had some real issues with and one nonfiction. Well, good thing we aren’t doing speculation for the Stonewall. (I think a womp womp sound effect goes here)

Winners:

Magnus Chase! YES. Rick Riordan consistently writes excellent, diverse, awesome books that I and my readers love. So glad to see his getting an award, and a gender fluid character in something this commercial and highly read by middle graders and teens is so important.

If I Was Your Girl: YES YES YES. Couldn’t be more deserving, and more buzz for this great read is a win for all of us!

CSK:

Virginia Hamilton lifetime achievement: Dr. Bishop! Good golly, I remember reading and loving M.C. Higgins the Great! That’s a throwback. Obviously the scholarly work is important too (smiley face) but the books that are seminal in our childhoods never leave us, do they?

Ugh, the lag on the images and ptinted titles in the livestream. Makes it so mych harder to keep up.

AHHHH! Radiant Child! Javaka Steptoe! He visited our LS this winter, so exciting!

Ok, author honors.

As Brave as You — Oh, I wanted Ghost, although never sad to see Jason Reynolds get accolades.

John Lewis! Even via the feed the sound is deafening! I stood up at my desk! March is such an important and powerful book, now more than ever, and it’s told really well. Definitely deserving!

YALSA AWARDS

(After this, I’ll be anle to calm down again!)

I know the Alex awards aren’t YALSA, but I really wish they wouldn’t shove them in at the start when no one is paying attention.

Edwards first. I am always delighted and surprised with this one, because I never know who’s eligible and the committee always picks someone awesome.

Sarah Dessen! That’s a fantastic recognition of romantic contemporary fiction. Dessen has been a go to and must buy for so long, one of our strongest backlist circulation authors. This is so great!

Odyssey:

Ghost! Well, I’m still hoping for Newbery love, but I’ll take this. I really loved Ghost, can you tell?

And NIMONA? An audio award for a graphic novel? I think this is unprecedented!

And for the win: Anna and the Swallow Man. Whoa. Such a tough book, I can’t even imagine the audio. I’ll have to give it a listen.

Morris!

We already knew the finalists, so no surprises here…

The Serpent King!

Nonfiction:

Again, the finalists are a known quantity, so it’s just a question of the winner. I think we’re all pulling for March to continue raking in the awards here, but I know a few people really pulling for Samurai Rising.

We got our wish! I’m starting to revise my “March will never get the Printz because it already got the NBA” statement.

Ok, here we go, the moment we’ve all been waiting for!

Honors – all FOUR.

Asking for It, Louuse O’Neill

The Passion of Dolssa: I wanted this for the win but I can live with an honor.

Scythe: Can you hear us cheering from here>

The Sun is Also a Star: so many of you called for this one!

And the winner is MARCH. So glad I called that 30 seconds ago!

(Three of the five made our Pyrite, which means we are getting better and better as critical readers! Go us!)