American Library Association: Woodson, Myers win 2015 Coretta Scott King Book Awards (for Writing 'Brown Girl Dreaming' & Illustrating 'Firebird')

Brown Girl Dreaming
Jacqueline Woodson

Jacqueline Woodson

www.jacquelinewoodson.com

Firebird

Misty Copeland, Author
Christopher Myers, Illustrator

Christopher Myers
www.post-gazette.com

American Library Association

Feb. 2, 2015

CHICAGO – Jacqueline Woodson, author of “brown girl dreaming” and Christopher Myers, illustrator of “Firebird” are the winners of the 2015 Coretta Scott King Book Awards honoring African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults. Jason Reynolds, author of “When I was the Greatest”  is the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent winner. The awards were announced today at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting, being held Jan. 30 – Feb. 3 in Chicago and will be presented in San Francisco at the ALA Annual Conference in June.


The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee of the ALA’s Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) to encourage the artistic expression of the African American experience via literature and the graphic arts; to promote an understanding and appreciation of the black culture and experience, and to commemorate the life and legacy of Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination in supporting the work of her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., for peace and world brotherhood. 

>From the time she was a child scribbling her name, Woodson told stories both true and not so true. After graduating from Adelphi University, she published her first book in 1990. Winner of many book awards, most recently the 2014 National Book Award Young People’s Literature, her published works range from picture books to young adult novels. 



“brown girl dreaming” published by Nancy Paulson Books, published by the Penguin Group, Penguin Group (USA) LLC is an absorbing free verse memoir of a young girl growing up black and female in the 1960s and ‘70s full of arresting details and vivid imagery. Her choice of events and memories incorporate important historical events and her own evolution into the award-winning writer she has become. 
“Woodson’s lyrical, free verse memoir, reflecting her voice, her history and her growth as a storyteller, pulled jurors into her family’s stories” said Coretta Scott King Book Awards Jury Chair Kim Patton.


Born in New York, Myers is a graduate of Brown University. He also participated in the Whitney Museum of Art Independent Studio Program. His illustrations have received numerous awards, including a Caldecott Honor, and four Coretta Scott King Honors. Meyers lives in Brooklyn, where, in addition to his illustrating children’s books, he is also a photographer and clothing designer.

  

In “Firebird” written by Copeland and published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, published by the Penguin Group, Penguin Group USA, the illustrations of Myers depict the brilliant colorful world of the ballerina with its dancers on en pointe.


“The vibrant lines and colors mirror the movement of Copeland’s “Firebird”, says Patton.  “Encased in gorgeous collages and endpaper, balletic poses, leaping and bounding into the air at tremendous heights spur the imagination and inspire a young girl’s hopes and dreams,” said Patton.