The Poet X received a lot of love this year! In addition to many award nominations and wins, it’s appeared on numerous 2018 best-of lists, including:

The New York Times Book Review’s Notable Children’s Books

Kirkus Reviews’ Best YA Books About Speaking Your Truth

School Library Journal’s Best Books

Remezcla’s Best Books by Latino & Latin American Authors

Amazon’s Best Young Adult Books

New York Public Library Best Books for Teens

Time Magazine’s 10 Best for Kids

Shelf Awareness Best Children & Teen Books

NPR Best Young Adult Books

Chicago Public Library Best of the Best for Teens

Horn Book Fanfare Best Books 

Bustle 25 Best Young Adult

Book Riot Best Young Adult

Book Riot Best Audiobooks

 Texas TAYSHAS Top Ten

Entertainment Weekly’s 10 Best YA Novels

On to 2019!

The National Book Awards were established in 1950 to celebrate the best writing in America. Since 1989, they have been overseen by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of great writing in America.

“As the child of immigrants, as a black woman, as a Latina, as someone whose accented voice holds certain neighborhoods, whose body holds certain stories, I always feel like I have to prove that I am worthy enough and there will never be an award or accolade that will take that away,” Acevedo told the crowd as she accepted the country’s most prestigious literary award.

“But every single time I meet a reader who looks at me and says, ‘I have never seen my story until I read yours,’ I’m reminded of why this matters. And that’s not going to be an award and it’s not going to be an accolade. It’s going to be looking someone in the face and saying, ‘I see you,’ and in return being told that I am seen.”

View Elizabeth’s full acceptance speech here.

The Poet X has been nominated for the 2019 Carnegie Medal, the UK’s most prestigious prize for children’s literature!

Head on over to Entertainment Weekly to check out the cover and receive an exclusive peek of the first two chapters of the highly anticipated follow-up to The Poet X! 

“First presented in 1967 and customarily announced in the spring, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are among the most prestigious honors in the field of children’s and young adult literature. Winners are selected in three categories: Picture Book, Fiction and Poetry, and Nonfiction. Two Honor Books may be named in each category. On occasion, a book will receive a special citation for its high quality and overall creative excellence. The winning titles must be published in the United States but they may be written or illustrated by citizens of any country. The awards are chosen by an independent panel of three judges who are annually appointed by the Editor of The Horn Book.”

The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards