BATON ROUGE — The State Library of Louisiana is excited to announce the winners of the 2020-2021 Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Awards. Louisiana’s young people have read more than 1.3 million books and cast over 411,000 votes in the twenty-two years since the program began.
The 2020-2021 Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice winners are:
Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice
Grade 3-5:
Saving Fiona: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Baby Hippo (HMH Books for Young Readers)
by Thane Maynard
Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice
Grades 6-8:
Game Changer (Harry N. Abrams)
by Tommy Greenwald
Louisiana Teen Readers’ Choice
Grades 9-12:
The Belles (Disney-Hyperion)
by Dhonielle Clayton
Honor titles include Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 (Henry Holt and Co. Books for Young Readers) by Helaine Becker, illustrated by Dow Phumiruk for the Grades 3-5 list; City of Ghosts (Scholastic Press) by Victoria Schwab for the Grades 6-8 list; and, The Lying Woods (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) by Ashley Elston for the Grades 9-12 list. Winners are selected from diverse booklists carefully chosen by committees of school and public librarians from across the state, and many students cast their ballots on voting machines supplied by the Secretary of State’s Voter Outreach Division.
“Now in its 22nd year, the Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice program is a great way to introduce students to some fantastic reads, especially during such a stressful year when we could all use an escape,” said Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser. “The use of actual voting machines and encouraging an interest in the democratic process through our partnership with the Secretary of State’s Office are added bonuses.”
“The State Library of Louisiana is proud to continue facilitating the selection of high-interest titles with the collective expertise of our public and school librarians statewide,” said State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton. “We hope to foster a love of reading that contributes to the lifelong development of Louisiana youth as skilled readers.”
An awards ceremony for honored book authors will be held at the Louisiana Book Festival on Saturday, October 30, 2021. For more information about the program, including previous winners, how to participate, as well as additional resources such as free bookmarks, posters, and study guides, etc., please visit the Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice webpage.
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