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Arnold Adoff Poetry Award Recipients
2020
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Early Readers
- Anika Aldamuy Denise, Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré (Harper / HarperCollins)
- Honor Award: Timbaland and Christopher Myers, Nighttime Symphony (Atheneum / Simon & Schuster)
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Middle Readers
- Kwame Alexander, The Undefeated (Versify / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
- Honor Award: Patricia Hruby Powell, Struttin’ with Some Barbecue (Charlesbridge)
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens
- Nikki Grimes, Ordinary Hazards (Wordsong / Highlights)
- Honor Award: Margarita Engle, Jazz Owls (Atheneum / Simon & Schuster)
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for New Voices
- Jo Ann Allen Boyce, This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality (Bloomsbury)
- Honor Award: R. L. Toalson, The Colors of the Rain (Yellow Jacket / Little Bee Books)
Special Recognition
- Tony Medina, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy (Penny Candy Books)
2018
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Early Readers
- Carole Boston Weatherford, The Legendary Miss Lena Horne (Atheneum / Simon & Schuster)
- Honor Award: Hope Anita Smith, My Daddy Rules the World (Christy Ottaviano Books / Henry Holt)
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Middle Readers
- Nikki Grimes, One Last Word (Bloomsbury)
- Honor Award: Janice N. Harrington, Catching a Storyfish (Wordsong / Highlights)
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens
- Jason Reynolds, Long Way Down (Atheneum / Simon & Schuster)
- Honor Award: Patricia Hruby Powell, Loving vs. Virginia (Chronicle Books)
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for New Voices
- Marcus Wicker, Silencer (Mariner Books / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
- Honor Award: Laura Shovan, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary (Wendy Lamb Books / Penguin Random House)
Special Recognition
- Javaka Steptoe, Radiant Child (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
2017
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Early Readers
- Carole Boston Weatherford, Freedom in Congo Square (Little Bee Books)
- Honor Award: Charles R. Smith, Jr., 28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World (Roaring Brook Press)
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Middle Readers
- Ashley Bryan, Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life (Atheneum Books / Simon & Schuster)
- Honor Award: Ann E. Burg, Unbound (Scholastic Press)
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens
- Marilyn Nelson, American Ace (Dial Books / Penguin)
- Honor Award: Carole Boston Weatherford, Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer (Candlewick Press)
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for New Voices
- A. L. Sonnichsen, Red Butterfly (Simon & Schuster)
- Honor Award: Marilyn Hilton, Full Cicada Moon (Dial Books / Penguin)
2016
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Early Readers
- Angela Johnson, All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom (Simon & Schuster)
- Honor Award: Carole Boston Weatherford, Sugar Hill: Harlem’s Historic Neighborhood (Albert Whitman & Company)
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Middle Readers
- Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming (Nancy Paulsen / Penguin)
- Honor Award: Nikki Grimes, Poems in the Attic (Lee & Low Books)
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens
- Margarita Engle, Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings, A Memoir (Atheneum / Simon & Schuster)
- Honor Award: Marilyn Nelson, How I Discovered Poetry (Dial / Penguin)
Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for New Voices
- Melanie Crowder, Audacity (Philomel / Penguin)
- Honor Award: Mariko Nagai, Dust of Eden (Albert Whitman & Company)