You might find yourself having to read an award winning book for school at some time, so we thought we’d help out a bit and produce a list of recent award winning books (with one or two critically acclaimed almost-award-winning books), most of which (but not all) are in the Young Adults collection.
For space reasons we haven’t included all past winners of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults — but you can find them all in this From The Vaults post if you’re looking for them.
If you’re still on the lookout after browsing through here then have a look at this post, which has links to different award websites. Also, don’t forget the Classic Novels booklist.
Updated September 2023
New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults: YA Fiction Award (NZ)
- Iris and Me / Philippa Werry (2023 winner)
- Learning to Love Blue / Saradha Koirala (2022 winner)
- The Pōrangi Boy / Shilo Kino (2021 winner)
- Aspiring / Damien Wilkins (2020 winner)
- Legacy / Whiti Hereaka (2019 winner)
Storylines Tessa Duder Award (NZ)
- The Impossible Story of Hannah Kemp / Leonie Agnew (2022 winner)
- Displaced / Cristina Sanders (2020 winner)
- Ursa / Tina Shaw (2018 winner)
- The Traitor and the Thief / Gareth Ward (2015 winner)
- A Necklace of Souls / Rachel Stedman (2012 winner)
- Reach / Hugh Brown (2011 winner)
Storylines Notable Book List 2022 (NZ)
- The Tomo / Mary-Anne Scott
- Black Spiral / Eileen Merriman
- Coastwatcher / David Hill
- Black Wolf / Eileen Merriman
- Tama Sāmoa / Dahlia and Mani Malaeulu
- Indigo Moon / Eileen Merriman
Children’s Book Council of Australia: Book of the Year for Older Readers (AU)
- Tiger Daughter / Rebecca Lim (2022 winner)
- This Is How We Change the Ending / Vikki Wakefield (2020 winner)
- Between Us / Clare Atkins (2019 winner)
- Take Three Girls / Cath Crowley (2018 winner)
- One Would Think the Deep / Claire Zorn (2017 winner)
Australian Book Industry Awards: Book of the Year for Older Children (AU)
- The Blood Traitor / Lynette Noni (2023 winner)
- The Prison Healer / Lynette Noni (2022 winner)
- The Left-Handed Booksellers of London / Garth Nix (2021 winner)
- Welcome To Your Period / Yumi Stynes (2020 winner)
- Jane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds / Jeremy Lachlan (2019 winner)
The Carnegie Medal (UK)
- The Blue Book of Nebo / Manon Steffan Ross (2023 winner)
- October, October / Katya Balen (2022 winner)
- Look Both Ways / Jason Reynolds (2021 winner)
- Lark / Anthony McGowan (2020 winner)
- The Poet X / Elizabeth Acevedo (2019 winner)
- I Must Betray You / Ruta Sepetys (2023 Shadowers’ Choice)
- Run, Rebel / Manjeet Mann (2021 Shadowers’ Choice)
YA Book Prize (UK and Ireland)
- When Our Worlds Collided / Danielle Jawando (2023 winner)
- Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating / Adiba Jaigirdar (2022 winner)
- Loveless / Alice Oseman (2021 winner)
- Meat Market / Juno Dawson (2020 winner)
- Goodbye, Perfect / Sara Barnard (2019 winner)
Young Adult Library Services Association Book Awards (USA)
- The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen / Isaac Blum (2023 Morris Award winner)
- All My Rage / Sabaa Tahir (2023 Printz Award winner)
- Firekeeper’s Daughter / Angeline Boulley (2022 Printz and Morris Award winner)
- Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story) / Daniel Nayeri (2021 Printz Award winner)
- We Are Okay / Nina LaCour (2020 Printz Award winner)
- The Poet X / Elizabeth Acevedo (2019 Printz Award winner)
The International Literacy Association Children’s and Young Adults’ Book Awards
- Man Made Monsters / Andrea L. Rogers (2023 winner)
- We Deserve Monuments / Jas Hammonds (2023 Honour Award)
- The Magic Fish / Trung Le Nguyen (2021 winner)
- The Lucky Ones / Liz Lawson (2021 Honour Award)
- How To Make Friends With the Dark / Kathleen Glasgow (2020 Honour Award)
- Dear Rachel Maddow: A Novel / Adrienne Kisner (2019 winner)
- The Beauty That Remains / Ashley Woodfolk (2019 Honour Award)
Goodreads Choice Awards
- The Final Gambit / Jennifer Lynn Barnes (2022 YA Fiction winner)
- Gallant / V. E. Schwab (2022 YA Fantasy winner)
- Firekeeper’s Daughter / Angeline Boulley (2021 YA Fiction winner)
- Rule of Wolves / Leigh Bardugo (2021 YA Fantasy winner)
- Clap When You Land / Elizabeth Acevedo (2020 YA Fiction winner)
- Five Feet Apart / Rachael Lippincott (2019 YA Fiction winner)
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