2010 American Indian Youth Literature Award

The 2010 American Indian Youth Literature Award winners were announced at the American Library Association Mid-Winter Conference in January 2010. Author Thomas King and illustrator Gary Clement were the recipients of the Picture Book Award for their book A Coyote Solstice Tale. The Middle School winner is Meet Christopher: An Osage Indian Boy from Oklahoma by Genevieve Simermeyer. Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me by Lurline Wailana McGregor took the Young Adult prize.

The American Indian Youth Literature Awards recognize excellence in books by and about American Indians. By identifying and honoring outstanding writing and illustrations in the field of youth literature, the American Indian Library Association encourages authors, illustrators, editors, publishers and tribal entities to create materials that “present Native Americans in the fullness of their humanity in the present and past contexts.”

Please visit the Children’s Library to read the 2010 winners!

The 2010 Award Winners

Picture Book

A Coyote Solstice Tale by Thomas King, illustrated by Gary Clement. (Groundwood Books, 2009)

The universal lesson that sharing and being together are more important than things comes from a human child and Coyote in this humorous book.


Middle School Book

Meet Christopher: An Osage Indian Boy from Oklahoma by Genevieve Simermeyer. (National Museum of the American Indian/Smithsonian Institution in association with Council Oak Books, 2008)

Meet Christopher and spend some time with him as he combines his family’s Native traditions with popular 21st century activities.



Young Adult Book

Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me by Lurline Wailana McGregor. (Kamehameha Publishing, 2008)

Torn between her career as a museum curator in California and her family in Hawai’i, Maona Kawelo must make some difficult choices.