The William C. Morris YA Debut Award
  Current Winners
Policies and Procedures
Nominate a Title
Contacts
Seals
Previous Winners
Welcome!
The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first awarded in 2009, honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature. Use this short URL: www.ala.org/yalsa/morris.
The award's namesake is William C. Morris, an influential innovator in the publishing world and an advocate for marketing books for children and young adults. Bill Morris left an impressive mark on the field of children’s and young adult literature. He was beloved in the publishing field and the library profession for his generosity and marvelous enthusiasm for promoting literature for children and teens.
The William C. Morris YA Debut Award celebrates the achievement of a previously unpublished author, or authors, who have made a strong literary debut in writing for young adult readers. The work cited will illuminate the teen experience and enrich the lives of its readers through its excellence, demonstrated by:
- Compelling, high quality writing and/or illustration
- The integrity of the work as a whole
- Its proven or potential appeal to a wide range of teen readers
The Morris Award will be awarded annually at ALA’s Midwinter Youth Media Awards. A shortlist of up to five titles will be announced the second Monday of December. In 2010, the winner and finalists will be honored at a reception at ALA's Midwinter Meeting in Boston on Monday, Jan. 18 from 8-10 p.m. at the Westin Copley Place Essex Center South, along with the winner and finalists for YALSA's Nonfiction Award.
Librarians who wish to buy seals can find them in the ALA Online Store. Publishers wishing to buy bulk seals or license seal images can find more information by consulting ALA's Seals Sales & Permissions page.
2010 Winner
Flash Burnout
By L.K. Madigan, published by Houghton Mifflin/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (9780547194899).
Blake’s life is way too complicated. He’s a sophomore in high school with a girlfriend and a friend who is a girl. One of them loves him. One of them needs him. Can he please them both?
See a video of Madigan after she became a finalist, as well as her thoughts on winning the award at her blog.
2010 Finalists
   
Ash
By Malinda Lo, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. (9780316040099).
Consumed with grief after the death of her father, Ash's only escape from her harsh life and cruel stepmother comes from re-reading the fairy tales that her mother once told her and hoping against hope that the fairies will appear to her. When the fairy Sidhean appears, Ash hopes that he will steal her away to his enchanted world; but when she meets the King's Huntress, Kaisa, she realizes that staying in her own realm can also lead to beauty, romance, and perhaps even love.
Read a short speech (PDF) from Lo on becoming a Morris finalist.
Beautiful Creatures
By Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. (9780316042673).
Sixteen-year-old Ethan has lived all his life in Gaitlin, South Carolina, a town that hasn’t changed much since the Civil War. While coping with the loss of his mother, a father who spends all of his time in his study, and high school, his world turns upside down with the arrival of Lena, a new girl with whom he seems to share a psychic connection. As they grow closer, Ethan discovers that Lena and her family share a dark secret and that she is headed for doom on her sixteenth birthday.
Read a short speech (PDF) from Garcia and Stohl on becoming a Morris finalist.
The Everafter
By Amy Huntley, published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (9780061776793).
Maddy is a ghost, surrounded by things she lost when she was alive. By touching these objects, she relives the episodes in her life where she lost them. Even though Maddy’s dead, she explores the lessons these objects hold — and why are they still important.
hold still
By Nina LaCour, published by Dutton Children’s Books, a Division of Penguin Young Readers Group. (9780525421559).
After Caitlin's best friend Ingrid commits suicide, Caitlin has a hard time making sense of the loss. She finds Ingrid's journal and slowly allows herself to read it and learn about why Ingrid felt the need to end her life. Caitlin also grapples with allowing herself to find another friend, to let in a boyfriend, and to understand why her favorite teacher is ignoring her. It is the haunting story of dealing with loss, moving on, and finding peace and hope.
2010 Committee
Members of the 2010 William C. Morris Award are: Chair Judy Nelson, Pierce County Library System, Tacoma, Wash.; Jeana Actkinson, Bridgeport (Texas) High School; Dr. Joni Richards Bodart, School of Library and Information Science-San Jose (Calif.) State University; Susan Fichtelberg, Public Library of Woodbridge, N.J.; Angela Frederick, Nashville (Tenn.) Public Library; Clio Hathaway, Martin Memorial Library, York, Pa.; Melanie Koss, Northern Illinois University DeKalb, Ill.; Anne Leon, Alvin Sherman Library-Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Gail Zachariah, Keene (N.H.) Public Library; David Durante, administrative assistant, Pierce County Library System, Graham, Wash.; and Booklist Consultant, Ilene Cooper, Chicago.
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