The Heartland Award for Excellence
in
Young Adult Literature
The Writing Conference, Inc.
is pleased to announce
Jay Asher
 |
as the
2009 winner of the
Heartland
Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
for his
book
Honor Books
 Elsewhere |
Deadline |
CONGRATULATIONS!!
Purpose:
The Heartland Award, created and directed by The Writing Conference,
Inc., was established in 1996 to encourage the participation of young
adults in the reading of young adult literature, to encourage the
teaching of this literature in middle and secondary schools as
supplemental and in-class reading, and to aid in the goal that all young
adults become life-long readers.
First Round Selection:
Each spring the editor of the Writing Conference, Inc., Newsletter will
issue a call for nominations from those receiving the newsletter for
outstanding young adult books to be considered for the Heartland Award.
Those nominated books must be currently in print and have been published
in the 5 years preceding the award year. Those nominations should be
sent on or before May 1 to:
The Heartland Award,
The Writing Conference, Inc.
PO Box 664,
Ottawa, Kansas, 66067-0664
or
e-mailed to John H. Bushman jbushman@writingconference.com.
During
the period from June 1 to September 1, the Heartland
Award Committee (made up of 20 enthusiasts of young adult
literature who regularly attend the spring
Conference on Writing and Literature)
will read the nominated books.
Second Round Selection:
In September, the Committee will meet to discuss the books and to arrive
at the list of 10 young adult works that will be considered for the
Award.
Third Round (Final) Selection:
The list of 10 finalists will be sent to participants of Writing
Conference activities and other interested people. During the period
from September to April 15, students in schools will read at least three
of these books and will vote on their choice for this award. After
voting, the tallies are sent to the Writing Conference, Inc., office.
Eligibility for Nominations:
Nominations may be made by any young adult literature enthusiast. These
people will receive the Call for Nominations in the Newsletter. In
addition, those nominating must work in some way with young adults
(grades 6-12) or in the teaching or young adult literature.
Nomination Form
Eligibility for Voting:
Students who vote must be in grades 6-12 and have read at
least three (3) of the books on the list. Students may
vote only once.
| Ballot for Voting
|
Eligibility of Books:
Books to be nominated must be considered "young adult," i.e.,
they are written for the adolescent eleven years old and older.
Basically, these books will have conflicts that are often consistent
with the young adult's experience, themes that are of interest to young
people, protagonists and most characters who are young adults, and
language that parallels the language of young people. Nominators should
not confuse popular fiction that young adults may read nor should they
consider children's books. Nominated books may also be works of
nonfiction or collections of poetry or short stories.
Announcement of the Winner:
Upon receipt of the tallies in April, the winning book
will be selected. The title of the winning book will be
announced on this website and in various publications. Every effort will be made to have the
author of the winning book as one of the participants at
the Literature Festival held in October of that
year.