91´«Ã½

CHICAGO – The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½), selected five books as finalists for the 2023 William C. Morris Award, which honors the year’s best books written for young adults by a previously unpublished author. YALSA will name the Morris Award winner at the Youth Media Awards on Jan. 30, 2023, during 91´«Ã½’s LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience.

The 2023 William C. Morris Award finalists are:

“The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen” written by Isaac Blum and published by Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, a division of Penguin Random House

“The Summer of Bitter and Sweet” written by Jen Ferguson and published by Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books.

“Wake the Bones” written by Elizabeth Kilcoyne and published by Wednesday Books, an imprint of St. Martin's Publishing Group at Macmillan.

“The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School” written by Sonora Reyes and published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins..

“Hell Followed With Us” written by Andrew Joseph White and published by Peachtree Teen, an imprint of Peachtree Publishing Company.

“The 2023 Morris Committee carefully selected this year’s finalists after many hours of reading, evaluation and deliberation,” said Candice Wing-yee Mack, chair of the 2023 William C. Morris Award Committee. “We were honored and humbled to be tasked with reading so many incredibly diverse, empowering stories by debut authors; choosing just five titles was a challenge. Our finalists include fantasy, horror, realistic fiction, and all five are characterized by remarkable storytelling.”

The Morris Award is named after William C. Morris, an influential innovator in the publishing world and an advocate for marketing books for children and young adults. William “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.

More information on the finalists and the award can be found on the Morris Award page. Publishers and library staff can purchase finalist seals to place on the finalist titles at www.ala.org/awardsgrants/seals.

For more information on the Morris Award or YALSA’s other young adult literature awards, please visit www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists.

Members of the 2023 William C. Morris Award Committee are: Chair, Candice Wing-yee Mack, Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, California; Sabrina Carnesi, University of Washington Information School, Seattle, Washington; Sara Beth Coffman, Chattanooga Public Library, Chattanooga, Tennessee; Robin Fogle Kurz, Ph.D., Orangeburg County Library, Orangeburg, South Carolina; Stephanie Maldonado, Diamond Bar High School, Diamond Bar, California; Evan Mather, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, Illinois; Elizabeth Paldino, New York Public Library, New York, New York; Becky Reiser, REACH Prep, Stamford, Connecticut; Lorraine Roussin, Gregory Luna Middle School Library, San Antonio, Texas

About Young Adult Library Services Association

The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is networking, advocacy, and professional development. The Young Adult Library Services Association empowers all those involved in the profession to provide equitable, diverse, and inclusive teen services. For more information about YALSA or to access national guidelines and other resources go to .

About 91´«Ã½

The 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) is the foremost national organization providing resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more than 140 years, the 91´«Ã½ has been the trusted voice for academic, public, school, government and special libraries, advocating for the profession and the library’s role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit .