Louisiana schoolchildren in grades 3-12 select their favorite books of the year
BATON ROUGE, La. –The State Library of Louisiana is excited to announce the winners of the 2022-2023 Louisiana Readers’ Choice Awards. Louisiana’s young people have read nearly 1.4 million books and cast 438,000 votes in the 24 years since the program began.
Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Grades 3-5:
Winner:Claude: The True Story of a White Alligator (Little Bigfoot, Penguin Random House)
written by Emma Bland Smith, illustrated by Jennifer M. Potter
Honor:Swish! The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Hachette)
written by Suzanna Slade, illustrated by Don Tate
Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Grades 6-8:
Winner:Dress Coded (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House)
written by Carrie Firestone
Honor:Twins (Graphix, Scholastic)
written by Varian Johnson, illustrated by Shannon Wright
Louisiana Teen Readers’ Choice Grades 9-12:
Winner:Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir (Balzer + Bray, HarperCollins)
written by Robin Ha
Honor:I’ll Be the One (Katherine Tegen Books, HarperCollins)
written by Lyla Lee
Winners are selected from diverse booklists carefully chosen by committees of school and public librarians across the state. Many students cast their ballots on voting machines supplied by the Secretary of State’s Voter Outreach Division.
“The Louisiana Readers’ Choice Awards is a great way to get our state’s young people interested in great reading and writing. I’m proud of our State Library for making sure this important program happens year after year,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “This is also a great first step in our young people taking part in the democratic process. It’s a win-win.”
“The candidates for this year’s awards were all great contenders. I’m sure that voting to pick just three winners from dozens of great books wasn’t easy,” said Interim State Librarian Meg Placke. “We know these books will help young people develop a love of reading.”
An award ceremony for honored authors will be held during the Louisiana Book Festival on Saturday, October 28, 2023. For more information about the program, including previous winners, participation information, and additional resources such as free bookmarks, posters, and study guides, please visit the Louisiana Readers’ Choice Award webpage.
