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Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award 2021
On the Horizon
On the Horizon

2021 Winner

On the Horizon written by Lois Lowry, illustrated by Kenard Pak, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.

Celebratory Event with Lois Lowry
Recorded: October 20, 2021
- Click here to watch! -

Judges' Comments

Deceptively simple language evokes great emotion throughout this masterwork. Lowry deftly depicts a childlike sense of experiencing the war and provides a tender treatment of the postwar time period in Tokyo, as well as its transition into our contemporary world. 

World War II provides the background for this book of poems, inspired by the author’s own childhood on Hawaii beaches and later, in Japan. Told in spare, compact verses, the horrors of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the atomic bomb in Hiroshima are explored side by side through a lens of people, names, and day to day objects like bicycles, watches, and dolls. War is a tangled business, and this book succeeds in helping the reader grapple with those complexities. 

This novel-in-verse is both historical memoir and poetic fiction, relaying accounts of World War II from both sides of the horizon. In subtle and beautiful poems that explore the bombing of Pearl Harbor as well as the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, Lowry builds a house of empathy and understanding we all could live in, even in the midst of so much trouble. Lowry’s delicate investigation of memory and history and the horrors of human self-destruction convey both sides of a complicated issue. Ultimately, this gem of a book transports us into the realities of war, violence, and the mass destruction they bring. 

Truth is stranger than fiction. Lowry's historical WWII verse novel is infused with memoir and recurring coincidences, like matching stopped watches, children's bicycles, and a childhood connection between two children's literature geniuses. The many poetic forms are used to good effect and are appropriate for the young audience and will build empathy and understanding with readers of all ages. 

2021 Judges

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award 2021
Ice cover
Ice

Honor Award

Ice! Poems About Polar Life written and illustrated by Douglas Florian, published by Holiday House.

Judges' Comments

Climate change is discussed head-on through poems about polar creatures, arctic regions, and of course, ice. Florian mixes rhyme and humor (so many good puns!) with childlike drawings to create an accessible book about a critical issue affecting the entire globe. Coupled with short descriptions of each topic, this is a book that broadens understanding while at the same time deepening empathy. 

Clever, witty, playful, funny. But also, seriously informative, both about Earth’s poles and about climate change. I loved the amusing illustrations and the language games. This is a good book for an adult to share with young children, as some of the verbal jokes might need explanation, and a great introduction to a class unit on the polar regions.

Climate change warnings and information about the poles and the animals that live there are delivered in both short pun-filled rhyming poems and in informational text blocks that provide more detail. Florian's illustrations on paper bags are delightful and will appeal to children who may be inspired to create their own poems and art.

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award 2021
Cover - Punching the Air
Punching the Air

Honor Award

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, published by Balzer + Bray HarperCollins.

Judges' Comments

Talented YA author Zoboi teams up with a member of the Exonerated Five to author this verse novel that features a wrongly convicted teen who uses poetry and art to retain his humanity while the justice system and prison environment work to strip him of it. The powerful poems and the timely subject will engage the older youth in the 12-14-year-old range. 

A needed book, Punching the Air is about Amal, a black youth who is incarcerated as the result of a fight with a group of white youths. The reader walks with Amal through his trial, his verdict, his processing into the facility, and his subsequent battle for survival inside a prison that is hardly designed for justice. Amal’s passion for art and poetry provides a bit of a balm for him, but in a limited sense, since the system is not built to support artistic expression. Through evocative and passionate verse, the book helps the reader see inside an American system that appears to be failing us all.  

There are so many reasons to recognize this book, beyond how polished and well-written it is. From the poetics perspective, the authors deftly depict the language and mechanics of visual art – especially with ironic usages of famous artworks (such as The Last Judgement, The Scream, Guernica, The Persistence of Memory, etc.) – in a way that is both subtle and integral. Readers will revisit this novel, and they should. 

This verse narrative focuses on a Black teenager caught up in the prison industrial complex vis-á-vis youth detention. It depicts, in a truly powerful way, the emotionality of a teenage student and gifted artist who has been undermined though the school and justice systems, and his triumphant way back to his true self.