Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award 2022

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Born on the Water

2022 Winner

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water written by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith, and published by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group.

Celebratory Event with Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson

Recorded: March 29th, 2023

- Click here to watch! -

Judges' Comments

An American origin story filled with happiness, despair, then hope, and it explores the topic, "Where did I come from?" through a student's class assignment. Readers will feel raw emotions from the poems, both joy and heartbreak.

A series of lyrical poems that skillfully combine to provide a powerful historical narrative and an origin story important to today’s youth and to American history.

2022 Judges

 

 

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award 2022

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The One Thing You'd Save

2022 Honor Award

The One Thing You'd Save, written by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng, and published by Clarion, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Judges' Comments 

Using the Korean poetry form, Sijo, Linda Sue Park masterfully creates a series of short and inventive poems that come together in a revealing and authentic exploration of a classroom assignment. With humor and evocative feelings, the book invites young readers to experience poetry and create their own.
 
This book captures voices of a variety of students in the classroom in an extraordinary way. From practical and clever to emotional and heartbreaking, each thing pulls a response from the reader.