2008 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards
for Excellence in Children’s Literature

Tales of restless spirits — a fledgling artist behind the Iron Curtain, a teen on a Spokane Indian reservation, a little girl on a big-city night, and a stranger in the strangest land — were rewarded when the winners of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards were announced on June 18, 2008.

Presented annually since 1967, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are customarily given in three categories: Fiction and Poetry, Picture Book, and Nonfiction. This year, as happens occasionally, the judges also awarded a Special Citation. The 2008 winners are:

Among the most honored author-illustrators in the field, Peter Sís is a three-time recipient of a Caldecott Honor award (including one this year for The Wall) as well as the winner of a 2003 MacArthur Fellowship and a 1999 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Tibet: Through the Red Box. Novelist Sherman Alexie is new to young adult literature but not to acclaim. A 1995 PEN/Hemingway Award recipient for his first collection of short stories for adults, he is also a poet, a film director, and a standup comic. Last fall, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Jonathan Bean is the newcomer of this trio. A 2005 graduate of Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts, he made his debut as an author-artist with At Night.

Shaun Tan, whose wordless graphic novel, The Arrival, was singled out by the judges for excellence in graphic storytelling, has an international following. Winner of the Best Picture Book of the Year Award in his native Australia and named Best Artist at the World Fantasy Awards in 2007, he also received a Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2007 citation from the New York Times.

The judges selected two honor books in each category:

Two of the honor book recipients have previously received Boston Globe–Horn Book recognition. Marla Frazee illustrated Clementine, written by Sara Pennypacker, an honor book for fiction in 2007. Nic Bishop was the photographer of Joy Crowley’s Red-Eyed Tree Frog, the picture book award winner in 1999.

The 2008 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards ceremony will be held on Friday, October 3, 2008, at the Boston Athenaeum in Boston, Massachusetts. The honored authors and illustrators are expected to be on hand to accept their awards and deliver their acceptance speeches.

All children’s and young adult books published in the United States between June 2007 and May 2008 were eligible for the award. The winning authors and illustrators may be citizens of any country. Winners in each category receive a cash prize and an engraved silver bowl. Honor book recipients receive an engraved silver plate. The acceptance speeches of the award winners will be published in the January/February 2009 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

The 2008 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards judges:

For more information about the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards and The Horn Book, Inc., contact Katrina Hedeen at khedeen@hbook.com or Rachel L. Smith at rsmith@hbook.com, or call 617-628-0225, ext. 221.

About the Awards | Past Winners and Honor Books | Submission Guidelines