Today, at BookExpo America, The Horn Book’s editor in chief Roger Sutton and 2010 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award-winning author Rebecca Stead (When You Reach Me, Random House) announced the 2012 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winners.



PICTURE BOOK AWARD WINNER:
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (Balzer + Bray, a HarperCollins imprint)
When young Annabelle finds a small box containing a never-ending supply of yarn of every color, she does what any self-respecting knitter would do: she knits herself a sweater. Then she knits a sweater for her dog. She continues to knit colorful garments for everyone and everything in her snowy, sooty, colorless town—until an archduke gets greedy.
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FICTION AWARD WINNER:
No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Carolrhoda Lab, an imprint of Lerner)
Lewis Michaux opened the National Memorial African Bookstore in Harlem at the end of the Great Depression with an inventory of five books and a strong faith that black people were hungry for knowledge. For the next thirty-five years, his store became a central gathering place for African American writers, artists, intellectuals, political figures and ordinary citizens. In a daring combination of fiction and nonfiction and word and image, thirty-six narrative voices are interwoven with articles from the New York Amsterdam News, excerpts from Michaux’s FBI file and family papers and photographs.
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NONFICTION WINNER:
Chuck Close: Face Book, written and illustrated by Chuck Close (Abrams Books for Young Readers) 
Chuck Close’s art is easy to describe and especially attractive to children because he creates only portraits—in almost every possible medium with an intriguing trompe l’oeil effect. This book explores how his life story and so-called disabilities relate directly to his style. In this Q&A–style narrative, Close himself answers with a clear voice without a hint of famous-artist self-aggrandizement or angst.
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PICTURE BOOK HONOR WINNERS:
• And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin E. Stead (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook Press, a Macmillan imprint)
• And the Soldiers Sang by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Gary Kelley (Creative Editions)
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FICTION HONOR WINNERS:
• Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet (Candlewick Press)
• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (Hyperion Books for Children, a Disney imprint)
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NONFICTION HONOR WINNERS:
• Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O’Keeffe Painted What She Pleased by Amy Novesky, illustrated by Yuyi Morales (Harcourt Children’s Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt imprint)
• The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O’Connell & Donna M. Jackson, photographs by Caitlin O’Connell and Timothy Rodwell (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt imprint)
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“The Boston Globe-Horn Book awards are unique for so many reasons—the winners are books that are frequently unusual or under-the-radar choices,” said Sutton. “Because of the small judging panel, there’s always an excellent chance for surprise. Each year, the judges uncover some amazing treasures that I think will delight adult readers as much as the intended audience of children and young adults.”

Celebrating its 45th year, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards are among the most prestigious honors in the field of children’s and young adult literature. Winners and two Honor Books are selected in each of three categories: Picture Book, Fiction and Poetry, and Nonfiction.

Previous Boston Globe-Horn Book winners include luminaries Ezra Jack Keats (1970, Picture Book Award Winner), David Macaulay (1989, Nonfiction Award Winner), Lois Lowry (1987 Fiction Award Winner, 1993 Fiction Honor Winner) and Tim Wynne-Jones (2011, Fiction Award Winner; 2007, Fiction Honor Winner; 1995, Fiction Award Winner). A complete list of previous winners is available here.

The awards are chosen by an independent panel of three judges appointed by Mr. Sutton. The 2012 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards judges are: chair Thom Barthelmess, curator and lecturer, Butler Children’s Literature Center, Dominican University (Chicago, IL); Lauren Adams, high school English teacher and former The Horn Book editor; and Megan Lambert, instructor at The Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College (Boston, MA).

The winning titles must be published in the United States, but they may be written or illustrated by citizens of any country.

The awards will be given at the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards Ceremony, a part of The Horn Book at Simmons Colloquium (September 28 and 29, 2012) at Simmons College in Boston, MA. The event kicks off with the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards ceremony with speeches from the honorees, followed by an autographing session and a celebratory evening reception. The following day, The Horn Book at Simmons Colloquium features the awardees in talks, panel discussions and small group sessions offering librarians, educators and children’s literature professionals a chance to examine critical issues relevant to children’s and young adult literature.

First published in 1924, The Horn Book Magazine provides its readership with in-depth reviews of the best new books for children and young adults as well as features, articles, and editorials. The Horn Book Guide, published twice annually, provides comprehensive reviews and a numerical rating for every hardcover children’s book published in the United States during the previous publishing season. The Horn Book Magazine, Guide, and Guide Online are publications of Media Source Inc., which is also the parent company of Library Journal, School Library Journal, and Junior Library Guild.