Walter Dean Myers Award

The Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature, known as "The Walters,” was created by the American nonprofit We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) in 2014, and the inaugural award was presented in 2016.^[1] Named after young adult author Walter Dean Myers, the award recognizes published, diverse authors who champion marginalized voices in their stories.^[2] The awards program is managed by WNDB's co-directors Kathie Weinberg and Terry Hong. In 2018, WNDB changed the categories from a single category of young adult titles to two categories of teen and young readers.^[3] Subsequent awards include both categories.^[4]

Recipients

Award winners and finalists

Year	Category	Recipient	Title	Result	Ref.
2016	N/A	Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely	All American Boys	Winner	[5][6]
		Margarita Engle and Edel Rodriguez (illus.)	Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir	Honor	[6]
		Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon	X
2017	N/A	John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nathan Powell	March: Book Three	Winner	[7][8]
		Marina Budhos	Watched	Honor	[8]
		Meredith Russo	If I Was Your Girl
		Nicola Yoon	The Sun Is Also a Star
2018	Teen	Jason Reynolds	Long Way Down	Winner	[9][10]
		Mitlali Perkins	You Bring the Distant Near	Honor	[9][10]
		Francisco X. Stork	Disappeared
	Younger Reader	Carole Boston Weatherford and Eric Velasquez (illus.)	Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library	Winner	[9][10]
		Margarita Engle	Forest World	Honor	[9][10]
2019	Teen	Elizabeth Acevedo	The Poet X	Winner	[11][12][13]
		Tiffany Jackson	Monday’s Not Coming	Honor	[11][12][13]
		Emily X.R. Pan	The Astonishing Color of After
	Younger Reader	Jewell Parker Rhodes	Ghosts Boys	Winner	[11][12][13]
		David Bowles	They Call Me Güero	Honor	[11][12][13]
		Veera Hiranandani	The Night Diary
2020	Teen	Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell (illus.)	Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me	Winner	[14][15]
		Akwaeke Emezi	Pet	Honor	[14][15]
		Elizabeth Acevedo	With the Fire on High
	Younger Reader	Padma Venkatraman	The Bridge Home	Winner	[14][15]
		Lisa Moore Ramée	A Good Kind of Trouble	Honor	[14][15]
		Jasmine Warga	Other Words for Home
2021	Teen	Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam and Omar T. Pasha (illus.)	Punching the Air	Winner	[16][17]
		Traci Chee	We Are Not Free	Honor	[16][17]
		Robin Ha	Almost American Girl
	Younger Reader	Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed, and Iman Geddy	When Stars Are Scattered	Winner	[16][17]
		Kacen Callender	King and the Dragonflies	Honor	[16][17]
		Daniel Nayeri	Everything Sad Is Untrue
2022	Teen	Angeline Boulley	Firekeeper’s Daughter	Winner	[18][19]
		Malinda Lo	Last Night at the Telegraph Club	Honor	[18][19]
		Kekla Magoon	Revolution in Our Time
	Younger Reader	Rajani LaRocca	Red, White, and Whole	Winner	[18][19]
		Thomas King and Natasha Donovan (illus.)	Borders	Honor	[18][19]
		Eden Royce	Root Magic
2023	Teen	Andrea L. Rogers and Jeff Edwards	Man Made Monsters	Winner	[20]
		Sonora Reyes	The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School	Honor	[20]
		Sabaa Tahir	All My Rage
	Young Reader	Angela Joy and Janelle Washington	Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement	Winner	[20]
		Christina Soontornvat	The Last Mapmaker	Honor	[20]
		Ibi Zoboi	Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler
2024	Teen	Ari Tison	Saints of the Household	Winner	[21][22]
		Hannah V. Sawyerr	All the Fighting Parts	Honor	[21][22]
	Young Reader	Jacqueline Woodson	Remember Us	Winner	[21][22]
		Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, and S. K. Ali	Grounded	Honor	[21][22]