Category: Young Adult Novel / Works for Young Readers

Parker, Natalie C.

NOMINATIONS:

Come Out, Come Out (G.P. Putnam’s Sons), Young Adult Novel, 2024

BIO: Natalie C. Parker is the acclaimed author and editor of several books for young readers including the award-winning Seafire series and the Indie Bestselling anthology Vampires Never Get Old. Her work has been included on the NPR Best Books List, the Indie Next List, the TAYSHAS Reading List, and in Junior Library Guild selections. 

In addition to writing, Natalie runs Madcap Retreats, partnering with organizations like We Need Diverse Books and Reese’s Book Club to offer workshops and retreats on a national scale. She also develops intellectual property for Electric Postcard Entertainment where she focuses on building a list of queer speculative fiction.

Natalie grew up in a navy family finding home in coastal cities from Virginia to Japan. Now, she lives with her wife on the Kansas prairie.

Bayron, Kalynn

Nominations:

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight (Bloomsbury YA), Young Adult Novel, 2023

BIO: Kalynn Bayron is the New York Times and Indie bestselling author of the YA fantasy novels Cinderella Is Dead and This Poison Heart. Her latest works include the YA horror novel You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight and the middle grade paranormal adventure The Vanquishers. She is a CILIP Carnegie Medal Nominee, a LOCUS Award finalist, and the recipient of the 2022 Randall Kenan Award for Black LGBTQ fiction. She is a classically trained vocalist and musical theater enthusiast. When she’s not writing you can find her watching scary movies and spending time with her family.

Smith, Cynthia Leitich

Nominations:

Harvest House (Candlewick Press), Young Adult Novel, 2023

BIO: Cynthia Leitich Smith is an acclaimed, NYTimes bestselling author, the 2024 Southern Mississippi Medallion Winner, and the 2021 NSK Neustadt Laureate. Reading Rockets named her to its list of 100 Children’s Authors and Illustrators Everyone Should Know.

Her debut picture book, JINGLE DANCER, is widely considered a modern classic, and her chapter book INDIAN SHOES was among the first children’s titles to represent urban Native life. Her debut tween novel RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME was named one of the 30 Most Influential Children’s Books of All Time by Book Riot, which also listed her among 10 Must-Read Native American Authors. She became a New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller with ETERNAL, the second book in the Gothic fantasy TANTALIZE series, which was named a Young Adult Library Association Top 10 Pick for Popular Paperbacks, New York Public Library Book for the Teenage, and was featured at the National Book Festival.  

More recent titles include HEARTS UNBROKEN, winner of an American Indian Youth Literature Award; the anthology ANCESTOR APPROVED: INTERTRIBAL STORIES FOR KIDS, which was an ALA Notable Book and winner of the Reading of the West Book Award; an Indigenous PETER PAN retelling titled SISTERS OF THE NEVERSEA, which received six starred reviews; and the YA ghost mystery HARVEST HOUSE, which is one of five Bram Stoker Award® Nominees for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel. 

Her 2024 middle grade releases are the graphic novel MISSION ONE: THE VICE PRINCIPAL PROBLEM (BLUE STARS #1), a Junior Library Guild selection, also by Kekla Magoon and Molly Murakami, and Cynthia’s middle grade road-trip novel titled ON A WING AND A TEAR. Cynthia is also the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint of HarperCollins and was the inaugural Katherine Paterson Chair at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program. Cynthia is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and makes her home in Austin, Texas.

Simmons, Kristen

Nominations:

Find Him Where You Left Him Dead (Tor Teen), Young Adult Novel, 2023

BIO: Critically-acclaimed young adult author of more than a dozen books, including the Article Five trilogy, The Deceivers series, and The Glass Arrow, KRISTEN SIMMONS’ writing is inspired by her work with trauma survivors as a mental health therapist. She currently lives with her husband and son in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she spins stories, herds a small pack of semi-wild dogs, and teaches Jazzercise.