2018 Freeman Book Award Winners

Children’s Literature

Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean

By Sigrid Schmalzer, Illustrated by Melanie Linden Chan (Tilbury House Nature Books)

The Turtle Ship

By Helena Ku Rhee, Illustrated by Colleen Kong-Savage (Shen’s Books/Lee & Low Books)

Confucius: Great Teacher of China

By Demi (Lee & Low Books)

Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story

By Marc Tyler Nobleman, Illustrated by Melissa Iwai (Clarion Books)

My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder

By Nie Jun, Translated by Edward Gauvin (Lerner Books)

Young Adult / Middle School Literature

Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter

By Atelier Sento, Cecile Brun, Olivier Pichard, Translated by Marie Velde (Tuttle Publishing)

Too Young to Escape: A Vietnamese Girl Waits to Be Reunited with Her Family

By Van Ho and Marsha Skrypuch (Pajama Press)

Young Adult / High School Literature

Go: A Coming of Age Novel

By Kazuki Kaneshiro, Translated by Takami Nieda (AmazonCrossing)

The Astonishing Color of After

By Emily X.R.Pan (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Girls on the Line

By Jennie Liu (Lerner Publishing Group/Carolrhoda Lab)

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings

Edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman (Harper Collins Publishers)

The Analects: An Illustrated Edition

By Confucius, Adapted and illustrated by C.C. Tsai, With a foreword by Michael Puett (Princeton University Press)

Dragon Ridge Tombs

By Tianxia Bachang, Translated by Jeremy Tiang (Penguin Random House)

Explore Award Winners by Year

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Explore Award Winners by Age Group

Children’s Young Adult / Middle Young Adult / High Graphic Novels

About the awards

Honoring East And Southeast Asian Titles for Children and Young Adults

National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), the Committee on Teaching about Asia (CTA) of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), and Asia for Educators (AFE) at Columbia University sponsor the annual Freeman Book Awards for new young adult and children’s literature. The awards recognize quality books for children and young adults that contribute meaningfully to an understanding of East and Southeast Asia. Awards are given in two categories: Children’s and Young Adult on the several countries of East and Southeast Asia.

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