| William C. Morris Award | |
| Awarded For: | "a strong literary debut in writing for young adult readers" |
| Presenter: | Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association |
| Country: | United States |
| Year: | 2009 |
The William C. Morris YA Debut Award is an annual award given to a work of young adult literature by a "first-time author writing for teens". It is administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). It was named for twentieth-century American publisher William C. Morris (born 1928 or 1929 and raised up in Eagle Pass, Texas, died Sept 28, 2003 in Manhattan), whom YALSA calls an innovator and "an influential innovator in the publishing world and an advocate for marketing books for children and young adults".
The award is funded by the William C. Morris Endowment, established in 2000 and activated in 2003 with a bequest of $400,000 from the Morris estate. Morris gave the money to ALA to fund programs, publications, events, or awards in promotion of children's literature. In addition to being a member of ALA, Morris was the first recipient of its Distinguished Service Award in 1992. The shortlist for the first award was announced on December 8, 2008, and the winner, A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce, was announced on January 26, 2009, at the ALA's midwinter meeting.[1]
"To be eligible, a title must have been designated by its publisher as being either a young adult book or one published for the age range that YALSA defines as 'young adult', i.e., 12 through 18". About 4000 "YA titles" are published annually and about 10% may be debuts.
| < | -- Year -->2009 | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graceling | < | -- Citation -->Finalist | ||
| Absolute Brightness | ||||
| Madapple | ||||
| Me, the Missing, and the Dead | ||||
| < | -- Year -->2010 | Flash Burnout | Winner | |
| and Margaret Stohl | Beautiful Creatures | < | -- Citation -->Finalist | |
| Hold Still | ||||
| Ash | ||||
| < | -- Year -->2011 | Winner | ||
| Hush | < | -- Citation -->Finalist | ||
| Guardian of the Dead | ||||
| Hold Me Closer, Necromancer | ||||
| Crossing the Tracks | ||||
| < | -- Year -->2012 | Where Things Come Back | Winner | |
| < | -- Citation -->Finalist | |||
| Paper Covers Rock | ||||
| Under the Mesquite | ||||
| Between Shades of Gray | ||||
| < | -- Year -->2013 | Seraphina | Winner | |
| After the Snow | < | -- Citation -->Finalist | ||
| Love and Other Perishable Items | ||||
| Wonder Show | ||||
| < | -- Year -->2014 | Winner | ||
| < | -- Citation -->Finalist | |||
| Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets | ||||
| Belle Epoque | ||||
| In the Shadow of Blackbirds | ||||
| < | -- Year -->2015 | Gabi, A Girl in Pieces | Winner | |
| < | -- Citation -->Finalist | |||
| < | -- Year -->2016 | Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda | Winner | |
| Because You'll Never Meet Me | < | -- Citation -->Finalist | ||
| Conviction | ||||
| < | -- Year -->2017 | Winner | ||
| Girl Mans Up | < | -- Citation -->Finalist | ||
| Rani Patel in Full Effect | ||||
| Tell Me Something Real | ||||
| < | -- Year -->2018 | Winner | ||
| Dear Martin | < | -- Citation -->Finalist | ||
| Devils Within | ||||
| Saints and Misfits | ||||
| Starfish | ||||
| < | -- Year -->2019 | Darius the Great is Not Okay | Winner | |
| Blood Water Paint | < | -- Citation -->Finalist | ||
| Check, Please!: #Hockey | ||||
| Children of Blood and Bone | ||||
| What the Night Sings | ||||
| < | -- Year -->2020 | Winner | ||
| < | -- Citation -->Finalist | |||
| Frankly in Love | ||||
| Genesis Begins Again | ||||
| There Will Come a Darkness | ||||
| < | -- Year -->2021 | If These Wings Could Fly | Winner | |
| Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard | < | -- Citation -->Finalist | ||
| It Sounded Better in My Head | ||||
| Woven in Moonlight | ||||
| 2022[3] | Firekeeper's Daughter | Winner | ||
| Ace of Spades | Finalist | |||
| Vampires, Hearts & Other Dead Things | ||||
| Me (Moth) | ||||
| What Beauty There Is | ||||
| 2023[4] | Winner | |||
| < | -- Citation -->Finalist | |||
| Wake the Bones | ||||
| Hell Followed with Us | ||||
| 2024[5] | Rez Ball | Winner | ||
| All the Fighting Parts | < | -- Citation -->Finalist | ||
| Once There Was | ||||
| Saints of the Household | ||||
| She Is a Haunting |