[Reader-list] Prize Created for Gay Literature for Young Readers

[Chintan Girish Modi]

From
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/prize-is-created-for-gay-literature-for-young-readers/
Prize Is Created for Gay Literature for Young Readers By JULIE
BOSMAN<http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/author/julie-bosman/>

The American Library
Association<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/american_library_assn/index.html?inline=nyt-org>has
added an award for gay and lesbian literature to its annual prizes for
children’s books. The prizes, which include the prestigious John Newbery and
Randolph Caldecott medals, will be announced on Jan. 10.

The new award, called the Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Award, is for an English-language book “of exceptional merit relating to the
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered experience,” the association said
on Monday. Stonewall Awards for adult books have been handed out since 1971.

Robert Stevens, the president of the American Library Association, said in a
statement that children’s books that include the experiences of gays and
lesbians “are critical tools in teaching tolerance, acceptance and the
importance of diversity.”

Books that win awards from the association are closely watched by
librarians, teachers and parents, and are typically distributed widely in
bookstores, schools and libraries after receiving a prize.

The American Library Association said there was a growing demand for
high-quality children’s books that reflect the experiences of gays and
lesbians, citing a national statistic that about 14 million children have a
gay or lesbian parent.