The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 award established in 1982 to encourage authors to focus on historical fiction

Historical fiction

Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...

. The award was created by Scott O’Dell

Scott O'Dell

Scott O'Dell was an American children's author who wrote 26 novels for young people, along with three novels for adults and four nonfiction books...

, author of Island of the Blue Dolphins and 25 other children's books, in hopes of increasing young readers' interest in the history that shaped their nation

Nation

A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...

 and their world. Eligibility for the award requires that a book be written in English for children or young adults, published by an American publisher, and the author must be a United States citizen. The award is recognized in the United States by publishers of children's literature and young adult literature, the American Library Association http://www.ala.org/, and the Assembly for Literature of Adolescents http://www.alan-ya.org/about/.

Selection Committee

The annual selection from qualifying books is made by the O’Dell Committee. Zena Sutherland — who was Professor Emeritus of Children’s Literature

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

 at the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 — headed the committee from its formation in 1982 until her death in 2002. The committee currently consists of three people: Chairperson Hazel Rochman, Young Adults Book Editor, Booklist

Booklist

Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...

; Ann Carlson, Librarian

Librarian

A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...

 at Oak Park and River Forest High School; and Roger Sutton, Editor-in-Chief of Horn Book Magazine

Horn Book Magazine

The Horn Book Magazine, founded in Boston in 1924, is a bimonthly periodical about literature for children and young adults. It began life as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietresses of the country's first bookstore for children, The...

.

History

No award was given in 1982 and 1983, as the committee felt that “no books of sufficient merit had been published.” Elizabeth George Speare

Elizabeth George Speare

Elizabeth George Speare was an American children's author who won many awards for her historical fiction novels, including two Newbery Medals. She has been called one of America’s 100 most popular children’s authors and much of her work has become mandatory reading in many schools throughout the...

 was the first recipient, receiving the award for her book, The Sign of the Beaver

The Sign of the Beaver

The Sign of the Beaver is a historical fiction children's novel by author Elizabeth George Speare, which has merited numerous literary awards. It was published in February 1983, and has become one of her most popular works...

, a tale of wilderness survival. The award has been presented every year since 1984. O’Dell himself won the award in 1987 for Streams to the River, River to the Sea, his fictional retelling of the story of Sacagawea

Sacagawea

Sacagawea ; was a Lemhi Shoshone woman, who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition, acting as an interpreter and guide, in their exploration of the Western United States...

. No author has ever received the award more than once.

Past winners

Year	Recipient	Book Title	Publisher
2011	Rita Williams-Garcia Rita Williams-Garcia Rita Williams-Garcia is an American young adult novelist.She won the 2011 Newbery Honor Award, Coretta Scott King Award, and Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction for her book, One Crazy Summer...	One Crazy Summer	Amistad
2010	Matt Phelan	The Storm in the Barn	Candlewick
2009	Laurie Halse Anderson Laurie Halse Anderson Laurie Halse Anderson is an American author who writes for children and young adults.-Career:...	Chains	Simon & Schuster
2008	Christopher Paul Curtis Christopher Paul Curtis Christopher Paul Curtis is an American children's author and a Newbery Medal winner who wrote The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963 and the critically acclaimed Bud, Not Buddy. Bud, Not Buddy is the first novel to receive both the Coretta Scott King Award and the Newbery Medal...	Elijah of Buxton Elijah of Buxton Elijah of Buxton is a 2007 novel by Christopher Paul Curtis. It is his fourth book. It won the 00001Coretta Scott King Award, the 2008 Newbery Honor, the 2008 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and the 2008 Book of the Year for Children Award of the Canadian Library Association-Jacket...	Scholastic Press
2007	Ellen Klages Ellen Klages Ellen Klages is a science fiction writer who lives in San Francisco. Her novelette "Basement Magic" won the 2005 Nebula Award for Best Novelette. She had previously been nominated for Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell awards. Her first novel, The Green Glass Sea, was published by Viking Children's Books...	The Green Glass Sea	Viking Children's Books
2006	Louise Erdrich Louise Erdrich Karen Louise Erdrich, known as Louise Erdrich, is an author of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American heritage. She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance...	The Game of Silence	Harper Collins Children's Books
2005	A LaFaye	Worth	Simon & Schuster
2004	Richard Peck	The River Between Us	Dial Press
2003	Shelley Pearsall	Trouble Don't Last	Alfred A Knopf
2002	Mildred D. Taylor Mildred D. Taylor Mildred DeLois Taylor is an African American author, known for her works exploring the struggle faced by African-American families in the Deep South....	The Land The Land (Mildred D. Taylor) The Land is the 1st book by Mildred D. Taylor. It is the prequel to Song of the Trees and Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. It recounts the life of Cassie Logan's grandfather as he grows from a nine year old boy into a man in his mid-twenties...	Phyllis Fogelman Books
2001	Janet Taylor Lisle	The Art of Keeping Cool The Art of Keeping Cool The Art of Keeping Cool is a children's historical fiction book by Janet Tyler Lisle published in October 2000 by Anthem Books. Like a boss.-Background:...	A Richard Jackson Book/Atheneum
2000	Miriam Bat-Ami	Two Suns in the Sky	Front Street/Cricket Books
1999	Harriette Robinet	Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule	Jean Fritz/Atheneum
1998	Karen Hesse Karen Hesse Karen Hesse is an American author of children's literature and literature for young adults, often with historical settings.-Life:...	Out of the Dust Out of the Dust Out of the Dust is a verse novel written by Karen Hesse. It was the winner of the Newbery Medal in 1998, Scott O'Dell Award, an ALA Notable Children's Book, an ALA "Best book", a School Library Journal "best book of the year", a Booklist "Editors' Choice" award, a Book Links "Lasting Connection", a...	Scholastic
1997	Katherine Paterson Katherine Paterson Katherine Paterson is an American author of children's novels. She wrote Bridge to Terabithia and has received several of the major international awards for children's literature.- Early life:...	Jip, His Story Jip, His Story Jip, His Story is a 1996 children's book written by U.S. novelist Katherine Paterson. Set in Vermont during the 1850s, it focuses on a 12-year-old orphan named Jip, who was abandoned as an infant and mistaken for a gypsy because of his skin color. Jip works at a poor farm where mentally ill...	Dutton
1996	Theodore Taylor Theodore Taylor (author) Theodore Taylor was an American author of more than 50 fiction and non-fiction books for young adult readers, including The Cay, The Weirdo , Ice Drift, Timothy of the Cay, The Bomb, Sniper, and Rogue...	The Bomb The Bomb (novel) The Bomb is a 1995 novel by Theodore Taylor written to protest against nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll after the natives are forced to move. It was first published by Harcourt Children's Books in October 1995. The book won the 1996 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.-Plot summary:Sorry...	Harcourt, Brace
1995	Graham Salisbury Graham Salisbury Graham Salisbury is an American author. He has written many books including Under the Blood Red Sun, his most famous novel. He lives with his family in Lake Oswego, Oregon....	Under the Blood Red Sun Under the Blood Red Sun Under the Blood Red Sun is a Scott O'Dell Award-winning historical novel by Graham Salisbury, published in 1994. It details the life of Tomi, a Japanese-American boy, and his family during World War II, when Americans of Japanese descent were being sent to internment camps. Tomi lives in Hawaii,...	Delacorte
1994	Paul Fleischman Paul Fleischman Paul Fleischman is an American author of children's books. Both he and his father, children's author Sid Fleischman, have won the Newbery Medal. Paul is the 2012 US author nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award.-Early life:...	Bull Run Bull Run (novel) Bull Run is a historical novel for children by Paul Fleischman, published in 1993. It consists of sixteen monologues by participants in the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861...	Laura Geringer/Harper-Collins
1993	Michael Dorris Michael Dorris Michael Anthony Dorris was a prominent American novelist and scholar. During his career he presented himself as Native American and this identity was a key part of his professional activities and his public reputation; but its factuality is in doubt...	Morning Girl	Hyperion
1992	Mary Downing Hahn Mary Downing Hahn Mary Downing Hahn is an award-winning American author of young adult novels. Her first published book, The Sara Summer, was released in 1979, when she was forty-one years old. Since then she has written over twenty novels...	Stepping on the Cracks	Clarion
1991	Pieter Van Raven	A Time of Troubles	Charles Scribner's Sons
1990	Carolyn Reeder Carolyn Reeder Carolyn Reeder is the author of several children's historical fiction, and three non-fiction books for adults...	Shades of Grey	Macmillan
1989	Lyll Becerra de Jenkins	The Honorable Prison	Lodestar/Dutton
1988	Patricia Beatty	Charley Skedaddle	Morrow
1987	Scott O'Dell Scott O'Dell Scott O'Dell was an American children's author who wrote 26 novels for young people, along with three novels for adults and four nonfiction books...	Streams to the River, River to the Sea	Houghton Mifflin
1986	Patricia MacLachlan Patricia MacLachlan Patricia MacLachlan is a bestselling U.S. children's author, best known for winning the 1986 Newbery Medal for her book Sarah, Plain and Tall. The book was later turned into a TV movie starring Glenn Close and Christopher Walken.MacLachlan was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She lived in Wyoming and...	Sarah, Plain and Tall Sarah, Plain and Tall Sarah, Plain and Tall is a children's book written by Patricia MacLachlan, and the winner of the 1986 Newbery Medal and the 1986 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. It explores themes of loneliness, abandonment, and coping with change....	Harper & Row
1985	Avi	The Fighting Ground The Fighting Ground The Fighting Ground is a 1984 children's book written by Edward Irving Wortis, under his pen name, Avi. The book is about a 13-year-old boy going off to fight in the American Revolutionary War, and covers two days, April 3, 1778 and April 4, 1778. The story is about a young boy named Jonathan who...	Lippincott J. B. Lippincott Company J. B. Lippincott & Co. was an American publishing house founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1836 by Joshua Ballinger Lippincott.Formed by descendants of the Religious Society of Friends, Joshua Lippincott's company began selling a line of Bibles, prayer books and other religious works before...
1984	Elizabeth George Speare Elizabeth George Speare Elizabeth George Speare was an American children's author who won many awards for her historical fiction novels, including two Newbery Medals. She has been called one of America’s 100 most popular children’s authors and much of her work has become mandatory reading in many schools throughout the...	The Sign of the Beaver The Sign of the Beaver The Sign of the Beaver is a historical fiction children's novel by author Elizabeth George Speare, which has merited numerous literary awards. It was published in February 1983, and has become one of her most popular works...	Houghton Mifflin

Documents

• Submission Information: http://www.scottodell.com/documents/submissions.pdf
• 2007 Committee Press Release: http://www.scottodell.com/documents/ODell2007Award.pdf

Sources

• http://www.scottodell.com/odellaward.html
• http://www.scottodell.com/documents/ODell2007Award.pdf