The Scott O'Dell Award
This award was established in 1982 by the noted writer of historical fiction, who hoped to increase interest in the genre. It is awarded annually to "a meritorious book published in the previous year for children or young adults." To be eligible, "a book must have been published as a book intended for children or young people, it must be set in the New World (Canada, Central or South America, or the United States), it must be published by a publisher in the United States, and it must be written in English by a citizen of the United States." That explains why books such as A Single Shard, an historical fiction Newbery winner in 2002, wouldn't even have been considered for the O'Dell--it was set in Korea.
I link the book titles to Bookshop.org, the website of the independent booksellers, where you can learn more or buy the books. You can also find my list of recent Scott O'Dell Award winners there, updated to 2023.
- 2021 winner: All He Knew, by Helen Frost.
- 2020 winner: Butterfly Yellow, by Thanhha Lai.
- 2019 winner: Finding Langston, by Lesa Cline-Ransome.
- 2018 winner: Beyond the Bright Sea, by Lauren Wolk.
- 2017 winner: Full of Beans, by Jennifer L. Holm.
- 2016 winner: The Hired Girl, by Laura Amy Schlitz.
- 2015 winner: Dash, by Kirby Lawson.
- 2014 winner: Bo at Ballard Creek, by Kirkpatrick Hill.
- 2013 winner: Chickadee, by Louise Erdrich.
- 2012 winner: Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos. (Also a Newbery Medal winner).
- 2011 winner: One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia. (Also a Newbery Honor book and a CSK winner).
- 2010 winner: The Storm in the Barn, by Matt Phelan.
- 2009 winner: Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson.
- 2008 winner: Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis. (Also a Newbery Honor book and a CSK winner).
- 2007 winner: The Green Glass Sea, by Ellen Klages.
- 2006 winner: The Game of Silence, by Louise Erdrich.
- 2005 winner: Worth by A. LaFaye.
- 2004 winner: The River Between Us, by Richard Peck.
- 2003 winner: Trouble Don't Last, by Shelley Pearsall.
- 2002 winner: The Land, by Mildred D. Taylor. (Also a CSK winner).
- 2001 winner: The Art of Keeping Cool, by Janet Taylor Lisle.
- 2000 winner: Two Suns in the Sky, by Miriam Bat-Ami.
- 1999 winner: Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule, by Harriette Robinet.
- 1998 winner: Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse.
- 1997 winner: Jip, His Story, by Katherine Paterson.
