Literary award · United States · since 1998

Alex Award

Literary award by the American Library Association. Established 1998 in United States.

About Alex Award

The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Since 2002, the Alex Awards have been administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association. The awards, initially bestowed in 1998, were named after Baltimore librarian Margaret Alexander Edwards, who was known as "Alex". They are sponsored by the Margaret Alexander Edwards Trust and Booklist magazine. Books published during the previous year are eligible for the awards.

From the Wikipedia article “Alex Awards”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Recent winners

YearWinnerWinning work
2024Jade SongChlorine
2018Eve EwingElectric Arches
2015Anthony DoerrAll the Light We Cannot See
2013Tupelo Hassman—
2012Ready Player One—
2010My Abandonment—
2009Just After Sunset—
—Danzy Senna—

From Wikidata; the list may be incomplete for some years.

Eligibility and entering

Check the official rules of the Alex Award for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.

Sources & data