From the American Library Association; press release 26 Jan 09:
DENVER — The American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 Schneider Family Book Awards, which honor an author or illustrator for the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. The award was announced Jan. 26, during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver, January 23 – 28…
…“Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum,” written and illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker and published by Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, won the award for young children.
Jazz musician Art Tatum, who was born with limited vision and lost much of it as he grew, never felt sorry for himself. In this fictionalized biography, children learn that Tatum often forgot that “his eyes weren’t good” as he gave himself to his music, because “with his piano, he had everything he needed.”
Leslie Connor is the winner of the middle-school award for “Waiting for Normal,” published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers.
Addie has spent most of her twelve years “waiting for normal:” a stable family and a real home. Connor’s resilient heroine uses humor, creativity and her “love of learning” to compensate for her dyslexia. Through music and good friends, Addie discovers that she can accomplish anything.
The teen award winner is “Jerk, California,” written by Jonathan Friesen and published by Speak, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
After graduating from high school, Sam/Jack begins a cross country quest to learn the truth about his dead father and embraces his inherited Tourette Syndrome. With the help of an old family friend, a quirky car and girlfriend who has troubles of her own, he finds his way to maturity.
