California Young Reader Medal Books

The California Young Reader Medal program encourages recreational reading of popular literature among the young people of our state. Since its inception in 1974, millions of California children have nominated, read, and voted for the winners of the California Young Reader Medal.

Young people suggest the names of favorite books for nomination, or teachers and librarians note repeatedly read or request titles, and these are submitted to the California Young Reader Medal Committee. Members of the committee read the suggested books, discuss their merits and appeal to children, and then decide upon a well-balanced list of nominees.

 We will begin reading this year's nominees in the library in January. Over  several weeks, students will hear the books. When we have finished the books, the students will have an opportunity to vote for their favorite book. All the votes will be submitted and sometime in April or May, we will know which book will win the California Young Reader Medal for that year. This is always a fun time and a great opportunity to explore books with different themes or styles of writing that a student might not usually be drawn to. For more information about this program, follow this link:

California Young Reader Medal