This year’s John Newbury Medal was awarded to The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. According to the New York Times, the American Library Association announced the prize, given for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature, at its midwinter conference in Denver. The ALA praised Mr. Gaiman’s work, which spent fifteen weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, for its “delicious mix of murder, fantasy, humor and human longing,” and its “magical, haunting prose.” The Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults went to Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. Kadir Nelson, author of We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, and Floyd Cooper, illustrator of The Blacker the Berry by Joyce Carol Thomas, received Coretta Scott King Awards for outstanding books for children and young adults by African American authors and illustrators.