The Virtual 2021 Symposium on Diversity in Children’s Literature and the Walter Dean Myers Awards
For the first time ever, WNDB is excited to present our annual Symposium and the Walter Awards as a virtual event! Due to COVID, we will miss the opportunity to gather in person at the Library of Congress, which has generously co-hosted the Walters since 2016, but we look forward to reaching a global audience with an online platform this year.
Please join us in celebrating this year’s winners and honorees!
WNDB warmly thanks BookBub for sponsoring the 2021 Walter Awards.
The 2021 Walter Dean Myers Awards Ceremony will be live on the We Need Diverse Books YouTube channel on March 12, 2021, at 1 pm EST.
2021 Winners + Honorees
Walter Award
Teen Category
Ibi Zoboi
Yusef Salaam
Omar T. Pasha
Ibi Zoboi holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her novel, American Street, was a National Book Award finalist and a New York Times Notable Book. She is also the author of Pride and My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich, a New York Times bestseller. She is the editor of the anthology, Black Enough. Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, she now lives in New Jersey with her husband and their three children.
Dr. Yusef Salaam was just 15 years old when his life was upended after being wrongly convicted with four other boys in the “Central Park Jogger” case. Their sentences were overturned in 2002 after years spent in prison. Now known as the "Exonerated 5," their story has been documented in the award-winning film, The Central Park Five, by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon and in Ava DuVernay’s highly acclaimed Netflix series, When They See Us. Yusef is now a poet, activist, and inspirational speaker. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from President Barack Obama. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, Sanovia, and their children.
Omar T. Pasha is an illustrator and designer based in Los Angeles.
Walter Honors
Teen Category
Traci Chee is an all-around word geek: she loves book arts and art books, poetry and paper crafts. She studied literature and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and earned a master of arts degree from San Francisco State University. Traci grew up in a small town with more cows than people, and now feels most at home in the mountains, scaling switchbacks and happening upon hidden highland lakes. She lives in California with her fast-fast dog.
Robin Ha is a Korean American cartoonist based in Washington, DC. She grew up reading and drawing comics in Seoul, Korea, and moved to the U.S. at 14. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, she headed to NYC and worked in the fashion industry for several years before diving back into comics. Cook Korean!: A Comic Book With Recipes, was a New York Times bestselling cookbook graphic novel.
Walter Award
Younger Readers Category
Victoria Jamieson
Omar Mohamed
Iman Geddy
Victoria Jamieson received her BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design and worked as a children’s book designer before becoming a full-time illustrator. She’s also been a portrait artist aboard a cruise ship and has lived in Australia, Italy, and Canada. In addition to When Stars Are Scattered, her graphic novels include All’s Faire in Middle School and Roller Girl, which received a Newbery Honor. She now lives with her family in Pennsylvania.
Omar Mohamed spent his childhood in Kenya's Dadaab camp after his father was killed and he was separated from his mother in Somalia. He devoted everything to taking care of his younger brother, Hassan, and to pursuing his education. He now lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with his wife and five children, and works at a center to help resettle other refugees. He is the founder of Refugee Strong, a nonprofit organization that empowers students living in refugee camps.
Iman Geddy is a graphic designer, illustrator, and comic book artist based in Atlanta.
Walter Honors
Younger Readers Category
Daniel Nayeri was born in Iran and spent several years as a refugee before immigrating to Oklahoma at age 8 with his family. He is the author of several books including the YA novella-quartet, Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow. Daniel also won the 2021 Michael L. Printz Award for Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story). He is a former professional pastry chef, and if he’s not writing or baking, he’s likely playing board games or riding motorcycles.
Kacen Callender is originally from Saint Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Kacen has a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA from the New School’s Creative Writing program with a concentration in Writing for Children and Young Adults. They are also the author of Felix Ever After and This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story for YA readers. Their MG titles include King and the Dragonflies and Hurricane Child, which won the Stonewall Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award.
BookBub congratulates the 2021 Walter winners and honorees!
BookBub is a marketing platform that provides authors and publishers with a suite of tools designed to help them achieve their book marketing goals. Each year, BookBub partners with a number of organizations that are focused on uplifting and empowering those who are underrepresented and marginalized within the publishing and tech spaces.
2021 Ceremony Emcee + Symposium Moderator
Ceremony Emcee Laurie Halse Anderson is a New York Times bestselling author whose audiences span young readers, teens, and adults. Her books have sold more than 8 million copies. Laurie has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award three times. Two of her books, Speak and Chains, were National Book Award finalists, and Chains was short-listed for the prestigious British Carnegie Medal. Laurie was also selected by the American Library Association for the 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award and has been honored for her battles for intellectual freedom by the National Coalition Against Censorship and the National Council of Teachers of English. She lives in Philadelphia, where she enjoys cheesesteaks while she writes.
Symposium Moderator Deborah Taylor is the 2015 recipient of the Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Practitioner Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Library Association. She recently retired as the coordinator of school and student services at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, where she worked since 1974 in various roles. She has also served as president of the Young Adult Library Services Association and as chair of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards. Taylor received both her BA and MA from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Judging Committee
Morika Tsujimura (2021 Walters Chair) teaches Math and Science at Grace Church School in New York City. Her previous service on book committees include the 2020 Walter Awards Committee and the Bank Street Children’s Book Committee, as well as the Cook Prize and the Irma Black Prize, both awarded by the Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature. Morika is also involved in organizing the annual Young Men of Color Symposium and YALA Gala for APISA+ youth and has presented at national conferences for the Progressive Educators Network and NAIS. Born in Nagano, Japan, she grew up in Harlem and now lives in the Bronx.
Cathy Berner, a former school librarian, is the Children’s/YA Specialist and Event Coordinator at Blue Willow Bookshop, an independent bookstore on the west side of Houston, Texas. She also serves as the programming coordinator for three literary festivals: Bookworm, TweensRead, and TeenBookCon, all of which promote reading and literacy by connecting young readers and authors.
Lindsay Hall has been fortunate to work with students from grades kindergarten through 12th grade, and is currently a lower school librarian at Sidwell Friends. She has spread great books for children through projects in Guatemala, Ghana, and Jamaica. A Georgia native, she currently lives in Washington, DC, and has occasionally reminds people that #DCPSNeedsLibrarians.
Alicia K. Long is an academic librarian and Access Services Supervisor at the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota. She also is an adjunct instructor at the University of South Florida’s School of Information, where she teaches Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults. She is a past Chair and member of the Pura Belpré Award Selection Committee (co-sponsored by REFORMA and ALSC), a former reviewer for The Horn Book Magazine, a 2012 ALA Emerging Leader, and a 2010 ALA Spectrum Scholar. Alicia is originally from Argentina.
Gregory Lum is the Library Director at Jesuit High School’s Clark Library in Portland, Oregon. He's worked for over 30 years as a classroom teacher or school librarian. He previously served on the Michael L. Printz Award Committee in 2012 and 2014, as chair of the 2016 Excellence in Nonfiction Award Committee, the 2018 Schneider Family Book Award Committee, the 2019 John Newbery Medal Committee, and will return to the 2022 Walter Awards Committee. Most recently, Gregory was recognized as YALSA’s 2021 Volunteer of the Year. He lives in Portland, Oregon, and enjoys traveling with his four grown children.
Joe Prince, a former middle school librarian, is the Curriculum & Outreach Educator at Bowling Green State University’s Jerome Library. He previously served on the 2020 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Committee and will serve on the 2022 Sibert Committee. He lives in Bowling Green, Ohio, with his husband and their collection of cardigans.
Hadeal Salamah is a Lower/Middle School Librarian at Georgetown Day School in Washington, DC. She previously served on the 2021 APALA Picture Book Committee, the 2020 APALA Literature Committee, the 2019 Stonewall Book Awards-Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children's and Young Adult Literature Award, and the 2018 ALSC Building Partnerships Committee as Co-Chair. She will serve on the 2022 Newbery Medal Committee. Hadeal reviews for Kirkus and is a co-founder of Hijabi Librarians, where she is one of four librarians reviewing children’s and young adult literature featuring Muslims.
co-directors + chairs
Kathie Weinberg
Co-Director Walter Awards
Library consultant, Library of Congress Young Readers Center
Program Coordinator, An Open Book Foundation
Terry Hong
Co-Director Walter Awards
Smithsonian BookDragon
Maria Salvadore
Honorary Chair
Consultant, PBS/Reading Rockets
Children’s Book Buyer, Politics & Prose
About Walter Dean Myers
and the Walter Awards
About the LOC
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States—and extensive materials from around the world— both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services, and other programs, and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
Special Thanks
The Library of Congress
Dr. Carla Hayden
Marie Arana
Anya Creightney
Monica Valentine
Sasha Dowdy
Naomi Coquillon
The 2021 Walter Awards Judging Committee
The Walter Dean Myers family
Laurie Halse Anderson
Deborah Taylor
Buoyant Partners
Phyllis Sa
BookBub
