Congratulations to the 2021 Stonewall Book Award winner and honors! And congratulations, too, to Medal on My Mind co-founders Kazia and Dani for serving on the Real Committee this year. We’re so proud of them! We’re also excited for Dani to continue to serve next year as the 2022 Stonewall Book Award – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award committee chair.

Winner: We Are Little Feminists: Families written by Archaa Shrivastav & designed by Lindsey Blakely

Honors: Beetle & The Hollowbones by Aliza Layne, Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram, Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender and You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

To my knowledge, 2021 marks the first time a board book has ever won a Youth Media Award. It’s also the first time a board book has won the Stonewall Book Award (though Daddy, Papa, and Me and Mommy, Mama, and Me were both honors in 2010). The ALA press release sums up why we all should love We Are Little Feminists: Families: “Understanding queer identities and representation can be this simple. With joyful, expressive photos, delightful rhyming text, and an explicitly feminist and queer positive lens, Families shows children 0-5 the true diversity of the world around them and the families to which they belong.”

Here are some of my favorite post-YMA reactions from Twitter, including a few from the recipients themselves (note: Kacen Callender is not currently posting on Twitter, hence their exclusion from this list).

Congrats to all the Stonewall winners and honor books! I checked my stats and for the first time since 2018 they honored a YA book about a cis queer girl, so I send extra 🌈 congrats to @byleahjohnson and YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN! https://t.co/8W4X1wbGJf

— Malinda Lo (@malindalo) January 26, 2021

Malinda Lo offers congrats to You Should See Me in a Crown, the first honor book featuring a cis queer girl since 2018. (Later in the thread Lo links her “What is ‘Good’ LGBTQ YA?” post, which should be required reading for all Medal on My Mind followers.)

Awesome to see @Little_Feminist win the #Stonewall Book Award at #ALAYMA for a board book that includes not only same-sex families, but gender creative kids and a pregnant transgender man (@Biffandi!) #QueerKidLit

— Mombian (@mombian) January 25, 2021

Mombian (one of my absolute favorite book bloggers) notes the significance that We Are Little Feminists: Families includes a photo of a pregnant trans man.

In tears over here.

Yes…"We Are Little Feminists: Families" won the #stonewall book award from #alayma!

Yes…a board book won!

Yes…an indie publisher won! #stonewall50 #alamw2020 #alamw20 #lgbtqhttps://t.co/eUWP8qdso4

— Little Feminist Book Club (@Little_Feminist) January 25, 2021

I really thought I wasn’t gonna cry but then they showed a picture of my book with that seal on it which means this is real and now I’m nothing more than a sentient puddle of tears so

— Leah says STAY HOME (@byleahjohnson) January 25, 2021

✨🏳️‍🌈💕 ⚢ 💕🏳️‍⚧️💕✨
Thank you so much to the ALA and stonewall committee for making Beetle and the Hollowbones a stonewall honor book! Team beetle is in amazing, astounding company! pic.twitter.com/5KDlGSquaT

— aliza layne the goblin queen (@alizabees) January 25, 2021

Incredibly honored by this. Thank you to all the librarians who have embraced Darius's story and shared it with your readers. And thank you to all the queer kids out there who are going to change the world. I see you. https://t.co/frjUg6Xjzu

— Adib Khorram (@adibkhorram) January 25, 2021

What’s your take? Are there any standout titles you think the committee missed?

While you’re thinking about that, I’d also like to take a moment to celebrate other books with queer content (some confirmed, some minimal, some rumored) that got recognized this year:

• When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller (Newbery Medal, APALA Children’s Literature Winner, BGHB Honor) (rumored)
• King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender (CSK Author Honor, National Book Award Winner, BGHB Winner, Walters Honor)
• Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award)
• Apple: Skin to the Core by Eric Gansworth (Printz Honor, National Book Award Longlist)
• Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh (Printz Honor, National Book Award Finalist)
• Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen! by Sarah Kapit (Schneider Family Book Award Middle Grade Honor)
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Alex Award)
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (Alex Award)
• Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth (Alex Award)
• We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry (Alex Award)
• Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (Odyssey Honor Audiobooks, BGHB Honor, Kirkus Prize Finalist)
• Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard by Echo Brown (Morris Finalist)
• Displacement by Kiku Hughes (APALA Youth Literature Honor)
• Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack (Sydney Taylor Book Award Silver Medalist)
• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (National Book Award Longlist)
• Trowbridge Road by Marcella Pixley (National Book Award Longlist) (rumored)
• Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale with a Tail by Lesléa Newman, illus. Susan Gal (Syndey Taylor Gold Medalist)

… And there you have it! After my year serving on Caldecott’s Real Committee (check out our choices with commentary here!), I’m going to take some time to rest and recalibrate. The rest of the team and I hope to see you back here in the fall! If you’re interested in writing for the blog or have 2021 books to recommend to us, email us at medalonmymind@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @stonewallspex.

Don’t forget to comment with your thoughts on this year’s awards if you have them!