New York Times best-selling author Pam Muñoz Ryan is the winner of the Tulsa Library Trust’s 2018 Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers’ Literature.
She will accept the award at a public presentation at Hardesty Regional Library’s Connor’s Cove, 8316 E. 93rd St., Friday, May 4, at 7 p.m. She also will present awards to winners of the 2018 Young People’s Creative Writing Contest at the ceremony.
Ryan is being recognized for writing more than 40 books to inspire imaginations, dreams and pride in all ages. From picture books, early readers and young adult novels, her writing encourages cultural awareness and the importance of believing in yourself.
Ryan began her career as a bilingual Head Start teacher and a director for an early childhood program. Working on her master’s degree in Post-secondary Education at San Diego State University, a professor encouraged Ryan to pursue a career in professional writing.
She remembers after numerous submissions to publishers, “There were so many rejections that, at the time, it would have been painful to count,” she finally broke through in 1994. “One Hundred Is a Family” was published and began a career that has spanned nearly 25 years and with more than 40 published books.
“Echo,” an original fairytale intertwined with historical fiction, was the recipient of the Kirkus Prize and also received the 2016 Newbery Honor.
The American Library Association has recognized her twice as the best Latina author with the Pura Belpre Medal for “Esperanza Rising” (2002) and “The Dreamer” (2011). Presented annually, the award is named after Pura Belpre, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library.
She also has written five “Tony Baloney” books popular with early readers. The series follows Tony, a macaroni penguin, who loves humor and, as a middle sibling, is a bit mischievous.
The Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers’ Literature gives formal recognition, on behalf of the Tulsa County community, to a nationally acclaimed author who has made a significant contribution to the field of literature for young adults. The award, presented by the Tulsa Library Trust, consists of a $7,500 cash prize and an engraved crystal book.
Past winners include: Laurie Halse Anderson (2017), Gordon Korman (2016), Sharon Draper (2015), Jack Gantos (2014), Jim Murphy (2013), Jacqueline Woodson (2012), Kathryn Lasky (2011), Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (2010), Christopher Paul Curtis (2009), Louis Sachar (2008), Kate DiCamillo (2007), Sharon Creech (2006), Avi (2005), Susan Cooper (2004), Russell Freedman (2003), Richard Peck (2002), E.L. Konigsburg (2001), Jerry Spinelli (2000), Jane Yolen (1999), Cynthia Voigt (1998), Gary Paulsen (1997), Walter Dean Myers (1996), Lois Lowry (1994), Katherine Paterson (1993), Madeleine L’Engle (1992) and S.E. Hinton (1991).
For more information on the Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers’ Literature or library programming, call the AskUs Hotline, 918-549-7323, or visit the library’s website, www.tulsalibrary.org.
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