Tag: OTTER Award

THE HUNGER HEROES: MISSED MEAL MAYHEM Wins the OTTER Award!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ 1 Comment

A little over a year ago, I shared some excited news about Missed Meal Mayhem, the first graphic novel chapter book in my Hunger Heroes series. The news was that the book had been nominated for an OTTER Award, one of three state book awards the book had been put up for. (You can read the original blog post about the OTTER Award HERE.) The OTTER Award, which is given out by the Washington Library Association, is an especially special award. The list of nominees is put together by a group of librarians, and after a year of reading and discussing all the nominees, the winner of the award is chosen by the KIDS of Washington state. And I am beyond delighted and honored to share that, last week, it was announced that The Hunger Heroes: Missed Meal Mayhem WON the award.

There are even MORE reasons why the OTTER Award is so darn awesome, though, one being that the award highlights and celebrates a very specific type of book: so-called “transitional chapter books.” These books — which fall between picture books/early readers and longer, full-fledged chapter books — aim to both attract AND assist readers. In other words, these books need to be ones that kids will not only love to read, but ones that will help them in their journey to becoming stronger, more confident readers. And that is precisely what I tried to accomplish with Missed Meal Mayhem and its sequel, Snack Cabinet Sabotage. The carefully balanced blend of comics and text was designed to grow readers just as it excited and entertained them. To have a bunch of librarians acknowledge the work I did to make such a book — and, by nominating it for their state’s award, let me know they think I made a successful one — and THEN have thousands of young readers use their vote to declare it their favorite? I can’t think of anything better.

THANK YOU to the Washington Library Association, and THANK YOU to every Washington kid who read The Hunger Heroes: Missed Meal Mayhem, whether they ultimately voted for it not. Because getting kids reading and voicing their thoughts and feelings about books — that’s the real prize.

To learn more about the OTTER Award, click HERE.

To see the official announcement about Missed Meal Mayhem‘s big win, click HERE.

~ Jarrett

THE HUNGER HEROES: MISSED MEAL MAYHEM Nominated for an OTTER Award!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ 2 Comments

You might’ve already seen this on my social media feeds, but just in case you haven’t, I’m thrilled to share here that…

The Hunger Heroes: Missed Meal Mayhem was nominated for a Washington State OTTER Award!

Here’s the official announcement:

While EVERY award nomination is a huge honor, this one is especially meaningful because of the specifics of the award and how the nominee list is formed.

First of all, the OTTER Award focuses on books in a unique and, I believe, important and often under-appreciated space, one where young readers often get “lost.” This is what’s commonly called the “transitional” space — the area between picture books and beginning readers and longer, more complex chapter books. While this is beginning to change now, for too long there just haven’t been enough high quality, high interest books in this transitional space. And it’s in this space that kids are often asked to — and usually want to — begin reading independently. That “loss” I mentioned comes about because the leap from picture books and beginning readers to longer, more complex chapter books is a big one. Lots of kids — if not MOST kids — would be far better served by some sort of “bridge,” or at least a handful of “stepping stones” along the way to more easily traverse that gap. THIS is where the “transitional” books come in. It’s a space I love dearly, a space I am passionate about, and maybe because of all that, it’s also a space I find a lot of my work naturally fitting in.

The other amazing thing about the OTTER Award? It’s based, in large part, on kid approval. Here it is, verbatim, from the Washington Library Association’s website:

By focusing this award list on books kids like, not books adults think kids should like, more children across the state will be reading and talking about literature. Nominees will be vetted by child readers so that all titles have a kid stamp of approval.

I mean, COME ON. Is there anything better? For years, every chance I get, I’ve been saying that we need to make kids a part of the decision-making processes behind the creation and curation of their books, and I’ve done all that I can to make that happen. After all, these books that we’re making and sharing and working so hard to get into their hands are FOR them. Any endeavor that doesn’t, at the very least, take them into consideration is inherently flawed. But the fact that the Washington librarians who created and serve on the committee for the OTTER Award include kids to this extent shows just how awesome they are. They really, truly GET it.

And it’s why, as I said before, this honor is an especially meaningful one. Not only has this group of librarians singled out my book as an exemplary one, it’s also been given that official “kid stamp of approval.” So, thank you to the committee members for considering and honoring my book in this way, and THANK YOU to the kids who considered it, too, and gave it their stamp of approval, pushing it over the finish line and getting it this nomination.

Check out the other OTTER Award nominees below — all of which are EXCELLENT — and visit the Washington Library Association’s OTTER Award page HERE.

~ Jarrett