# Walter Dean Myers Award

The Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature, known as "The Walters,” was created by the American nonprofit We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) in 2014, and the inaugural award was presented in 2016. Named after young adult author Walter Dean Myers, the award recognizes published, diverse authors who champion marginalized voices in their stories. The awards program is managed by WNDB's co-directors Kathie Weinberg and Terry Hong. In 2018, WNDB changed the categories from a single category of young adult titles to two categories of teen and young readers. Subsequent awards include both categories.

## Recipients

Award winners and finalists :
| Year | Category | Recipient | Title | Result |
| 2016 | N/A | Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely | All American Boys | Winner |
| 2016 | N/A | Margarita Engle and Edel Rodriguez (illus.) | Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir | Honor |
| 2016 | N/A | Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon | X | Honor |
| 2017 | N/A | John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nathan Powell | March: Book Three | Winner |
| 2017 | N/A | Marina Budhos | Watched | Honor |
| 2017 | N/A | Meredith Russo | If I Was Your Girl | Honor |
| 2017 | N/A | Nicola Yoon | The Sun Is Also a Star | Honor |
| 2018 | Teen | Jason Reynolds | Long Way Down | Winner |
| 2018 | Teen | Mitlali Perkins | You Bring the Distant Near | Honor |
| 2018 | Teen | Francisco X. Stork | Disappeared | Honor |
| 2018 | Younger Reader | Carole Boston Weatherford and Eric Velasquez (illus.) | Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library | Winner |
| 2018 | Younger Reader | Margarita Engle | Forest World | Honor |
| 2019 | Teen | Elizabeth Acevedo | The Poet X | Winner |
| 2019 | Teen | Tiffany Jackson | Monday’s Not Coming | Honor |
| 2019 | Teen | Emily X.R. Pan | The Astonishing Color of After | Honor |
| 2019 | Younger Reader | Jewell Parker Rhodes | Ghosts Boys | Winner |
| 2019 | Younger Reader | David Bowles | They Call Me Güero | Honor |
| 2019 | Younger Reader | Veera Hiranandani | The Night Diary | Honor |
| 2020 | Teen | Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell (illus.) | Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me | Winner |
| 2020 | Teen | Akwaeke Emezi | Pet | Honor |
| 2020 | Teen | Elizabeth Acevedo | With the Fire on High | Honor |
| 2020 | Younger Reader | Padma Venkatraman | The Bridge Home | Winner |
| 2020 | Younger Reader | Lisa Moore Ramée | A Good Kind of Trouble | Honor |
| 2020 | Younger Reader | Jasmine Warga | Other Words for Home | Honor |
| 2021 | Teen | Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam and Omar T. Pasha (illus.) | Punching the Air | Winner |
| 2021 | Teen | Traci Chee | We Are Not Free | Honor |
| 2021 | Teen | Robin Ha | Almost American Girl | Honor |
| 2021 | Younger Reader | Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed, and Iman Geddy | When Stars Are Scattered | Winner |
| 2021 | Younger Reader | Kacen Callender | King and the Dragonflies | Honor |
| 2021 | Younger Reader | Daniel Nayeri | Everything Sad Is Untrue | Honor |
| 2022 | Teen | Angeline Boulley | Firekeeper’s Daughter | Winner |
| 2022 | Teen | Malinda Lo | Last Night at the Telegraph Club | Honor |
| 2022 | Teen | Kekla Magoon | Revolution in Our Time | Honor |
| 2022 | Younger Reader | Rajani LaRocca | Red, White, and Whole | Winner |
| 2022 | Younger Reader | Thomas King and Natasha Donovan (illus.) | Borders | Honor |
| 2022 | Younger Reader | Eden Royce | Root Magic | Honor |
| 2023 | Teen | Andrea L. Rogers and Jeff Edwards | Man Made Monsters | Winner |
| 2023 | Teen | Sonora Reyes | The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School | Honor |
| 2023 | Teen | Sabaa Tahir | All My Rage | Honor |
| 2023 | Young Reader | Angela Joy and Janelle Washington | Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement | Winner |
| 2023 | Young Reader | Christina Soontornvat | The Last Mapmaker | Honor |
| 2023 | Young Reader | Ibi Zoboi | Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler | Honor |
| 2024 | Teen | Ari Tison | Saints of the Household | Winner |
| 2024 | Teen | Hannah V. Sawyerr | All the Fighting Parts | Honor |
| 2024 | Young Reader | Jacqueline Woodson | Remember Us | Winner |
| 2024 | Young Reader | Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, and S. K. Ali | Grounded | Honor |