# Odyssey Award

The Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production is an annual award conferred by the American Library Association upon the publisher of "the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States". It is jointly administered by two ALA divisions (Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)) and sponsored by Booklist magazine. It recognizes production quality in all respects, considering such things as narration, sound quality, background music and sound effects. It is named for Homer's eighth century BCE epic poem Odyssey, which was transmitted orally, to remind us modern people of the ancient roots of storytelling.
The award was inaugurated in 2008.
For many reasons indicated in the 2008 manifesto, "it is essential for ALSC and YALSA to provide the same level of support for this nonprint format that they have historically provided for print materials, by creating an annual award for the best audiobooks in the field."

## Criteria

Source: "Eligibility & Criteria"
* All literary genres are eligible for consideration, including read-alongs.
* The Committee will consider and vote on titles published within their assigned calendar year, January 1 to October 31, in addition to those published between November 1 and December 31 of the previous year. A title may only be submitted once and cannot be reconsidered the next year.
* Audiobooks produced previously in another audio format are ineligible for consideration.
* The audiobook is intended for either young adults or children, who are defined as persons up to and including age 18; works for this entire age range are to be considered. Adult titles are ineligible.
* Audiobooks featuring single or full cast narration are eligible.
* Audiobooks previously published in another country are eligible presuming they have also been distributed in the United States during the term of eligibility.
* Only audiobooks produced in English are considered, but this requirement does not limit the use of words or phrases in another language where appropriate in context.
* If no title is deemed sufficiently meritorious, no award will be given that year.
* The chair, with assistance from designated ALSC or YALSA staff, is responsible for verifying the eligibility of all nominated titles.
* The award will be presented to the producers of the audiobooks.

## Recipients

In each of the fifteen cycles to 2022, at least one title has been named an Honor Audiobook with five being the greatest number of Honors (2008, 2009, 2018) and one being the fewest (2016). Beginning in the 2022 award-year, two titles may be named Winners, one for Excellence in Audiobook Production for Children, and one for Excellence in Audiobook Production for Young Adults.
Odyssey Award winners and honor audiobooks :
| Year | Author | Title | Producer | Narrator | Citation |
| 2008 | Walter Dean Myers | Jazz | Live Oak Media | James "D-Train" Williams, Vaneese Thomas | Winner |
| 2008 | L. A. Meyer | Bloody Jack | Listen & Live Audio | Katherine Kellgren | Honor |
| 2008 | Doreen Cronin | Dooby Dooby Moo | Scholastic / Weston Woods Studios | Randy Travis | Honor |
| 2008 | J. K. Rowling | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | Listening Library | Jim Dale | Honor |
| 2008 | Derek Landy | Skulduggery Pleasant | HarperCollins Children's Audio | Rupert Degas | Honor |
| 2008 | Robert Louis Stevenson | Treasure Island | Listening Library | Alfred Molina | Honor |
| 2009 | Sherman Alexie | The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian | Recorded Books | Sherman Alexie | Winner |
| 2009 | L. A. Meyer | Curse of the Blue Tattoo | Listen & Live Audio | Katherine Kellgren | Honor |
| 2009 | Christopher Paul Curtis | Elijah of Buxton | Listening Library | Mirron Willis | Honor |
| 2009 | Kate McMullan Jim McMullan | I'm Dirty | Scholastic Media / Weston Woods Studios | Steve Buscemi | Honor |
| 2009 | Carmen Agra Deedy | Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale | Peachtree Publishers | Carmen Agra Deedy | Honor |
| 2009 | Terry Pratchett | Nation | HarperAudio | Stephen Briggs | Honor |
| 2010 | Kate DiCamillo | Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken | Live Oak Media | Barbara Rosenblat | Winner |
| 2010 | L. A. Meyer | In the Belly of the Bloodhound | Listen & Live Audio | Katherine Kellgren | Honor |
| 2010 | Jacqueline Woodson | Peace, Locomotion | Brilliance Audio | Dion Graham | Honor |
| 2010 | Kadir Nelson | We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro Baseball | Brilliance Audio | Dion Graham | Honor |
| 2011 | Adam Rex | The True Meaning of Smekday | Listening Library | Bahni Turpin | Winner |
| 2011 | Karen Cushman | Alchemy and Meggy Swann | Listening Library | Katherine Kellgren | Honor |
| 2011 | Patrick Ness | The Knife of Never Letting Go | Brilliance Audio | Nick Podehl | Honor |
| 2011 | Jennifer Donnelly | Revolution | Listening Library | Emily Janice Card | Honor |
| 2011 | John Green David Levithan | Will Grayson, Will Grayson | Brilliance Audio | MacLeod Andrews | Honor |
| 2012 | Daniel Kraus | Rotters | Listening Library | Kirby Heyborne | Winner |
| 2012 | G. Neri | Ghetto Cowboy | Brilliance Audio | JD Jackson | Honor |
| 2012 | Gary D. Schmidt | Okay for Now | Listening Library | Lincoln Hoppe | Honor |
| 2012 | Maggie Stiefvater | The Scorpio Races | Scholastic Audio Books | Steve West Fiona Hardingham | Honor |
| 2012 | Cynthia Voigt | Young Fredle | Listening Library | Wendy Carter | Honor |
| 2013 | John Green | The Fault in Our Stars | Brilliance Audio | Kate Rudd | Winner |
| 2013 | Eoin Colfer | Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian | Listening Library | Nathaniel Parker | Honor |
| 2013 | Cornelia Funke | Ghost Knight | Listening Library | Elliot Hill | Honor |
| 2013 | Elizabeth Fama | Monstrous Beauty | Macmillan Audio | Katherine Kellgren | Honor |
| 2014 | Daniel Kraus | Scowler | Listening Library | Kirby Heyborne | Winner |
| 2014 | Tim Federle | Better Nate Than Ever | Simon & Schuster Audio | Tim Federle | Honor |
| 2014 | Aaron Reynolds | Creepy Carrots! | Weston Woods Studios | James Naughton | Honor |
| 2014 | Rainbow Rowell | Eleanor & Park | Listening Library | Rebecca Lowman and Sunil Malhotra | Honor |
| 2014 | Roald Dahl | Matilda | Penguin Audio | Kate Winslet | Honor |
| 2015 | Christopher Myers | H.O.R.S.E. A Game of Basketball and Imagination | Live Oak Media | Dion Graham and Christopher Myers | Winner |
| 2015 | Tim Federle | Five, Six, Seven, Nate! | Audioworks division of Simon & Schuster Audio | Tim Federle | Honor |
| 2015 | Julie Berry | The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place | Listening Library | Jayne Entwistle | Honor |
| 2015 | Natalie Lloyd | A Snicker of Magic | Scholastic Audio | Cassandra Morris | Honor |
| 2016 | Kimberly Brubaker Bradley | The War That Saved My Life | Listening Library | Jayne Entwistle | Winner |
| 2016 | Pam Muñoz Ryan | Echo | Scholastic Audio | Mark Bramhall, David de Vries, MacLeod Andrews, Rebecca Soler | Honor |
| 2017 | Gavriel Savit | Anna and the Swallow Man | Listening Library | Allan Corduner | Winner |
| 2017 | Emma Shevah | Dream On, Amber | Recorded Books | Laura Kirman | Honor |
| 2017 | Jason Reynolds | Ghost | Simon & Schuster Audio | Guy Lockard | Honor |
| 2017 | ND Stevenson | Nimona | HarperAudio | Rebecca Soler, Jonathan Davis, Marc Thompson, January LaVoy, Natalie Gold, Peter Bradbury and David Pittu | Honor |
| 2018 | Angie Thomas | The Hate U Give | HarperAudio | Bahni Turpin | Winner |
| 2018 | Philip Pullman | The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage | Listening Library | Michael Sheen | Honor |
| 2018 | Matt Haig | A Boy Called Christmas | Listening Library | Stephen Fry | Honor |
| 2018 | Jason Reynolds | Long Way Down | Simon & Schuster Audio | Jason Reynolds | Honor |
| 2018 | Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews | Trombone Shorty | Live Oak Media | Dion Graham | Honor |
| 2018 | Cressida Cowell | The Wizards of Once | Hachette Audio | David Tennant | Honor |
| 2019 | Courtney Summers | Sadie | Macmillan Audio | Rebecca Soler, Fred Berman, Dan Bittner, Gabra Zackman, and more | Winner |
| 2019 | Carson Ellis | Du Iz Tak? | Weston Woods Studios | Eli D’Amico, Sebastian D’Amico, Burton Fott, Galen Fott, Laura Fott, Sarah Hart, Bella Higginbotham, Evelyn Hipp, and Brian Hull | Honor |
| 2019 | Susan Wood | Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist | Live Oak Media | Brian Amador | Honor |
| 2019 | Varian Johnson | The Parker Inheritance | Scholastic Audio | Cherise Booth | Honor |
| 2019 | Elizabeth Acevedo | The Poet X | HarperAudio | Elizabeth Acevedo | Honor |
| 2020 | Jarrett J. Krosoczka | Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction | Scholastic Audio | Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Jeanne Birdsall, Jenna Lamia, Richard Ferrone and more | Winner |
| 2020 | K.A. Holt | Redwood and Ponytail | Hachette Audio | Cassandra Morris and Tessa Netting | Honor |
| 2020 | Lynne Kelly | Song for a Whale | Listening Library | Abigail Revasch with Lynne Kelly | Honor |
| 2020 | Traci Sorell | We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga | Live Oak Media | Lauren Hummingbird, Agalisiga (Choogie) Mackey, Ryan Mackey, Traci Sorell, Tonia Weavel | Honor |
| 2020 | Geoff Rodkey | We're Not from Here | Listening Library | Dani Martineck | Honor |
| 2021 | Deborah Wiles | Kent State | Scholastic Audio | Christopher Gebauer, Lauren Ezzo, Christina DeLaine, Johnny Heller, Roger Wayne, Korey Jackson, and David de Vries | Winner |
| 2021 | Elizabeth Acevedo | Clap When You Land | HarperAudio | Elizabeth Acevedo and Melania-Luisa Marte | Honor |
| 2021 | Kimberly Brubaker Bradley | Fighting Words | Listening Library | Bahni Turpin | Honor |
| 2021 | Jason Reynolds | Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You | Hachette Audio | Jason Reynolds | Honor |
| 2021 | Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed | When Stars Are Scattered | Listening Library | Faysal Ahmed, Barkhad Abdi and a full cast | Honor |
| 2022 | C. G. Esperanza | Boogie Boogie, Ya'll | HarperAudio | C. G. Esperanza | Winner (Children) |
| 2022 | Pamela N. Harris | When You Look Like Us | HarperAudio | Preston Butler III | Winner (Young Adults) |
| 2022 | Laurie Ann Thompson | Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah | Listening Library | Adjoa Andoh | Honor |
| 2022 | Jordan Scott | I Talk Like a River | Dreamscape Media | Jordan Scott | Honor |
| 2022 | Olivia Abtahi | Perfectly Parvin | Listening Library | Mitra Jouhari | Honor |
| 2023 | Jason Reynolds | Stuntboy, In the Meantime | Simon & Schuster Audio | Guy Lockard, Nile Bullock and Angel Pean with a full cast | Winner (Children) |
| 2023 | Ryan La Sala | The Honeys | Scholastic Audio | Pete Cross | Winner (Young Adults) |
| 2023 | Mac Barnett | The Three Billy Goats Gruff | Weston Woods Studios and Scholastic Audio | Mac Barnett | Honor |
| 2023 | Leigh Bardugo, adaptation by Garet Scott | Demon in the Wood Graphic Novel | Macmillan Audio | Ben Barnes and a full cast | Honor |
| 2023 | Elizabeth Acevedo | Inheritance: A Visual Poem | HarperAudio | Elizabeth Acevedo | Honor |
| 2023 | Jarrett J. Krosoczka | The First Helping (Lunch Lady Books 1 & 2) | Listening Library | Kate Flannery, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, and a full cast | Honor |
| 2024 | Cece Bell | El Deafo | Listening Library | Full cast | Winner (Children) |
| 2024 | Nick Brooks | Promise Boys | Macmillan Young Listeners | Full cast | Winner (Young Adults) |
| 2024 | Grace Lin | Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods | Hachette Audio | Lisa Ling | Honor |
| 2024 | Pedro Martín | Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir | Penguin Random House Audio | Full cast | Honor |
| 2024 | Kiyash Monsef | Once There Was | Simon & Schuster Audio | Nikki Massoud | Honor |
| 2024 | Lucy Strange | Sisters of the Lost Marsh | Scholastic Audio | Lucy Strange | Honor |
| 2024 | Elizabeth Wein | Stateless | Hachette Audio | Moira Quirk | Honor |

## Multiple awards

Listening Library has won 5 awards and Live Oak Media and Harper have each won 3.
Katherine Kellgren is the narrator of the most Odyssey-honored titles at five Honor Audiobooks, including three written by L. A. Meyer and produced by Listen & Live Audio — the first, second, and fourth Jacky Faber books.
2009
Sherman Alexie, author and narrator of the 2009 Odyssey Award-winning audiobook, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, also won the annual National Book Award for Young People's Literature for the print edition of that book (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, September 2007).
2020
Jarret J. Krosoczka, who wrote, illustrated, and narrated the 2020 Odyssey-winning audiobook Hey, Kiddo, was a National Book Award for Young People's Literature finalist for the print edition.