Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award
# Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award

The Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (RCYRBA) is an annual award given to the author of the book voted most outstanding by students in grades four through eight in participating Illinois schools and libraries. It is named in honor of children's author Rebecca Caudill, who lived and worked in Urbana, Illinois, and has been presented annually since 1988. It is administered by a volunteer board of directors and presented in cooperation with the Illinois Association of Teachers of English, the Illinois Reading Council, and the Illinois School Library Media Association.

Books honored by this award are selected by a popular vote taken of students between the fourth and eighth grades in the State of Illinois. Books are nominated two years in advance of a selection year by students, teachers, and school and public librarians. The nominations are narrowed down to twenty choices by the 70-80 member RCYRBA Evaluator's Committee, and put forward as that year's "Master List." Participating schools and public libraries then collect votes from children starting during the fall of the prior year, up through the end of February in the awarding year, and the award winner is announced each March.

## Winners

Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award winners :

| Year | Author | Title |
| - | - | - |
| 1988 | Lynne Reid Banks | The Indian in the Cupboard |
| 1989 | Betty Ren Wright | The Dollhouse Murders |
| 1990 | Mary Downing Hahn | Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story |
| 1991 | Roald Dahl | Matilda |
| 1992 | Lois Lowry | Number the Stars |
| 1993 | Jerry Spinelli | Maniac Magee |
| 1994 | Phyllis Reynolds Naylor | Shiloh |
| 1995 | Caroline Cooney | Flight Number 116 is Down |
| 1996 | Lois Lowry | The Giver |
| 1997 | Barbara Robinson | The Best School Year Ever |
| 1998 | Barbara Park | Mick Harte Was Here |
| 1999 | Andrew Clements | Frindle |
| 2000 | Gail Carson Levine | Ella Enchanted |
| 2001 | J. K. Rowling | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone |
| 2002 | Louis Sachar | Holes |
| 2003 | Laurie Halse Anderson | Fever, 1793 |
| 2004 | Anthony Horowitz | Stormbreaker |
| 2005 | Carl Hiaasen | Hoot |
| 2006 | Christopher Paolini | Eragon |
| 2007 | Sarah Weeks | So B. It |
| 2008 | Jordan Sonnenblick | Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie |
| 2009 | Rick Riordan | The Lightning Thief |
| 2010 | Mary Downing Hahn | All the Lovely Bad Ones |
| 2011 | Suzanne Collins | The Hunger Games |
| 2012 | Matthew Cody | Powerless |
| 2013 | Raina Telgemeier | Smile |
| 2014 | R. J. Palacio | Wonder |
| 2015 | Marie Lu | Legend |
| 2016 | Richard Paul Evans | Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 |
| 2017 | Kwame Alexander | The Crossover |
| 2018 | Jennifer A. Nielsen | A Night Divided |
| 2019 | Jason Reynolds | Ghost |
| 2020 | Alan Gratz | Refugee |
| 2021 | Kelly Yang | Front Desk |
| 2022 | Dan Gemeinhart | The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise |
| 2023 | Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed | When Stars Are Scattered |
