The American Library Association (ALA) has announced winners of its Schneider Family Book Awards, which celebrate books that artistically portray the disability experience. These honours accompany the prestigious Newbery and Caldecott Medals and are awarded annually in three age categories: young children (ages 4-8), middle grade (ages 9-13), and young adult (ages 14-18). Each category names one winner and two honour books.

For young children, the winner is Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe, a biography of astrophysicist Wanda Díaz Merced. Despite vision loss from diabetes, she pursues her passion for the cosmos. Honour books include Bat and the Business of Ferrets, following an autistic boy through fourth grade, and I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea, which explores a blind child’s sensory experience of the seasons.

In the middle grade category, Where Only Storms Grow takes the win. It follows 12-year-old twins saving their family’s farm during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression; one twin, affected by scoliosis, proves her strength amid adversity. Award co-chairs Susan Hess and Patricia Bandre praised its “strong depiction of a disability experience in a historical context,” noting the book’s availability in accessible formats like audiobooks. Honour books are Octopus Moon, about a fifth grader facing depression, and The Strongest Heart, centering on a boy whose father lives with mental illness.

The young adult winner is Whale Eyes: A Memoir about Seeing and Being Seen, filmmaker James Robinson’s illustrated account of living with a condition that alters eye focus. Honours go to The Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar, a novel on a 17-year-old navigating sexuality and a bipolar diagnosis, and The Poetry of Car Mechanics, tracking a teen dealing with his mother’s mental health struggles.

Announced at the ALA’s Youth Media Awards in Chicago, winners receive $5,000 and a plaque at the annual conference in June.