Margaret A. Edwards Award Books
1992 - 1995

1995 - Cynthia Voigt
The books of Cynthia Voigt have shown the lasting ability to speak to the young adult experience and to help readers become more aware of themselves and the world around them.

In presenting this award to Cynthia Voigt for Homecoming, Dicey's Song, Solitary Blue, Building Blocks, The Runner, Jackaroo, and Izzy, Willy-Nilly, the Young Adult Library Services Association recognizes her profound respect for the capability of youth. Voigt's intense character studies introduce young adults to genuine people often isolated from society. While her characters may be orphaned, abandoned, disabled, their strength to overcome adversity is extraordinary.

Homecoming—YA Voigt, C.
Abandoned by their mother, four children begin a search for a home and an identity.  

Dicey's Song—YA NEWBERY Voigt, C.
Thirteen-year-old Dicey Tillerman brings her abandoned family to the home of their eccentric grandmother to learn how to trust, and when to let go. "A rich and perceptive book." 

A Solitary Blue—YA Voigt, C.
Jeff's mother, who deserted the family years before, reenters his life and widens the gap between Jeff and his father, a gap that only truth, love, and friendship can heal.  

Building Blocks—j VOI
What would it be like to be older than your father?   Brann never imagined that he would actually get the chance to find out. But suddenly he is hurled back in time to spend the day with his father as a young boy. In this single mystifying day of adventure, Brann discovers that there is more to his dad -- and fate -- than he thought.

The Runner—YA Voigt, C.
Bullet Tillerman is a track team star who answers to no one. He'd rather be cut from the team than work with the promising new runner, Tamer Shipp. But Bullet finds his own rules are becoming too painful to live by. "A powerful, intensely moving novel . . . unforgettable". 

Jackaroo— YA Voigt, C.      
 When hard times among the People revive the old stories of the hero Jackaroo, an innkeeper's daughter follows her own quest to unlock the secret reality behind the legend.                    

Izzy Willy Nilly—YA Voigt, C.
When Izzy Lingard loses the lower part of her right leg in an auto accident, she is forced to look at her life from a radically different perspective. Newbery winner Voigt shows unusual insight into the workings of a 15-year-old girl's mind. Izzy faces the shock of loss, her friends' inability to cope with that loss, a bungling but bright classmate whose directness helps Izzy face reality, and a supportive, loving family who make her homecoming bearable. Just as Voigt's perceptive empathy brings Izzy to life, other characterizations are memorable, whether of Izzy's shallow former friends or of her egocentric 10-year-old sister.

1994 - Walter Dean Myers
In presenting this award to Walter Dean Myers for Hoops, Motown & Didi, Fallen Angels, and Scorpions, the Young Adult Library Services Association recognizes that these books authentically portray African-American youth, but their appeal is not limited to any particular ethnic group. The writing of Walter Dean Myers illustrates the universality of the teenage experience in urban America.

Hoops—YA Myers, W.

A teenage basketball player from Harlem is befriended by a former professional player who, after being forced to quit because of a point shaving scandal, hopes to prevent other young athletes from repeating his mistake.

MoMoMotown and Didi
Motown and Didi, two teenage loners in Harlem, become allies in a fight against Touchy, the drug dealer whose dope is destroying Didi's brother, and find themselves falling in love with each other.

Fallen Angels—YA Myers, W. 
The critically acclaimed story of one young man's tour of duty in Vietnam and a testament to the thousands of young people who lived and died during the war. This generation's most powerful Vietnam story.

Scorpions—YA Myers, W.

Award-winning author Walter Dean Myers (Brown Angels; The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner) tells the story of 12-year-old Jamal, whose life changes drastically when he acquires a gun. Though he survives the experience, it's not without sacrificing his innocence and possibly his friendship with his best friend.

 
1993 - M.E. Kerr
Kerr says, "When I think of myself and what I would have like to have found in books those many years ago, I remember being depressed by all the neatly tied-up, happy-ending stories, the abundance of winners, the themes of winning, solving, finding - when around me it didn't seem that easy. So I write with a different feeling when I write for young adults. I guess I write for myself at that age."

A native of Auburn, New York, Kerr attended the University of Missouri. She now lives in East Hampton in Long Island, New York. She has written adult mysteries under the name of Vin Packer and has written books for adults under the name M.J. Meaker.

Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack—YA Kerr, M.E.
Published in 1972, Kerr's spectacularly funny and now famous first novel for young adults is not another anti-drug sermon. Dinky does not shoot smack nor is she about to--she only makes the announcement so that her mother will give her some attention.

Gentlehands—YA Kerr, M.E. 
When a newspaper story claims that Buddy Boyle's grandfather is a former Nazi, the ensuing chaos threatens the boy's familial ties and a romantic relationship. Ages 12-up.

Me Me Me Me Me: Not a Novel
"The author recounts escapades from her own teenage years and reveals how many of those real-life people and events served as springboards for the fictional characters and plots in her nine young adult novels."

Night Kites—YA Kerr, M.E.
At 17, Erick Rudd finds that his relatively stable life is turned upside down by two nearly simultaneous events. His best friend Jack's girlfriend Nicki, who's beautiful and flirtatious, makes a play for him. To Nicki, Erick's a challenge; he falls hard for her, but loses his friendship with Jack and his own girlfriend in the process. He also finds out that his older brother Pete is dying of AIDS, which is how he learns that Pete is gay. Through Erick's eyes the reader sees the effect of this shocking news on the Rudd family. Even without having tackled the subject of AIDS, this would have been another fine novel by Kerr: her characterizations are strong and true, and the book's very contemporary references (MTV, Madonna, etc.) will appeal to teens. But it's her sensitive, compassionate treatment of AIDS, and how Erick and his family cope with it, that make this story exceptional, and one of Kerr's most moving yet. 

1992 - Lois Duncan
Lois Duncan provides readers a window to a world that houses many different individuals - the strong, the weak, the kind, the evil, the fortunate, the underprivileged, the arrogant, the submissive, the caring, and the indifferent.

Duncan's novels allow readers to examine themselves, their circumstances and their world. Whether accepting responsibility for the death of an English teacher or admitting to their responsibility for a hit and run accident, Duncan's characters face a universal truth - your actions are important and you are responsible for them.

Duncan started writing as a child, submitting writing for publication when she was 10 and had her first story accepted at 13. At 20, she wrote her first young adult novel. Now a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Lois Duncan has published more than 40 books

Chapters: My Growth as a Writer
The author recounts the experiences from her childhood, adolescence, and marriage which have been incorporated into her fictional stories and poems.

I Know What You Did Last Summer YA Mystery, DUN
It was only an accident -- but it would change their lives forever. Last summer, four terrified friends made a desperate pact to conceal a shocking secret. But some secrets don't stay buried, and someone has learned the truth. Someone bent on revenge. This summer, the horror is only beginning....

Killing Mr. Griffin YA MYSTERY Duncan, L.
A teenager casually suggests playing a cruel trick on the English teacher, but did he intend it to end with murder?

Ransom   YA Duncan, L.
Five were missing on a terrifying ride into a nightmare. In the beginning it was just a bus ride home from school, but the driver is a stranger.

Summer of Fear
Soon after the arrival of cousin Julia, insidious occurrences begin that convince Rachel that Julia is a witch and must be stopped before her total monstrous plan can be effected.

The Twisted Window YA Mystery, DUN
Tracy, a high school junior, becomes embroiled in the problems of a strange boy, who asks her assistance in "snatching" his half-sister from her father who has allegedly kidnapped her.