Odyssey Award

Odyssey Award
Awarded for	the best audiobook for children
Presented by	Association for Library Service to Children and Young Adult Library Services Association divisions of the American Library Association
Country	United States
First awarded	2008
Official website	http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/odysseyaward/index.cfm

The Odyssey Award is an annual award given to the producer of the best audiobook for children or young adults, available in English in the United States.^[1] It is jointly administered by two divisions of the American Library Association (the Association for Library Service to Children and the Young Adult Library Services Association) and is sponsored by Booklist magazine.^[2] The award is based on production quality, looking at such things as narration, sound quality, background music and sound effects.^[2] It was named in honor of the Homer's eighth century BC epic poem to remind us of the ancient roots of storytelling, while living in our modern world.^[2]

Criteria

• All literary genres are eligible for consideration, including read-alongs.^[3]
• 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.^[3]
• Audiobooks produced previously in another audio format are ineligible for consideration.ref name=OdysseyCriteria />
• 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.^[3]
• Audiobooks featuring single or full cast narration are eligible.^[3]
• 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.^[3]
• If no title is deemed sufficiently meritorious, no award will be given that year.^[3]
• The chair, with assistance from designated ALSC or YALSA staff, is responsible for verifying the eligibility of all nominated titles.^[3]
• The award will be presented to the publisher of the audiobooks.^[3]

Recipients

Year	Title	Producers	Narrator	Writer	Citation
2011	The True Meaning of Smekday	Listening Library	Bahni Turpin	Adam Rex	Winner
2011	Alchemy and Meggy Swann	Listening Library	Katherine Kellgren	L.A. Meyer	Honor
2011	The Knife of Never Letting Go	Brilliance Audio	Nick Podehl	Patrick Ness	Honor
2011	Revolution	Listening Library	Emily Janice Card	Jennifer Donnelly	Honor
2011	will grayson, will grayson	Brilliance Audio	MacLeod Andrews	John Green and David Levithan	Honor
2010	Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken	Live Oak Media	Barbara Rosenblat	Kate DiCamillo	Winner
2010	In the Belly of the Bloodhound	Listen and Live Audio, Inc.	Katherine Kellgren	L.A. Meyer	Honor
2010	Peace, Locomotion	Brilliance Audio	Dion Graham	Jacqueline Woodson	Honor
2010	We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro Baseball	Brilliance Audio	Dion Graham	Kadir Nelson	Honor
2009	The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian	Recorded Books	Sherman Alexie	Sherman Alexie	Winner[4]
2009	Curse of the Blue Tattoo	Listen & Live Audio	Katherine Kellgren	L.A. Meyer	Honor[4]
2009	Elijah of Buxton	Listening Library	Mirron Willis	Christopher Paul Curtis	Honor[4]
2009	I'm Dirty	Scholastic/Weston Woods	Steve Buscemi	Kate McMullan Jim McMullan	Honor[4]
2009	Martina the Beautiful Cockroach	Peachtree	Carmen Agra Deedy	Carmen Agra Deedy	Honor[4]
2009	Nation	HarperAudio	Stephen Briggs	Terry Pratchett	Honor[4]
2008	Jazz	Live Oak Media	James "D-Train" Williams Vaneese Thomas	Walter Dean Myers	Winner[5]
2008	Bloody Jack	Listen & Live Audio	Katherine Kellgren's	L.A. Meyer	Honor[5]
2008	Dooby Dooby Moo	Scholastic/Weston Woods	Randy Travis	Doreen Cronin	Honor[5]
2008	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows	Listening Library	Jim Dales	J.K. Rowling	Honor[5]
2008	Skulduggery Pleasant	HarperChildren's Audio	Rupert Degas	Derek Landy	Honor[5]
2008	Treasure Island	Listening Library	Alfred Molina	Robert Louis Stevenson	Honor[5]

Recipients of Multiple Odyssey Awards

• Listening Library has been honored three times.
• Harper imprints (HarperAudio and HarperChildrensAudio) has been honored twice.
• Listen & Live Audio has been honored twice.
• Scholastic/Weston Woods has been honored twice.

References

1. ^ "Odyssey Award". American Library Association. 2008. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/odysseyaward/index.cfm. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "About the Odyssey Award". American Library Association. 2008. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/odysseyaward/odysseyabout/index.cfm. Retrieved 2009-02-23. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Odyssey Criteria". American Library Association. 2008. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/odysseyaward/odysseyawardeligibilitycriteria/odysseycriteria.cfm. Retrieved 2009-02-23. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Odyssey Award Winners 2009". American Library Association. 2008. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/odyssey/09winners.cfm. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Odyssey Award Winners 2008". American Library Association. 2008. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/odyssey/2008odyssey.cfm. 

External links

• YALSA | Odyssey Award