Each year, there's a contest for the most distinguished informational children's book published in the United States. It's called the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award.

Here are two books I hope win:

I just read this book yesterday and was charmed by the lovely poetic text of Bethany Hegedus who got the endorsement from Maya Angelou's grandson, Colin Johnson, and the Caged Bird Legacy to write this book. Rise! (Lee & Low Books) came out during the 50th year anniversary of Angelou's powerful poetry book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. I was wondering how the author would handle Maya's sexual abuse, and it was done respectfully. (In the endnotes there is information about sexual assault.) As an author, I was in awe of the rhythm of Hegedus's verse, and how she interwined the facts. Plus the illustrations by Tonya Engel are gorgeous and powerful!

The other book I admit I haven't read...yet. But based on all the starred reviews and hub-bub around it, plus knowing how well Deborah Heiligman researched her topic (I follow her on Facebook) and how well she writes, I'm going to blindly choose Torpedoed. 

We'll see which books will win on January 27, 2020 during the ALA Youth Media Awards presentation. Good luck, nominees!

What are your predictions?