MLA 2025 Youth Literary Awards

MLA's Youth Literary Awards recognize outstanding contributions to youth literature and celebrate the best titles for children and teens. For the past year, MLA Youth Literary Award workgroups have spent thousands of hours reading, reviewing, and discussing hundreds of books to choose the very best titles published in 2024 for Michigan kids. It's our pleasure to share the winners of the 2025 Mitten, YouPer, and Thumbs Up! Awards.

The winner of the 2025 Mitten Award is We Are Definitely Human, written and illustrated by X. Fang, published by Tundra Books.

The winner of the 2025 YouPer Award is And Then, Boom! by Lisa Fipps, published by Nancy Paulsen Books.

The winner of the 2025 Thumbs Up! Award is Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White, published by Peachtree Teen.

Click here to view the announcement video!

Learn more