Awards

Freeman Book Awards

Graphic Novels Category Winners

2023

The Boy from Clearwater: Book 1

Yu Pei-Yun; illustrated by Zhou Jian-Xin; translated by Lin King
(Levine Querido)

Lost in Taiwan

Mark Crilley
(LBInk/Little, Brown and Company)

Saving H’Non: Chang and the Elephant

Trang Nguyen and Jeet Zdung; iIllustrated by Jeet Zdung
(Dial Books)

Okinawa

Susumu Higa; edited by Andrew Woodrow-Butcher and Christopher Woodrow-Butcher; translated by Jocelyne Allen
(Fantagraphics Books)

2024

The Boy from Clearwater: Book 2

Pei-Yun Yu; illustrated by Jian-Xin Zhou; translated by Lin King
(Levine Querido)

The Other Side of Tomorrow

Tina Cho; illustrated by Deb JJ Lee
(HarperAlley)

Your Letter

Written and illustrated by Hyeon A Cho; translated by WEBTOON
(Ize Press)

Pearl: A Graphic Novel

Sherri L. Smith; illustrated by Christine Norrie
(Graphix)

2025

Spacewalking with You, Volume 1

Inuhiko Doronoda
(Kodansha)

Hikaru in the Light! (Volume 1)

Mai Matsuda
(Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.)

Okchundang Candy

Jung-soon Go; Translated by Aerin Park
(Levine Querido )

Explore Award Winners by Year

Explore Award Winners by Age Group

Children’s Young Adult / Middle Young Adult / High Graphic Novels
About the awards

Honoring East And Southeast Asian Titles for Children and Young Adults

National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), the Committee on Teaching about Asia (CTA) of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), and Asia for Educators (AFE) at Columbia University sponsor the annual Freeman Book Awards for new young adult and children’s literature. The awards recognize quality books for children and young adults that contribute meaningfully to an understanding of East and Southeast Asia. Awards are given in two categories: Children’s and Young Adult on the several countries of East and Southeast Asia.

Learn More Submission Guidelines