Awards

2025 Freeman Book Award Winners

Children’s Literature

Sarang Saves the School

Korena Di Roma Howley; Illustrated by Joowon Oh
(Candlewick Press)

A Spoonful of the Sea

Hyewon Yum
(Norton Young Readers)

Mama’s Special Wonton Soup

Wai Mei Wong; Illustrated by Xin Yue Zhu
(Lantana Publishing)

Chidori: A Story of One Thousand Birds

Jennifer Maruno; Illustrated by Miki Sato
(Pajama Press)

Big Enough

Regina Linke
(Little, Brown and Company Books for Young Readers)

The Endless Sea

Chi Thai; Illustrated by Linh Dao
(Candlewick Press)

Picking Tea with Baba

Xu Bin; Illustrated by Yu Yin; Translated by Shan Chen
(Charlesbridge)

Young Adult / Middle School Literature

The Beasts Beneath the Winds: Tales of Southeast Asia’s Mythical Creatures

Edited by Hanna Alkaf; Illustrated by Jes Wibowo and Cin Wibowo
(Amulet Books)

Seabird

Michelle Kadarusman
(Pajama Press)

The Boy, the Mountain and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon

Caris Avendaño Cruz
(Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group)

Never Silent: A Hiroshima Survivor’s Story

Setsuko Thurlow and Kathy Lowinger; Illustrated by Michelle Theodore
(Annick Press)

Wisdom Stories of Tibet: Tales of Magic, Adventure, and Bravery

Laura Burges with Lama Chonam; Illustrated by Wen Hsu
(Shambhala Publications)

Young Adult / High School Literature

My Mother, the Mermaid Chaser

Jamie Jo Hoang
(Crown Books for Young Readers)

Wild Song

Candy Gourlay
(Lerner Publishing Group)

The Last Tiger

Julia Riew and Brad Riew
(Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House)

Songs for Ghosts: A Novel

Clara Kumagai
(Amulet Books)

Young Adult / Middle & High School Graphic Novels

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