List of Major Awards

2023 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship (Sleeping as Fast as I Can)
2023 Junior Library Guild Gold Medal (One of a Kind: The Life of Sydney Taylor)
2019 Sixth recipient of the Samuel Minot Jones Award for Literary Achievement
2018 Library of Congress National Book Festival—Represented Commonwealth of MA (Body of Work Award)
2018 Sydney Taylor Award Gold Medal – Association of Jewish Libraries (The Language of Angels)
2017 National Jewish Book Award (The Language of Angels)
2017 National Network of Teachers of the Year Social Justice Award 2017 (Across the Alley)
2017 Massachusetts Book Award Honor (Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy)
2017 Sydney Taylor Award Silver Medal – Association of Jewish Libraries (Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy)
2017 Junior Library Guild Gold Medal (The Language of Angels: A Story About the Reinvention of Hebrew)
2016 Junior Library Guild Gold Medal (Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy)
2016 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship (More Money than God)
2016 Paterson Poetry Prize Finalist (More Money than God)
2015 Massachusetts Book Award Finalist (S is for Sea Glass)
2014 Cybils Nominee (poetry)
2013 Harlem Book Fest Phillis Wheatley Award finalist (Twice As Good)
2012 Parents Choice Award (Twice As Good)
2012 Gillette Burgess Award (Twice as Good)
2011 National Jewish Book Award finalist (Lipman Pike)
2011 New York Times Notable Children’s Book (Lipman Pike)
2011 National Council for Social Studies – Notable Trade Book (Busing Brewster)
2010 New York Times: 8 Notable Children’s Books of 2010 (Busing Brewster)
2010 New York Times: 10 Best Illustrated Books (Busing Brewster)
2010 Amazon.com – 12 Best Children’s Books of the Decade (As Good As Anybody)
2009 Sydney Taylor Award Gold Medal – Association of Jewish Libraries (As Good As Anybody)
2009 Massachusetts Book Award finalist (As Good As Anybody)
2009 National Jewish Book Award finalist (As Good As Anybody)
2009 Skipping Stones Multicultural Book Award (As Good As Anybody)
2009 Museum of Tolerance – Once Upon A World – Silver Medal (As Good As Anybody)
2009 Sydney Taylor Award Silver Medal – Association of Jewish Librarians (A is for Abraham)
2008 Top 10 Biographies for Youth: Booklist – American Library Association (As Good As Anybody)
2008 NY Public Library – 100 Best Books for Sharing and Reading (As Good As Anybody)
2008 National Parenting Publications Awards Gold Medal (As Good As Anybody)
2007 Publishers Weekly 10 Best Children’s Books (Tuttle’s Red Barn)
2007 South Dakota Children’s Book Award (Tuttle’s Red Barn)
2007 Paterson Prize – Books for Young People Finalist (Across the Alley)
2007 Teacher’s Choice Award – International Reading Association (Across the Alley)
2007 Association of Jewish Libraries Notable Book for Younger Readers (Across the Alley)
2006 ForeWord – 12 Best Poetry Books (Battles and Lullabies)
2006 National Jewish Book Award finalist (Across the Alley)
2006 Paterson Prize – Books for Young People Finalist (Happy Feet)
2006 National Council for Social Studies – Notable Trade Book (Happy Feet)
2002 Skipping Stones Multicultural Book Award (Too Young for Yiddish)
2002 Association of Jewish Librarians Best of the Bunch (Too Young for Yiddish)
2000 NY Public Library – 100 Best Books for Sharing and Reading (Ten Times Better)
1999 NY Public Library – 100 Best Books for Sharing and Reading (A Book of Flies)
1999 Jewish Book Council Book of the Month (Grandpa’s Gamble)
1996 Children’s Book Committee Best Books of the Year (Animals That Ought To Be)
1993 New Yorker 12 Best Children’s Books (Did You Say Ghosts?)