Westchester Fiction Award

The Westchester Fiction Award was founded in 2009 by

Suzanne Osman, a teacher librarian for the Los Angeles

Unified School District in Los Angeles, California. In its

eleventh year, this award honors talented authors who

contribute exemplary literature to the Young Adult literary

canon & the visionary publishers who bring their texts to

life. When evaluating literature, the committee considers

the following questions:

1. Does the work have immediate and widespread appeal to adolescents?

2. Is the work FICTION? We do not consider works of non-fiction.

3. Is the theme/topic meaningful and relevant today?

4. If the work is part of an established series, can it stand alone?

5. Is there a unique quality to the work (voice, message, language, format,

etc.)?

6. Is the writing rich, compelling, detailed?

7. Are the main characters and content age appropriate for high school

students?

8. Is the work a valuable addition to the Young Adult literary canon?

If you are a publisher of Young Adult literature and would like to have some of your current titles considered for a Westchester Fiction Award, please contact Suzanne Osman at sosman@lausd.net for more information.

If you are an author of Young Adult literature and would like to have some of your current titles considered for a Westchester Fiction Award, please forward this website to your publisher and ask them to contact Suzanne.

If you are a librarian (school or public) or teacher of young adults and would like to serve on the Westchester Fiction Award committee, please contact Suzanne for more information. We actively recruit new members every summer.