Sharon M. Draper
Sharon M. Draper is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author. She has been honored as the National Teacher of the Year, is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Literary Awards, and her novel Out of my Mind stayed on the NYT list for almost two years. Blended, her latest novel, has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 10 weeks.
She was selected as Ohio’s Outstanding High School Language Arts Educator, Ohio Teacher of the Year, and was chosen as a NCNW Excellence in Teaching Award winner. She is a Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award winner, and was the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence for the Taft Museum. She has been honored at the White House six times, and was chosen as one of only four authors in the country to speak at the National Book Festival Gala in Washington, D.C, and to represent the United States in Moscow at their Book Festival. Her book Copper Sun has been selected by the US State Department and the International Reading Association as the United States novel for the international reading project called Reading Across Continents.
She is a YWCA Career Woman of Achievement, and is the recipient of the Dean’s Award from Howard University School of Education, the Pepperdine University Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Marva Collins Education Excellence Award, and the Governor’s Educational Leadership Award. In 2018 she was named Ohio Pioneer in Education by the Ohio State Department of Education, and in 2008 she received the Beacon of Light Humanitarian award. In 2009 she received the Doctor of Laws Degree from Pepperdine University. In 2011, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to the field of adolescent literature by The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English, as well as the 33rd Annual Jeremiah Luddington Award by the Educational Book and Media Association, also for lifetime achievement. In 2015 she was honored by the American Library Association as the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime literary achievement. In 2015 she was honored with the Anne V. Zarrow Award by the Tulsa Library Trust., as well as the 2016 Upstander Award by Antioch College.
Blended (2018)
New York Times Bestseller
Starred Publisher’s Weekly review
Starred School Library Journal review
Starred Kirkus Review
Stella by Starlight (2015)
Charlotte Huck award from the National Council of Teachers of English
Starred Kirkus Review
Starred Publisher’s Weekly Review
Starred The Horn Book review
Starred School Library Journal review
Starred Shelf Awareness review
Starred BookPage Review
Best Middle Grade Books of 2015 by Kirkus,
Notable Children’s Books of 2015 by the New York Times
Parents' Choice Award Winner for 2015
Horace Mann Upstander Award
2016 NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People
IRA 2016 Notable Books for Global Society
Best Multicultural Books of 2015 by Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature
Chosen for NYC Reads 365
ALSC Notable Children's Books for 2016
2015 Books by the Banks Author Award /Best Children’s Book
It has been nominated for:
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award for 2017
NAACP Outstanding Literacy Work for Youth/Teen
Georgia Children's Book Awards
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Awards Program
Nebraska Golden Sower Intermediate Award for 2016-2017
Panic (2013)
YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers
Translated into German and Chinese
Out of my Mind (2010)
Read by over 1.5 million young people
New York Times Bestselling for two years
Indie National Bestseller
Josette Frank Award by the Children's Book Committee of the Bank Street College of Education
IRA Teachers' Choice Book
IRA Young Adult's Choice
Best Book of the Year from KIRKUS.
Outstanding Children's book of 2011 by Bank Street College
Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts
Buckeye Children's Book Award
Sunshine State Young Reader's Award in both the middle school and elementary categories
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award from Maryland,
Beehive Book Award from Utah
Virginia Reader's Choice Award
Featured in Time Magazine and Ladies' Home Journal.
Selected to 32 state reading lists and has won the following state awards:
California Young Reader Middle School/Junior High medal
Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award (elementary)
Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award (middle grades)
Illinois Bluestem Award
Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award
Missouri Mark Twain Readers Award
Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award
Minnesota Maud Hrt Lovelace Award
Nevada Young Readers’ Award
New Mexico Land of Enchantment Award
North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award
Ohio Buckeye Children's Book Award
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award
South Dakota Prairie Pasque Award
Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award
Texas Lamplighter Award
Utah Beehive Book Award
Virginia Readers' Choice Award
Washington Sasquatch Award
Translated into Italian, Catalan, Chinese Complex, Chinese Simplified, Spanish, Russian, Korean, German, Hebrew, and Brazilian Portuguese.
Sassy: Little Sister is Not my Name! (2009)
Parent’s Choice Award.
November Blues (2007)
Coretta Scott King Honor Book
New York Public Library Best Books for the Teens
Copper Sun (2006)
New York Times bestseller
Coretta Scott King Literature Award
Booklist Top Ten Historical Fiction Books for Youth
Nominated NAACP Image Award for Literature
Ohioana Award for Young Adult Literature
CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book,
Heartland Award for Excellence in YA Literature
IRA Notable Book for a Global Society
Best Book of the Year by School Library Journal
We Beat the Street (2005)
New York Times Bestseller
VOYA's Non-Fiction Honor List
New York Public Library Best Books for Teens
Fire from the Rock (2007)
NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
New York Public Library Best Books for Teens.
The Battle of Jericho (2003)
Coretta Scott King Honor Book
New York Public Library's Book for the Teens
International Reading Association Young Adult Choice Book
Darkness Before Dawn (2001)
ALA Top Ten Quick Pick
International Reading Association Children's Choice Award
Buckeye Book Award
IRA Young Adult Choice
Double Dutch (2002)
Children's Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
ALA Top Ten Sports Books for Young Adults
Best of the Best by VOYA
Sunshine State Young Reader's Award
Romiette and Julio (1999)
ALA Best Book
International Reading Association Notable Book for a Global Society
New York Public Library Best for Teens
Darkness Before Dawn (2001)
ALA Top Ten Quick Pick
Children's Choice Award from the International Reading Association
Buckeye Book Award
IRA Young Adult Choice
Forged by Fire (1997)
Coretta Scott King Award
ALA BEST Book Award
Parent's Choice Award
Indiana Young Hoosier Award
Tears of a Tiger (1994)
Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
Best of the Year by the Children's Book Council
Best of the Year New York City Library
Best of the Year Bank Street College
Best of the Year National Council for Social Studies
Best of the Best by VOYA
American Library Association top 100 books for young adults
