Last month, I attended the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia.

One of the highlights was witnessing the Youth Media Awards announcements. It was intriguing to watch the reactions of hundreds of librarians who had been waiting all year to hear about the winners.

If you want to read a few good books, or need titles to recommend to a child or a teenager, here is a list of some of the winners:

• Coretta Scott King Book Awards: Given to African-American authors and illustrators for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions.

This year, the author award went to Christopher Paul Curtis, who wrote “Elijah of Buxton,” about 11-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which was a haven for slaves fleeing the American south in 1859.

The illustrator award went to Ashley Bryan for “Let it Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals,” featuring a collage of brightly colored geometric shapes.

• Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature: “The White Darkness” by Geraldine McCaughrean.

Taken to Antarctica by the man she thinks of as her uncle for what she believes to be a vacation, Symone, a troubled 14-year-old, discovers that he is dangerously obsessed with seeking Symme's Hole, an opening that supposedly leads into the center of a hollow Earth.

• The Alex Awards for adult books with specific teen appeal: “The Spellman Files” by Lisa Lutz.

Meet Izzy Spellman, a 28-year-old private eye working for her family's investigative business in this laugh-out-loud debut novel.

• John Newbery Medal to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children: “Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village” by Laura Amy Schlitz.

A collection of short one-person plays featuring characters, between 10 and 15 years old, who live in or near a 13th century English manor.

• Ralph Caldecott Medal to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children: “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick.

When 12-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets mysterious people, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.

• Theodor Seuss Geisel Award to the author and illustrator of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers: “There Is a Bird on Your Head” by Mo Willems.

Gerald the elephant discovers that there is something worse than a bird on your head-two birds on your head!

Sheila B. Anderson is the director of the Seymour Library in Auburn.