STREET LITERATURE BOOK AWARD MEDALS (SLBAM) ANNOUNCED FOR 2015 PUBLICATIONS

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**  

STREET LITERATURE BOOK AWARD MEDALS (SLBAM) ANNOUNCED FOR 2015 PUBLICATIONS

Honolulu -- The 2016 Street Literature Book Award Medal (SLBAM) Committee is excited to announce the award winners for 2015 publications. The following winners and honorees were nominated based on popular demand of books as read and circulated by the reading public in school, academic, and public library settings throughout the nation. SLBAM honors what street lit readers are reading and deeming as their best authors and titles for the 2015 publication year.

ADULT NON-FICTION WINNER:             
Between The World And Me / Ta-Nehisi Coates

ADULT NON-FICTION HONOREE:         
The short and tragic life of Robert Peace: a brilliant young man who left Newark for the Ivy League / Jeff Hobbs

ADULT FICTION WINNER:                       
King Divas / De’nesha Diamond

ADULT FICTION HONOREE:                   
Animal III: Revelations / K'wan

GRAPHIC NOVEL WINNER:                   
March: Book Two / John Lewis (author), Andrew Aydin (author), and Nate Powell (illustrator)

GRAPHIC NOVEL HONOREE:               
Legend of the Mantamaji Book 3 / Eric Dean Seaton  (author), Brandon Palas (illustrator), and David Ellis Dickerson (editor)

EBOOK NON-FICTION WINNER:            
Slug: A Boy’s Life in the Age of Mass Incarceration / Tony Lewis Jr.

EBOOK FICTION WINNER:                      
King Divas (Diva Series Book Series) / De'nesha Diamond

YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE WINNER:
Brown Girl Dreaming / Jacqueline Woodson

EMERGING CLASSIC WINNER:              
The Crossover / Kwame Alexander

AUTHOR OF THE YEAR:                          
Kwame Alexander

Note: Honoree awards were conferred upon titles/authors who were within a 1-2 vote margin of the winner. 

The Street Lit Book Award Medals (SLBAM) are conferred annually and have proven to be a useful collection development resource for librarians, teachers, community leaders, and researchers. For a historical listing of the SLBAMs (1999 - present), visit the StreetLiterature.com website or email: SLBAM.Awards@gmail.com.

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Methodology: The Street Literature Book Award Medal (SLBAM) Committee conducted three nomination rounds where they reported on field research of patron readership and reader response to contemporary street literature in libraries across the United States. In response to evolving readership of the genre, two new categories were added this year: eBooks and Graphic Novels. Other special categories include the "Emerging Classic" category, which recognizes a street lit-plotted or -themed book that was published during or before the year of nomination but continues to be in popular demand by the reading public. Another special category, "Author(s) of the Year", recognizes an author or writing team whose publications were particularly well-received by the reading public during the nomination year. Aside from the "Emerging Classic" category, books eligible for SLBAM nomination were required to be published between January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015.

2015-2016 SLBAM Committee Members:
K.C. Boyd, M.Ed., M.L.S., Chicago, IL
Marvin DeBose, Sr., M.L.S., Philadelphia, PA
D.L. Grant, Jr., M.L.S., San Antonio, TX
Patrice Grimball-Smith, Charleston, SC
Takiyah Jemison, M.L.S., Colorado Springs, CO

Vanessa Irvin, M.L.S., Ed.D., is the convener of the Street Literature Book Award Medal (SLBAM) Committee. As convener, Dr. Irvin is a non-voting member of the committee, and focuses on facilitating the committee’s research and nomination round process. Vanessa is the author of the StreetLiterature.com blog, and the award-winning publication, The Readers Advisory Guide to Street Literature (2012). A librarian with over 30 years' experience, Dr. Irvin teaches library and information science at the University of Hawai’i, in Honolulu, HI.

Note: This announcement was corrected on March 21, 2016, to add Mr. Nate Powell as the illustrator of March: Book Two, the Graphic Novel Winner for this year. /vi, 03.21.2016.