California Young Reader Medal

You vote, you decide! LAUSD students can help choose the winners of the California Young Reader Medal!

The Los Angeles Unified School District is letting everyone know that our students can help determine the winner of a prestigious California book prize: the California Young Reader Medal. Students read the nominated books, choose their favorite, and then vote in their school library. The books with the most votes in California are the winners!

Categories include picture books, picture books for older readers, intermediate, middle school, and young adult. There are five nominated books in the picture book category and three nominations in each of the other categories. The 2025-26 nominees are listed on the California Young Reader’s Medal website. This California program that encourages love of reading has been around for over five decades!

Voting processes for the California Young Reader Medal should be guided by an educator for submission. Children and teens who have read all books in the category can vote, and the educator tallies and submits the vote numbers for each book. All votes are due by April 1, 2026. (Midnight deadline for online ballot counts; postmark deadline for paper mailed ballots.) Winners will be announced on May 1, 2026. Information and the voting form is online. Vote — California Young Reader Medal

Recommendations for next year currently accepted. Students, librarians, and teachers may make recommendations on the California Young Reader Medal website for consideration next year. Recommended books must have been published within the past four years (2023-2026) by a living author. Books must be works of fiction except for the Picture Books for Older Readers category. Graphic novel recommendations are accepted. Picture books without words are not eligible. Recommend a Title — California Young Reader Medal

Read the books in the LAUSD Learning Library on Sora or check one out from your library today!