Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Winner Announced

This year's winners of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature is American author Katherine Paterson. Two of Paterson's children's novels, Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob I Have Loved are Newbery Medal winners and one, The Great Gilly Hopkins, is a Newbery Honor Book. Paterson's other awards include two National Book Awards for Children's Literature and the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for the body of her work. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award was established by the Swedish government in memory of the beloved Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, the author of Pippi Longstocking and other children's books, who died in 2002. According to the Award jury,

"Katherine Paterson (USA) is a brilliant psychologist who gets right under the skin of the vulnerable young people she creates, whether in historical or exotic settings, or in the grim reality of the USA today. With a deft aesthetic touch she avoids simple solutions, building instead on the inner strength and courage of her main characters."