Freeman Awards

The Freeman Book Awards are annual awards for new young adult and children's literature, that contribute meaningfully to an understanding of East and Southeast Asia.

Establishment

In 2016 the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia, the Committee on Teaching about Asia of the Association for Asian Studies, and Asia for Educators at Columbia University announced the establishment of the annual Freeman Book Awards for new young adult and children’s literature. The awards recognize quality books for children and young adults that contribute meaningfully to an understanding of East and Southeast Asia. Awards are given in two categories: Children’s and Young Adult on the several countries of East and Southeast Asia. The awards were inaugurated in 2016. They are named for the Freeman Foundation.
The Freeman Foundation was established in 1994 through the bequest and in memory of the businessman and benefactor Mansfield Freeman, a co-founder of the international insurance and financial conglomerate American International Group, Inc., better known as AIG. It is dedicated to "augmenting international understanding between the United States and the nations of East Asia.

Winner and honorable mentions, 2021

Source:
Children’s Literature

Winner: The Floating Field, by Scott Riley, Illustrated by Nguyen Quang and Kim Lien - no-fiction, set in Thailand
Honorable Mention: Saving Sorya Chang and the Sun Bear, by Trang Nguyen, Illustrated by Jeet Zdung - fiction, set in Vietnam
Honorable Mention: The Star Festival, by Moni Ritchie Hadley, Illustrated by Mizuho Fujisawa - fiction, set in Japan

Young Adult/Middle School Literature

Winner: Finding Junie Kim, by Ellen Oh - fiction, set in Korea and America
Honorable mention: Temple Alley Summer, By Sachiko Kashiwaba, translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa, Illustrated by Miho Satake - fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: While I Was Away, by Waka T. Brown - fiction, set in Japan and America
Of Note: How Do You Live?, by Genzaburō Yoshino, translated by Bruno Navasky - fiction, set in Japan
Of Note: Soul Lanterns, by Shaw Kuzki, translated by Emily Balistrieri - fiction, set in Japan

Young Adult/High School Literature

Winner: Tsunami Girl, by Julian Sedgwick, illustrated by Chie Kutsuwada - fiction, set in Japan and America
Winner: The Waiting, by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, illustrated by Chie Kutsuwada - fiction, set in Korea
Honorable Mention: Colorful, by Eto Mori, translated by Jocelyne Allen - fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: Freedom Swimmer, by Wai Chim -, fiction, set in China
Honorable Mention: The Minamata Story, by Sean Michael Wilson, illustrated by Akiko Shimojima - non-fiction, set in Japan
Of Note: The Forest of Stolen Girls, by June Hur - fiction, set in Korea

Winner and honorable mentions, 2020

Source:
Children's Literature

Winner: No Steps Behind: Beate Sirota Gordon’s Battle for Women’s Rights in Japan by Jeff Gottesfeld, illus. Shiella Witanto - Non-fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: A Bowl of Peace: A True Story by Caren Stelson, illus. Akira Kusaka - Non-fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: Rice by Hongcheng Yu - Non-fiction, set in China
Honorable Mention: The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story, by Tina Cho, illus. by Jess X. Snow - Fiction, set in Korea

Young Adult/Middle School Literature

Winner: Brother’s Keeper, by Julie Lee - fiction, set in Korea
Honorable Mention: Beyond Me, by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu - fiction, set in Japan
Of Note: All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team, by Christina Soontornvat - non-fiction, set in Thailand

Young Adult/High School Literature

Winner: Crossing the Farak River, by Michelle Aung Thin - fiction, set in Myanmar
Winner: Year of the Rabbit, by Tian Veasna, Translated by Helge Dascher - non-fiction, set in Cambodia
Honorable Mention: The Silence of Bones, by June Hur - fiction, set in Korea
Honorable Mention: Tiananmen 1989: Our Shattered Hopes, by Lun Zhang and Adrien Gombeaud, Illustrated by Ameziane - non-fiction, set in China
Of Note: Almond, by Won-pyung Sohn, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee - fiction, set in Korea
Of Note: Like Spilled Water, by Jennie Liu -fiction, set in China
Of Note: Banned Book Club, by Kim Hyun Sook, Ryan Estrada, Illustrated by Hyung-Ju Ko - non-fiction, set in Korea

Winners and honorable mentions, 2019

Source:
Children’s Literature

Winner: The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota’s Garden by Heather Smith, illus. Rachel Wada - Fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando by Andrea Wang, illus. Kana Urbanowicz - Non-fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: The Moose of Ewenki by Gerelchimeg Blackcrane, illus. by Jiu Er - Fiction, set in Inner Mongolia, China
Honorable Mention: When Spring Comes to the DMZ by Uk-Bae Lee - Fiction, set in Korea

Young Adult/Middle School Literature

Winner: All The Ways Home by Elsie Chapman - Fiction, set in Japan
Winner: A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata, Illustrated by Julia Kuo - Fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: Girl of the Southern Sea by Michelle Kadarusman - Fiction, set in Indonesia
Of Note: House Without Walls by Ching Yeung Russell - Fiction, set in Vietnam
Of Note: The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan Sherry Thomas - Fiction, set in China

Young Adult/High School Literature

Winner: The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf - Fiction, set in Malaysia
Winner: Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay - Fiction, set in the Philippines
Honorable Mention: Indigo Girl by Suzanne Kamata - Fiction, set in America and Japan

Winners and honorable mentions, 2018

Source:
Children’s Literature

Winner: Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean: Remembering Chinese Scientist Pu Zhelong’s Work for Sustainable Farming by Sigrid Schmalzer, illus. by Melanie Linden Chan - Non fiction, set in China
Honorable Mention: The Turtle Ship by Helena Ku Rhee, illus. by Colleen Kong-Savage - Fiction, set in Korea
Honorable Mention: Confucius: Great Teacher of China by Demi, - Non fiction, set in China
Honorable Mention: Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story by Marc Tyler Nobleman, illus. by Melissa Iwai - Non fiction, set in the U.S.
Of Note: My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder by Nie Jun, trans. by Edward Gauvin - Fiction, set in China

Young Adult/Middle School Literature

Winner: Grenade by Alan Gratz - Historical fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter by Atelier Sento, Cecile Brun, Olivier Pichard, trans. by Marie Velde - Fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa - Fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: Too Young to Escape: A Vietnamese Girl Waits to be Reunited with Her Family by Van Ho and Marsha Skrypuch - Non fiction, set in Vietnam

Young Adult/High School Literature

Winner: Go: A Coming of Age Novel by Kazuki Kaneshiro, Translated by Takami Nieda - Fiction, set in Japan
Winner: The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan - Fiction, set in Taiwan
Honorable Mention: Girls on the Line by Jennie Lie - Fiction, set in China
Honorable Mention: Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman - Fiction, set in East and South Asia
Of Note: The Analects: An Illustrated Edition by Confucius, Adapted and Illustrated by C.C. Tsai, trans. by Brian Bruya, With a foreword by Michael Puett - Non fiction, set China
Of Note: The Dragon Ridge Tombs by Tianxia Bachang, trans. by Jeremy Tiang - Fiction, set China

Winners and honorable mentions, 2017

Source:
Children's Literature

Winner: The Crane Girl by Curtis Manley, illustr. by Lin Wang - Fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: An’s Seed by Zaozao Wang, illustr. by Li Huang, tr. Helen Wang - Fiction, set in China
Honorable Mention: Chibi Samurai Wants a Pet by Sanae Ishida - Fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: My First Book of Vietnamese Words by Tran Thi Minh Phuoc - Fiction, set in Vietnam

Young Adult/Middle School Literature

Winner: Bronze and Sunflower by Cao Wenxuan, illustr. by Meilo So, tr. Helen Wang - Fiction, set in China
Honorable Mention: Hotaka: Through My Eyes – Natural Disaster Zones by John Heffernan, edited by Lyn White - Fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: Ten: A Soccer Story by Shamini Flint - Fiction, set in Malaysia
Honorable Mention: The Emperor’s Riddle by Kat Zhang - Fiction, set in China

Young Adult/High School Literature

Winner: The Forbidden Temptation of Baseball by Doris Jones Yang - Fiction, set in Japan and the U.S.
Honorable Mention: Want by Cindy Pon - Fiction, set in Taiwan
Honorable Mention: Tanabata Wish by Sara Fujimura - Fiction, set in Japan

Winners and honorable mentions, 2016

Source:
Children's Literature

Winner: My Night in the Planetarium by Innosanto Nagara - Non-Fiction, set in Indonesia
Honorable Mention: Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko by Misuzu Kaneko - Non-Fiction, set in Japan

Young Adult/Middle School Literature

Winner: Somewhere Among by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu - Fiction, set in Japan
Winner: The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary - Fiction, set in Japan
Honorable Mention: Falling into the Dragon’s Mouth by Holly Thompson - Fiction, set in Japan

Young Adult/High School Literature

Winner: Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea by Sungju Lee and Susan Elizabeth McClelland - Non-Fiction, set in North Korea
Honorable Mention: Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story by Caren Stelson - Non-Fiction, set in Japan