The Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award was established in 2008 to honor the wishes of Amelia Elizabeth Walden. It allows for the sum of $5,000 to be awarded annually to the winning title, and was first awarded on Monday, November 23, 2009. The award highlights works written for a young adult audience that demonstrate a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit. Amelia Elizabeth Walden was born in New York City on January 15, 1909. She graduated from Columbia University in 1934 and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. From 1935 to 1945, she taught English and Dramatics at Norwalk High School. She married John William Harmon in 1946. Her first novel, Gateway, was published in 1946. Walden told her editor that she intended the novel for young people who lived at the gateway, on that middle ground between adolescence and adulthood. Walden claimed, “I respond to young people because I remember my own adolescence so vividly – and fondly. It was a period of total involvement, of enjoying life to the hilt.” Walden wrote over 40 young adult novels. She died in 2002 in Westport, Connecticut. A collection of some of her literary manuscripts and correspondence with McGraw-Hill between 1954 and 1977 relating to book production is available for review in the Special Collections and University Archives of the University of Oregon Libraries.
Criteria
The selection committee composed of ten The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents members appointed by the previous year's chair and current ALAN President for a one-year term with the possibility of re-election for a second term. They award one winning title and honor up to four additional titles on their shortlist.
Per Walden’s request
The selected title MUST:
be a work of fiction, ideally a novel ;
be published within one year prior to the call for titles;
be published in the United States but may have been published elsewhere prior; and
possess a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit.
A Positive Approach to Life Submitted titles should:
* treat teen readers as capable and thoughtful young people
*offer hope and optimism, even when describing difficult circumstances
* have a credible and appropriate resolution
* portray characters involved in shaping their lives in a positive way, even as they struggle with the harsh realities of life
Widespread Teen Appeal Submitted titles should:
* be intended expressly for readers aged 12–18
* have universal themes that transcend time and place
* have themes that resonate with a wide variety of readers, regardless of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation
* provide readers with a window to the world and/or reflect their own experiences
Literary Merit' Submitted titles should:
* contain well-developed characters
* employ well-constructed forms suitable to function
