About the Award

The first Sequoyah Children's Book Award was given in April, 1959, making the award the third oldest children's choice award in the nation.

In 1988, the first Sequoyah Young Adult Book Award was given. Twenty years later the YA book award was changed to “Intermediate Award” and a High School award was created and was first awarded in 2010.

The awards are given annually, usually as an event at the Oklahoma Library Association's Annual Conference.

The Oklahoma Library Association honors Sequoyah for his unique achievement in creating the Cherokee syllabary, the 86 symbols representing the different sounds in the Cherokee language.

His statue is one of the two representing Oklahoma in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The son of a Cherokee mother and a white trader father, Sequoyah, Cherokee for "Lame One," was also known by his English name, George Guess.

A cabin built by Sequoyah as part of a United States government grant still stands near Sallisaw. This grant was the first given for literary achievement in the United States. 

Children’s Sequoyah Winners

1959 Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

1960 Black Gold by Marguerite Henry

1961 Have Space Suit, Will Travel by Robert Heinlein

1962 The Helen Keller Story by Catherine O. Peare

1963 Mystery of the Haunted Pool by Phyllis Whitney

1964 Where the Panther Screams by William Robinson

1965 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

1966 Rascal by Sterling North

1967 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

1968 Gentle Ben by Walt Morey

1969 Blackbeard’s Ghost by Ben Stahl

1970 Mustang by Marguerite Henry

1971 Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary

1972 Man in the Box by Mary Lois Dunn

1973 The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White

1974 Flight of the White Wolf by Mel Ellis

1975 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

1976 How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

1977 The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill

1978 Shoeshine Girl by Clyde Robert Bulla

1979 Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls

1980 Kid Power by Susan B. Pfeffer

1981 Get-Away Car by Eleanor Clymer

1982 Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe

1983 A Dog Called Kitty by Bill Wallace

1984 The Cybil War by Betsy Byars

1985 Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub by Jamie Gilson

1986 Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary and

        Just Tell Me When We’re Dead by Eth Clifford

1987 Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman

1988 Christina’s Ghost by Betty Ren Wright

1989 The Sixth Grade Sleepover by Eve Bunting

1990 Fudge by Charlotte Graeber

1991 Beauty by Bill Wallace

1992 The Doll in the Garden by Mary Downing Hahn

1993 Weasel by Cynthia DeFelice

1994 Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

1995 Horror at the Haunted House by Peg Kehret

1996 The Ghosts of Mercy Manor by Betty Ren Wright

1997 Nasty, Stinky Sneakers by Eve Bunting

1998 Titanic Crossing by Barbara Williams

1999 101 Ways to Bug Your Parents by Lee Wardlaw

2000 The Million Dollar Shot by Dan Gutman

2001 Holes by Louis Sachar

2002 Dork in Disguise by Carol Gorman

2003 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

2004 Skeleton Man by Joseph Bruchac

2005 The Stranger Next Door by Peg Kehret

2006 The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

2007 The World According to Humphrey by Betty Birney

2008 Angus and Sadie by Cynthia Voigt

2009 Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker

2010 Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen

2011 All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn

2012 Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon

2013 The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

2014 Sidekicks by Dan Santat

2015 The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

2016 Chews Your Destiny: The Gumazing Gum Girl! by Rhode Montijo

INTERMEDIATE SEQUOYAH WINNERS

(2010 - )

2010 Unwind by Neal Shusterman

2011 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2012 Positively by Courtney Sheinmel

2013 After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick

2014 Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

2015 The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

2016 Goodbye, Rebel Blue by Shelley Coriell 

HIGH SCHOOL

SEQUOYAH WINNERS

(2010 - )

2010 Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

2011 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2012 Hate List by Jennifer Brown

2013 Clockwork Angel: The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

2014 Divergent by Veronica Roth

2015 The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

2016 The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey 

NEW! 2017 Sequoyah Book Award Winners

The Sequoyah Committees are pleased to announce the winners of the Sequoyah Book Awards for 2017:

• Children’s: The Doll Graveyard by Lois Ruby

• Intermediate: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

• High School: Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin