WYOMING LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

Soaring Eagle Book Award (Grades 7-12)

The Soaring Eagle Book Award provides the opportunity for Wyoming youth in grades 7-12 to select a favorite book and honor its author. Its purpose is to help Wyoming students in grades 7-12:

  • Become acquainted with the best contemporary authors.
  • Become aware of the qualities that make a good book.
  • Choose the best rather than the mediocre.
  • Set a goal to read at least three good books.
  • To honor an author whose books Wyoming students have enjoyed.
The Soaring Eagle Book Award is sponsored by the Wyoming Library Association (WLA) and the Wyoming State Literacy Association (WSLA). 

2025-2026 Awards

  • Voting form (Winter 2025/6; due March 15, 2026)

Make sure to collect and save student votes and nominations throughout the year.


Coming Soon: 

2026-2027 Awards

  • Nomination form (Winter 2025/6; due March 1, 2026) 

Make sure to collect and save student nominations throughout the year.

Soaring Eagle Book Award nominees

by author (1989-2025) PDF

Soaring Eagle Book Award Winners

by date (1989-2025) PDF

Winners & Nominees (2020-2026)

2025-2026


Nominees

The Enigma Girls by Candace Fleming

Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth

The Hope of Elephants by Amanda Rawson Hill
That's Not My Name by Megan Lally

The Kill Factor by Ben Oliver

Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool

To Kill the Shadow by Katherine Quinn

The Last Dragon on Mars by Scott Reintgen

Louder Than Hunger by John Schu
Gallant by V. E. Schwab


2024-2025


 
First

Fallout
by Steve Sheinkin
Second (tie)
 All My Rage
by Sabaa Tahir
Second (tie)
The Red Palace
by June Hur		  
 Second (tie)
Yonder
by Ali Standish

Nominees

Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

Tilly in Technicolor by Mazey Eddings

Rez Ball by Byron Graves

Above the Trenches by Nathan Hale

A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer


2023-2024


 
First

The Inheritance Games (#1)
by Jennifer Barnes
Second

You'd Be Home Now
by Kathleen Glasgow

  
Third

This Light Between Us
by Andrew Fukuda 


Nominees

Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M. T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff 

The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder Button Pusher by Tyler Page

The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep: Voices of the Donner Party by Allan Wolf

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

2022-2023

 
First
I Must Betray You
by Ruta Sepetys
Second
You'll Be the Death of Me
by Karen M. McManus
  
 Third
The Similars
by Rebecca Hanover

Nominees

Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

The Blade of Secrets by Tricia Levenseller

Me (Moth) by Amber McBride

Gone to the Woods by Gary Paulsen

Paul, Big, and Small by David Glen Robb

Hold Back the Tide by Melinda Salisbury
 2021-2022

Winner
Dear Martin
by Nic Stone
First runner-up
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
by Holly Jackson
Second runner-up
Dragon Hoops
by Gene Luen Yang
Nominees

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee

A Tale of Magic … by Chris Colfer

Skyhunter by Marie Lu

Desert Dust by Paul W. Papa

Charming as a Verb  by Ben Philippe

Pretend She's Here by Luanne Rice

Fable by Adrienne Young

2020-2021

 
 Winner
They Both Die at the End
by Adam Silvera
First runner-up
Grenade
by Alan Gratz
  
 Second runner-up
Game Changer
by Tommy Greenwald

Nominees

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson
Solo by Kwame Alexander
Verify by Joelle Charbonneau

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

The Library of Lost Things by Laura Taylor Namey

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Wizard for Hire by Obert Skye

2019-2020
 
 Winner
The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas
First runner-up
One of Us Is Lying
by Karen M. McManus
  
 Second runner-up
An Ember in the Ashes
by Sabaa Tahir

Nominees

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi

What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli

Onyx & Ivory by Mindee Arnett
Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Renegades by Marissa Meyer

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Co-Chairs

Jenn Beckstead (WLA)

Leanne Woodfill (WSLA)

Past committee members list

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Committee Composition & Responsibilities

  • Eight members: four from each sponsoring organization, appointed by governing members of the organizations or designees.
  • Three-year terms with four terms expiring annually, provided not more than half the committee is new.
  • Two consecutive terms allowed.
  • Terms begin before the spring meeting.
  • Any member serving a partial term is eligible to serve three additional terms.
  • Two members, acting as co-chairs, one from each organization, will be responsible to the parent organizations.
  • Members must be on the committee for at least one year before becoming a co-chair.
  • Co-chairs' terms of office should expire on alternate years.
  • Expenses (cost of the award, postage, display board, treats for the meeting, packet expenses) will be submitted to the WLA secretary.
  • Letters sent to the publishers will be coordinated between the committees.

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Reports

2021 Book Awards report
2020 Book Awards report
2019 Book Awards report
2017 Book Awards report
2016 Book Awards report
2014 Book Awards report

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Award Guidelines

The Soaring Eagle Book Award will consist of one list for grades 7-12. Librarians, reading, and English teachers solicit nominations from Wyoming students in grades 7-12. The nominations are sent to the committee by March 1. If any nomination summary forms are returned with incomplete information, the committee may disregard them. The award committee meets to finalize a list of titles for grades 7-12. This list becomes the ballot for the next school year.

Nominations

  • The book may be fiction or nonfiction.
  • The book must currently be in print and have a copyright date within the last five years.
  • Adult books may be nominated.
  • The book must not have appeared first as a movie or TV show.

Voting

  • Each Wyoming student in grades 7-12 who has read at least three books on the list may vote for his or her favorite book.
  • Voting takes place during the month of March. The sponsoring librarian or teacher tabulates the ballots and the ballot tally sheet is returned to the committee by March 15.

Considerations

  • Use published guidelines for nominations.
  • Consider the number of student nominations.
  • There must be at least two positive recommendations in professional book reviewing publications or by committee members.
  • Each book for the final ballot will have been read by at least one committee member.
  • Only one title by each author will be included on the list. Consider the number of student nominations as the deciding factor.
  • Books that are past winners of the Soaring Eagle or Indian Paintbrush Awards can't be on the list.
  • No books by the winning author can appear on the following year’s list.
  • No title can be on the list two consecutive years.
  • When two or more books, in a series by the same author, have reviews which are equally good and have an equal number of nominations, the earlier one in the series is added to the list.
  • For books by Wyoming authors with no reviews, committee members decide on quality of the book after it is read by at least two committee members.
  • Consider grade level appropriateness of nominations.
  • Consider including some high interest/low vocabulary books.
  • Young adult books may contain some adult language and situations.
  • The list shouldn't exceed ten titles.

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