What is the Black-Eyed Susan Award?

Each year since 1992, the Black-Eyed Susan Book Award has been given in several categories. The purpose of this award is to promote literacy and lifelong reading habits by encouraging students to read quality, contemporary literature. The books selected to be placed on lists for each category are expected to broaden the human experience and provide accurate, factual information. The Black-Eyed Susan Book Award honors outstanding books, chosen annually by Maryland students. Committees of school library media specialists and other interested persons meet over the course of a year to determine which books will go on the lists; anyone is invited to suggest titles.� Following are some of the criteria:

Books may be fiction or nonfiction.

Books must have a copyright date of the current year or one of the preceding three years and be listed in the current Books in Print.

Each title selected will have received positive reviews from appropriate professional journals.

Members of the committee will read and discuss the submitted books and choose the best books to be placed on the list.

When the required number of books have been read, each student will cast one vote for the book he or she considers to be the most outstanding in each category. Votes from across the state are sent in to the Black-Eyed Susan committees and tallied to determine the winners. The winning authors and/or illustrators receive a pewter plate engraved with the� year and the Black-Eyed Susan Book Award logo. Authors, illustrators and publishers recognize the award as an honor bestowed by Maryland students.