Andre Norton Award

The Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy is an annual award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to the author of the best young adult or middle grade science fiction or fantasy book published in the United States in the preceding year. It is named to honor prolific science fiction and fantasy author Andre Norton (1912–2005), and it was established by then SFWA president Catherine Asaro and the SFWA Young Adult Fiction committee and announced on February 20, 2005. Any published young adult or middle grade science fiction or fantasy novel is eligible for the prize, including graphic novels. There is no limit on word count. The award is presented along with the Nebula Awards and follows the same rules for nominations and voting; as the awards are separate, works may be simultaneously nominated for both the Andre Norton award and a Nebula Award.

Andre Norton Award nominees and winners are chosen by members of the SFWA, though the authors of the nominees do not need to be members. Works are nominated each year between November 15 and February 15 by published authors who are members of the organization, and the six works that receive the most nominations then form the final ballot, with additional nominees possible in the case of ties. A SFWA panel of jurors determines if the nominated works are written for young adults, and they may add up to three works to the ballot. Members may then vote on the ballot throughout March, and the final results are presented at the Nebula Awards ceremony in May. Authors are not permitted to nominate their own works, and ties in the final vote are broken, if possible, by the number of nominations the works received. Beginning with the 2009 awards, the rules were changed to the current format. Prior to then, the eligibility period for nominations was defined as one year after the publication date of the work, which allowed works to be nominated in the calendar year after their publication and then be awarded in the calendar year after that. Works were added to a preliminary list for the year if they had ten or more nominations, which were then voted on to create a final ballot, to which the SFWA organizing panel was also allowed to add an additional work.

During the 12 nomination years, 71 authors have had works nominated, of which 11 have won. Holly Black and Scott Westerfeld have had the most nominations at four—with Black winning once and Westerfield yet to win—followed by Sarah Beth Durst with three. Black, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Delia Sherman, and Ysabeau S. Wilce are the only authors nominated multiple times to have won the award, with one win apiece out of four, two, two, and two nominations, respectively.