The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. It is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking (REFORMA), an ALA affiliate.

The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. As a children's librarian, storyteller and author, she enriched the lives of Puerto Rican children in the U.S.A. through her pioneering work of preserving and disseminating Puerto Rican folklore.

-The winner of the Pura Belpré Author Award is ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

-One Pura Belpré Author Honor Books were named: THE REVOLUTION OF EVELYN SERRANO by Sonia Manzano.

-The winner of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award is MARTIN DE PORRES: The Rose in the Desert illustrated by David Diaz and written by Gary D. Schmidt.

-Please note that no Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Books were selected this year.