Ossining Author Wins 2018 Rip Van Winkle Award

OSSINING-CROTON-ON-HUDSON, NY - From School Library Media Specialists of Southeastern New York: Susanna Reich has been chosen by the School Library Media Specialists of Southeastern New York as the winner of the 2018 Rip Van Winkle Award for outstanding contributions to the world of children’s literature. The award is given to a children’s book author who resides in the region and will be presented at the organization’s Annual Spring Symposium on May 19.

Susanna Reich writes fiction and biography for children and young adults, most recently Stand Up and Sing! Pete Seeger, Folk Music and the Path to Justice; Fab Four Friends: The Boys Who Became the Beatles; and Minette’s Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat. She received the Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Children’s Book Award and an International Latino Book Award for José! Born to Dance and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor for Clara Schumann: Piano Virtuoso. Reich is Immediate Past Chair of PEN America’s Children's & Young Adult Book Committee. She grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson and lives in Briarcliff Manor, NY.

The Rip Van Winkle Award has been presented annually since 1980. Recent winners include Bryan Collier, Nick Bruel, Sarah Weeks and Ed Young.

SLMSSENY is a professional organization comprised of school library media specialists in southeastern New York. One of eight regional affiliates making up the School Librarians Section of the New York Library Association, SLMSSENY advocates for and promotes the interests of school library media specialists in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester Counties.

PHOTO: Susanna Reich/contributed/School Library Media Specialists of Southeastern New York