This is the 8th year of the GLLI Translated YA Book Prize, which recognizes publishers, translators, and authors of books in English translation for young adult readers, aged 12 through 18 inclusive. (See the prize criteria here and submission guidelines here.)

Twenty-two books in eight languages, published within the past three years, were submitted for this cycle and a shortlist of seven books were announced on April 2nd.

Each has been reviewed over the past week (in no particular order) as part of the seventh annual celebration of International Young Adult Literature Month (#IntlYALitMonth) here on the Global Literature in Libraries (GLLI) blog.

• May 23 – Sat: Movies Showing Nowhere by Yorick Goldewijk, translated by Laura Watkinson
• May 24 – Sun: Daughter of Doom by Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem, translated by Kristen Gehrman
• May 25 – Mon: The History of World War II by Arnaud de la Croix, translated by Amanda Axsom and Peter Law 
• May 26 – Tue: The Village Beyond the Mist by Sachiko Kashiwaba, translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa
• May 28 – Thu: Magda, Intergalactic Chef: The Big Tournament by Nicolas Wouters, translated by Ann Marie Boulanger
• May 29 – Fri: Self Portrait, by Ludwig Volbeda, translated by Lucy Scott
• May 30 – Sat: Beasts by Ingvild Bjerkeland, translated by Rosie Hedger

Today the 2026 GLLI Translated Young Adult Book Prize Committee is pleased to announce the winner & honor books for the 2026 prize. 

---

2026 Winner

Our 2026 winner is Self Portrait by Ludwig Volbeda, translated from Dutch by Lucy Scott, published by Levine Querido, 2025.

The committee felt the book stood out for its exceptional literary quality, emotional depth, and the strength and nuance of the translation, and achieved a rare balance of artistic ambition and readability while remaining deeply faithful to the original work.

---

2026 Honor Books

They also recognized three Honor Books (in alphabetical order):

• Beasts by Ingvild Bjerkeland, translated from Norwegian by Rosie Hedger, published by Levine Querido, 2025.
  • Recognized for its propulsive pacing and highly engaging reading experience.
    
    
• The Big Tournament: Book 1 (Magda, Intergalactic Chef) by Nicolas Wouters, illustrated by Mathilde Van Gheluwe, translated from French by Ann Marie Boulanger, published by Graphic Universe/Lerner, 2025.
  • Recognized for its fresh concept and lively execution.
    
    
• The History of World War II: A Graphic Novel by Arnaud de la Croix, illustrated by Vicente Cifuentes, translated from French by Amanda Axsom & Peter Law, published by Abrams ComicArts, 2025.
  • Recognized for its timeliness, accessibility, and strong reader appeal.
    

Thank you to the 2026 Committee for all their reading and discussion time, juggling different time zones, in order to arrive at these decisions. This means you: Angela Erickson (Chair), Anthony Tilke, Frances Sims-Williams, Emilia Packard, Kim Tyo-Dickerson, Tim Pruzinsky, and Minje Chen, with assistance from Becky Blackburn and Helle Kirstein. Serving on the committee is definitely a labor of love.

---

Publishers: Remember, books can be nominated at any time. The submission form is always open. We look forward to receiving your 2026 titles for the 2027 Prize.

See this LibraryThing cumulative list of all the past shortlists (including these winners/honor books) of the GLLI Translated YA Book Prize.

---

#IntYALitMonth 2026 blog posts

During this month of May highlighted as the 6th annual International Young Adult Literature Month (#IntlYALitMonth) here on the Global Literature in Libraries (GLLI) blog, a wide range of people interested and involved in YA literature from a global perspective have offered up reviews of books.

Here’s what we can look back upon:

• May 1: Intro to the month — by Katie Day, Singapore
• May 2: Rodari / The Adventures of Cipollino (Italy) — reviewed by Kim Beeman, Italy
• May 3: Rebis: Born and Reborn (Italy) reviewed by Kim Tyo-Dickerson, The Netherlands
• May 4: Alkrem (Italy) — reviewed by Kim Tyo-Dickerson, The Netherlands
• May 5: White as Silence, Red as Song (Italy) — reviewed by Nadine Bailey, Dubai
• May 6: Armenveni (Armenia) — reviewed by Lyn Miller-Lachmann, USA
• May 7: Milk without Honey (Germany) — reviewed by Angela Ericson, Singapore
• May 8: Nothing (Denmark) — reviewed by Linda Hoiseth, Dubai
• May 9: Taiwan YA Lit — reviewed by Eleanor Duggan, Cambodia
• May 10: Chinese YA Lit — reviewed by Wang Yue, China/UK
• May 11: Singapore YA Lit — reviewed by Joyce Chua, Singapore
• May 12: African YA — reviewed by Laura Simeon, Kirkus Reviews, USA
• May 14: Shadows on the Ice (France) — reviewed by Nadine Bailey, Dubai
• May 15: West African Mythology — reviewed by Sally Cameron, Italy
• May 16: German YA lit — reviewed by Kate London, UK
• May 17: Russian YA Lit — reviewed by Kim Beeman, Italy
• May 18: The Prophet (Lebanon) — reviewed by Katie Day, Singapore
• May 19: Cambodia — reviewed by Eleanor Duggan, Cambodia
• May 20: Third Culture Kids — reviewed by Cynthia Green, France
• May 21: The Bone Fire (Hungary) — reviewed by Erica Prenda, Italy
• May 22: Indian YA lit — reviewed by Ankitha Venkataram, India

Many thanks to everyone for taking the time to write and publish!

---

We hope you have discovered new books and authors during this month — and just in case you missed any previous #IntYALitMonths, below are links to the end-of-month summary list of each year’s offerings.

• 2021 – wrap-up blog post by editor Elisa A. Garcia
• 2022 – wrap-up blog post by editor Linda Hoiseth
• 2023 – wrap-up blog post by editor Julia E. Torres
• 2024 – wrap-up blog post by editor Emily Corbett
• 2025 – wrap-up blog post by editor Katie Day

---

Note: This September the 2026 focus of #WorldKidLitMonth on this blog will be literature from Japan, with guest editors Avery Fischer Udagawa and Holly Thompson.

Examples of previous  #WORLDKIDLIT MONTH blog posts:  

• 2019 — a variety of posts by Laura Taylor (Planet Picture Book)
• 2020 — focus on Puerto Rico KidLit by Klem-Mari Cajigas
• 2021 — focus on Dutch KidLit by Kim Tyo-Dickerson
• 2022 — focus on India KidLit by Katie Day and Karthika Gopalakrishnan
• 2023 — nothing — just the #WorldKidLit Wednesdays
• 2024 — focus on Taiwan by Eleanor Duggan
• 2025 — focus on European literature by Kim Beeman

---

---

Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of GLLI.

---