2018 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

The 2018 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction went to Lauren Wolk for Beyond the Bright Sea, published by Dutton Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. Set in the 1920s on the Elizabeth Islands off the coast of Massachusetts, the novel follows twelve-year-old Crow, who arrived on the islands as a baby in a small boat and has been raised by a quiet, devoted guardian. Her search for where she came from leads her to the nearby island that once held a colony for people with leprosy and to a mystery about her family. The award named one winner and no honor books, with a $5,000 prize for the author.