Who won the 2023 Newbery Medal for 'Freewater'?

Amina Luqman-Dawson won the 2023 Newbery Medal for Freewater. The 2022 historical novel follows children escaping slavery and finding a community in the Great Dismal Swamp.

Freewater was published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Its setting draws on the real Great Dismal Swamp, a large wetland spanning parts of Virginia and North Carolina that offered refuge to some people escaping enslavement. The novel combines historical fiction with the perspectives of young characters facing danger, displacement, and the search for freedom.

Luqman-Dawson's Newbery recognition was especially notable because Freewater also won the 2023 Coretta Scott King Author Award. She became the first Black woman to win both awards. The Newbery honors the author of the year's most distinguished contribution to American literature for children, not necessarily the book with the most commercial success.

A common mistake is confusing the author with the novel: Freewater is the winning title, while Amina Luqman-Dawson is the person who received the medal.