Hamline University graduate adjunct professor Erin Entrada Kelly was recently awarded the 2025 John Newbery Medal for her novel The First State of Being. The prestigious award, given by the American Library Association, recognizes the year’s most outstanding contribution to children's literature.
This is Kelly’s second Newbery Medal, making her one of only seven authors to win the Newbery Medal twice in the award’s 103-year history.
“It's truly an honor,” Kelly said. “It's difficult to put the feeling into words. I still can't believe I received the Newbery in 2018, so to have a second Newbery just a few years later is overwhelming. Not a day goes by that I don't recognize how fortunate I am to do this work.”
Kelly, who teaches in Hamline’s Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program, was previously awarded the 2018 Newbery Medal for her third novel, Hello, Universe. She also received a 2021 Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space.
Last November, The First State of Being was named a 2024 National Book Award Finalist as one of five books competing for the Young People’s Literature Award.
According to the publisher, The First State of Being follows 12-year-old Michael Rosario’s life in Red Knot, Delaware as he grapples with the looming Y2K crisis and his overwhelming crush on his 15-year-old babysitter, Gibby. But when a disoriented teenage boy named Ridge appears out of nowhere, Michael discovers there is more to life than stockpiling supplies and pining over Gibby.
The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year. The medal, named after 18th century publisher John Newbery, was first awarded in 1922.
