Fiction

Author: Byron Graves

‘Rez Ball’ wins 2024 William C. Morris Award

Red Lake Nation News

BALTIMORE — “Rez Ball,” written by Byron Graves, has been named the 2024 winner of the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, which honors a book published by a first-time author. The book is published by Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. The award was announced today by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), during the ALA’s LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience held Jan. 19-22 in Baltimore.

Ojibwe teen Tre works towards his dream of making the high school varsity basketball team and winning the state tournament, all while navigating friendships, romance, and the grief of losing and living in the shadow of his late older brother.

“Rez Ball impressed us with its authentic voice, well-developed characters and exciting action scenes as it explored grief, prejudice, friendships, family and community.” said Morris Award Chair Kim Keown Farnsworth.

The award is named for William C. Morris, an influential innovator in the publishing world and an advocate for marketing books for children and young adults. William “Bill” Morris left an impressive mark on the field of children’s and young adult literature. He was beloved in the publishing field and the library profession for his generosity and marvelous enthusiasm for promoting literature for children and teens.