The Malka Penn Award is given annually to the authors of an outstanding children’s book addressing human rights issues or themes such as discrimination, equity, poverty, justice, war, peace, slavery or freedom.
Named in honor of author Michele Palmer, who writes under the pseudonym Malka Penn, the award recognizes works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, or biography which are written for children from preschool to high school. Within these larger themes, the award committee is particularly eager to recognize stories about individuals – real or fictional, children or adults – who have been affected by social injustices, and who, by confronting them, have made a difference in their lives or the lives of others.
Join us for the 2024 Award Ceremony
The 2024 Malka Penn Award Ceremony accompanies a robust series of public engagements for both award-winning authors, Ruchira Gupta and Aida Salazar.
At the Hartford Public Library, author Aida Salazar leads an event for local students on the inspiration behind her winning picture book Jovita Wore Pants.
On the UConn Storrs campus, we invite you to join us for a panel addressing sex trafficking, drawing on the winning novel I Kick and I Fly and activism of author Ruchira Gupta.
2024 Malka Penn Award Winners
Winning Novel
I Kick and I Fly
By Ruchira Gupta
Published by Scholastic Press
Inspired by Gupta’s experience making an Emmy-winning documentary that exposed the sex trafficking of young women and children from villages in Nepal to the brothels of Mumbai, this story of 14-year old Heera – sold into an unimaginable fate by her father to help feed their family and repay his loans – is an unforgettable story about overcoming adversity.
Winning Picture Book
Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter
By Aida Salazar, illustrated by Molly Mendoza
Published by Scholastic Press
In this stunning and lively book, Salazar presents the remarkable true story of a little-known maverick Mexican heroine – her great aunt, Jovita Valdovinos – who disguised herself as a man and commanded a battalion of revolutionaries in a fight for religious freedom.
2024 Honor Books
The Light She Feels Inside
By Gwendolyn Wallace, illustrated by Olivia Duchess
Published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Maya learns how to create a brighter world by honoring her own glowing feelings, just like Black women have done throughout history.
Traveling Shoes: The Story of Willye White, US Olympian and Long Jump Champion
By Alice Faye Duncan, illustrated by Keith Mallet
Published by Calkins Creek
The untold story of the Black sprinter and long jumper Willye B. White, who went from picking cotton as a child in Mississippi to competing and winning in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics.
A Long Time Coming
By Ray Anthony Shepard, illustrated by Gregory Christie
Published by Calkins Creek
A lyrical biography of six important Black Americans from different eras – Ona Judge; Frederick Douglass; Harriet Tubman; Ida B. Wells; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and Barack Obama – that chronicles the diverse ways each fought racism, demonstrating how much and how little has changed for Black Americans since the country’s founding.
The Cricket War
By Thọ Phạm and Sandra McTavish
Published by Kids Can Press
The gripping story of a boy’s escape from Communist Vietnam by boat, loosely based on Pham’s real-life experience as one of the Vietnamese Boat People – offering a story of hope, courage, and resilience.
The Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women's Suffrage, and Jujitsu
By Clément Xavier, Lisa Lugrin, and Albertine Ralenti
Published by Graphic Universe
A graphic biography of Edith Garrud, a pioneering self-defense instructor who trained suffragettes in early twentieth century England to fight back against abuse and arrest while pursuing the right to vote.
2024 Special Recognition Book
I Have the Right
By Reza Dalvand
Published by Scribble US
An illustrated introduction to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
About Michele Palmer
Author Michele Palmer’s generous gift helped establish The Malka Penn Award. Ms. Palmer has written over a dozen books for children and adults. Three of those books were children’s literature: The Miracle of the Potato Latkes, The Hanukkah Ghosts, and Ghosts and Golems. As an oral historian at UConn’s Center for Oral History, her most exciting project was co-director of “Witnesses to Nuremberg: An Oral History of the War Crimes Trials,” in conjunction with the opening of The Dodd Center in 1995. Ms. Palmer has also curated numerous art, book, and history exhibits at UConn and elsewhere. One of her exhibits at The Dodd Center – “After Anne Frank: Children’s Books About the Holocaust” – led to her establishing the Malka Penn Collection of Children’s Books on Human Rights in the Archives and Special Collections at The Dodd Center for Human Rights.
Award Details
Submissions are now invited for the 2026 Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children’s Literature. The winning books of the 2026 Malka Penn Award will be announced in the summer of 2026 and a ceremony will be held in the fall of 2026 at The Dodd Center for Human Rights in Storrs, Connecticut. The award winners will receive a bronze medallion and certificate and will be invited to deliver an address to UConn's faculty, students, and the broader community. A committee of UConn faculty, staff, and community members select award winners each year in addition to honorary books as applicable.
Eligibility
Any book for children and young adults originally published in the United States between January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2025 is eligible for consideration for the 2026 Malka Penn Award. The book may be a work of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, or biography. Books must be published in a physical, print form—e-books are currently ineligible for consideration. The deadline for submission for the 2026 Malka Penn Award is January 16, 2026.
How to Submit
To submit a book for consideration, please send ten copies to:
Malka Penn Award Selection Committee
Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs
The Dodd Center for Human Rights
405 Babbidge Road, U-1205
Storrs, CT 06269-1205
dodd@uconn.edu
1-860-486-5131
Award Committee
Alice Bauer
Author
Ery Caswell
Student Success & Engagement Librarian, UConn Library
Vanessa Garcia
Access & Visitor Services Associate, UConn Library
Sara Harvel
Ph.D. Student, Curriculum & Instruction
Douglas Kaufman
Associate Professor, Curriculum & Instruction
Tracey-Ann Lafayette
Third Grade Teacher
Michele Palmer
Author
Susannah Richards
Professor of Education, Eastern Connecticut State University
Jodie Sadowsky
Author
Martha Simpson
Author & Librarian
Kiedra Taylor
Ph.D. Student, English
Joan Weir
Special Education Faculty, Southern Connecticut State University
Bina Williams
Librarian, Bridgeport Library