The Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Evaluator's Committee is responsible for the selection of the 20 books on each year's Master List. Students, teachers, school library media specialists, and public librarians may nominate outstanding books for children and young people.

Nominations from the previously mentioned individuals must be submitted through an official nomination form. 

All appropriately submitted nominations will be given consideration. Please remember that the list can only be as good as the nominations so this is an important part of the program. It is important to accurately report the number of persons nominating an individual title (whether one or twenty). All nominations for the upcoming year must reach the RCYRBA Committee by March 14th.

2027 Nominations - Please read through the criteria before submitting a nomination.

Books nominated must meet the criteria listed below:

1. Nominator must have read the book. The nominator can be either a student, teacher, or librarian. If a student has read a book and nominates it, the teacher or librarian does not have to read it.

2. Book must have literary merit. 

3. Book must be of interest and have appeal to children in grades 4-8. 

4. Book’s earliest United States copyright date in any format must be within five years of nomination. Books first published in another language will be dated from the publication of their English translation.

5. Book must be in print at the time of nomination. 

6. Book may be fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. 

7. Book can not have appeared on a previous RCYRBA Master List.

8. Book may not be:

• A textbook
• An anthology
• A sequel or series entry other than the first
• Based upon characters or stories originally produced in television, film, games, or other copyrighted media