Local Voices
Torrey Maldonado Wins Second Christopher Award for the book “Hands”
A 12-year-old learns to box to protect himself from an abusive stepfather. He must protect his hands for his future as an artist. What to do
Brooklyn-based author Torrey Maldonado won his second Christopher Award for “Hands,” (ages 10 and up, Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House). It is one of 12 books for adults and young people as the Christopher Awards program marks its 75th year. His earlier book, “Tight,” also won a Christopher Award.
“Hand” emphasizes the power of community in its tale of 12-year-old Trev, who is torn between using his hands to fight his abusive stepfather or using them to nurture his artistic talents that could lead him and his family toward a brighter future.
Torrey Maldonado was born and raised in the Red Hook housing projects of Brooklyn, New York. Today he teaches in the middle school from which he graduated. He has been praised by two NYC Chancellors for being a top culturally responsive educator who has taught in Brooklyn public schools for close to 30 years. He says he crafts his books and chapters to be short, fast-paced rollercoasters filled with diverse representation inspired by his and his students’ experiences. “Hands” is also a 2024 Global Read Aloud for Middle Schools/Junior High Schools, an ALA/ALCS Notable Book, Black Caucus ALA Best of the Best Book, Jane Addams Finalist, Nerdy, Best Book of the Year for NY and Chicago Public Libraries, and won starred School Library Journal review and amazing reviews from Horn Book, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly.
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- In addition to “Hands,” his novels “Tight,” and “What Lane?” are Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections and Best Books of the Year.
- “What Lane?” also garnered many starred reviews and was cited by Oprah and The New York Times for being an essential book to discuss racism and allyship
- In addition to winning a Christopher Award, “Tight” is an ALA Notable Book, and an NPR and Washington Post "Best Book of the Year"
- His very first novel, “Secret Saturdays,” has been in print for over 10 years.
Christopher Awards were also given to creators of 11 TV/Cable shows and feature films.
The Awards celebrate authors, and illustrators as well as writers, producers and directors whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit” and reflects the Christopher motto, “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”
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Tony Rossi, The Christophers’ Director of Communications, said, “We’re often told that we can better understand a person if we walk a mile in their shoes. While that may not be physically possible, our book, film, and TV winners allow us to do that through engagingly told stories that introduce us to people and places different from our own, yet relatable in a variety of ways.”
The Christophers, a nonprofit founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of service to God and humanity. More information about The Christophers is available at www.christophers.org.
