Newbery Medal 1998: Complete list of winners

Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust claimed the 1998 Newbery Medal, cementing itself as a landmark achievement in children’s literature. Written in verse, this compelling novel follows Billie Jo, a fourteen-year-old girl navigating the devastation of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Hesse’s decision to tell this story through poetry was both audacious and precisely calibrated—the spare, musical language mirrors the barren landscape while capturing the raw emotional truth of a teenager grappling with family tragedy and environmental catastrophe. It’s a testament to how much power lies in careful word choice and restraint, qualities that have come to define the best award-winning children’s fiction.

The 1998 Newbery Medal recognition underscores a broader trend in children’s literature: the increasing willingness to tackle difficult historical subjects and complex emotions without softening the truth for young readers. Out of the Dust doesn’t offer easy comfort; instead, it demands empathy and maturity from its audience. Hesse’s win confirmed what many educators and librarians already knew—that contemporary children’s authors were expanding the genre’s emotional and stylistic boundaries, creating work that honored both the intelligence of young readers and the gravity of the stories worth telling.

Below, you’ll find the complete details about the 1998 Newbery Medal winner and its significance in the award’s storied history.

Children’s Literature

• Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse