Chicago Tribune Awards LeVar Burton with the Distinguished 2015 Young Adult Literary Award

CHICAGO, April 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chicago Tribune today announced that LeVar Burton is the winner of its 2015 Young Adult Literary Award, an annual award recognizing excellence in literature for young adults. LeVar Burton earns this year's recognition for his significant efforts to continuously engage the young adult audience across all platforms. Burton will be presented the award at the Chicago Tribune's 31^st Printers Row Lit Fest on Saturday, June 6.

Over the past two decades, Burton has inspired and entertained readers through his work as host and executive producer of the long-running PBS television show, Reading Rainbow, and has discovered a new generation of learners through the RRKidz website (readingrainbow.com) and mobile application.

"Through his passion, imagination and belief in inspiring young adults, LeVar Burton has instilled the joy of reading, in all its glorious forms, to countless readers and made an impact on many young lives," said Gerould Kern, senior vice president and editor of the Chicago Tribune. "We're delighted to award LeVar Burton with the Chicago Tribune's Young Adult Literary Award."

Proving it's never too late to become a writer, Burton recently published his first children's book called, "The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm," which tells a powerful, uplifting story constructed to help kids cope with difficult moments in everyday life.

Burton is also well known for his acting roles in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge, and in the television miniseries "Roots" as Kunta Kinte.

Burton will accept the award and appear in a program on June 6 as part of the two-day 2015 Printers Row Lit Fest.

Printers Row Lit Fest is part of the Chicago Tribune's Printers Row literary program, a year-round initiative that includes the weekly Printers Row Journal and fiction supplement, regular Printers Row author events, the Printers Row Lit Fest and annual literary awards. The literary awards include the Nelson Algren Short Story Award, Young Adult Literary Award, Heartland Awards for fiction and non-fiction and Chicago Tribune Literary Award.

Past winners of the Young Adult Literary Award have included S.E. Hinton, Lois Lowry, Gary Paulsen, Judy Blume, and James Patterson.

Printers Row Lit Fest, the largest free outdoor literary event in the Midwest, celebrates the written word through author talks, special programing and unique exhibits. A list of confirmed participants who will be on-site at this year's event will be released on Friday, April 17^th. Visit www.printersrowlitfest.org for more information.

About Chicago Tribune Media Group
Chicago Tribune Media Group is a diversified media and marketing solutions company that reaches 4.9 million people each month across all platforms. CTMG's robust portfolio of media solutions includes the Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Tribune, and a collection of niche and digital offerings including RedEye, Hoy, Chicago magazine, Naperville Magazine, The Mash, Blue Sky Innovation, chicagotribune.com, chicagonow.com and metromix.com. As the region's leading voice, CTMG also extends into the suburbs of Chicago through popular titles including TribLocal, The Beacon-News, The Courier-News, Lake County News-Sun, Naperville Sun, Post-Tribune in Northwest Indiana, Daily Southtown, and 32 Pioneer Press weekly newspapers.

SOURCE Chicago Tribune

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