The Jane Addams Children's Book Award is given annually to a children's book published the preceding year that advances the causes of peace and social equality.

In the sixty-plus years of the award's history, there has been one public controversy over the selection of its winner.

In 1970, the award was given to The Cay by Theodore Taylor, a book which became highly criticized in the years since its publication.

[2] In response, Taylor, who saw the work as "a subtle plea for better race relations and more understanding",[3] returned the Award "by choice, not in anger, but with troubling questions".

[5] Even though The Cay remains on the list of Addams Award winners, Taylor's claim is widely thought to be true and has become a part of reading and discussing the book with young people today.