To award the prize, the literary quality of the work, its recognition inside and outside the country of residence, originality, consistency, and its contribution to the world of children and young adult literature, were considered.

For the indisputable quality and strength of his writing; for awakening the imagination of readers; for the extent of his vision, which poetically integrates various traditions and records that sail from his native Caribbean to other latitudes and for transcending geographical, linguistic and generational limits, the Cuban writer Antonio Orlando Rodríguez was awarded the SM Prize for Children and Young Adult Literature in its eighteenth edition, which took place at the International Book Fair in Guadalajara.

"The objective of the award is not only to promote reading among children and young adults as a fundamental ability for their own development as individuals, but also for that of their countries and for the hyperconnected world in which we live," said Maite Ortiz, General Director of the SM Foundation on a global scale.

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