Awards and accolades do not change diapers or mop the bathroom floor.

"My toddler is still pooping in the middle of the night, necessitating midnight diaper checks and changes, and he's begun tantruming in earnest, and I have books to write and dishes to wash," said Shannon Hale of Salt Lake City, reflecting on life in the week since a 5 a.m. phone call announced her book "Princess Academy" had won the Newbery Honor, second only to the Newbery Medal in the world of children's literature.

"My life feels the same, though underneath everything there's this buzz of elation," she said.

The moment Hales found out about her win was detailed in a 6:53 a.m. post on her blog at her Web site, www.squeetus.com.

"Holy cow. Holy, holy cow. If there ever was a holy cow, I'm invoking said cow now," she wrote. "So, at 5-something this morning, the phone rings. I was aware that today was the American Library Association Mid-Winter meeting, where they announce the book awards. ... So, phone call at 5 am, and I'm thinking, this is the meanest prank call in the world."

When the caller announced Hale's book had won the award, Hale answered only with "some sort of primitive grunt" and then began crying.

"They laughed at me, which I was so grateful for," Hale said. "...Then they applauded. They clapped for me on the phone, on speaker phone, as I sat in bed in my flannel pajamas at 5-something in the morning. That was perhaps one of the most magical and strange and ethereal moments of my life...

"After the call ended, I lay down in bed, hugged my husband, and sobbed. For like 10 minutes. Hard crying, like I haven't done since my sister died, as though my body was saying, 'I can't process this, I'm not prepared to handle this.' And then I felt like I needed to throw up so I went to the bathroom and dry heaved for a while..."

Akin to an Academy Award, winning Newbery recognition catapults an author to international fame. Hale is the first Utahn to win such recognition since 1957, when Provo-native Virginia Sorensen won for "Miracles on Maple Hill," said Chris Crowe, professor of young adult literature at BYU.

"The Newbery Award is -- and has been for decades -- the single most prestigious award given to authors who write for children or teenagers," Crowe said. "It's a life-changing, career-making award that essentially guarantees that the winning books will stay in print forever, or for at least as long as we have books. The Newbery has such a powerful effect on the life of the winning books because teachers and librarians rely heavily on the list of Newbery Medalists and Honor Books for recommended reading and for inclusion in classroom and library collections."

In "Princess Academy," Miri and the other young women of her rocky highland village are forced to leave their close-knit community so the prince can choose a bride.

"Like the miri flower, which sprouts from the cracks in the linder rock, Miri soon becomes the strong, resilient and courageous leader of the academy," wrote Newbery board members in a review. "The book is a fresh approach to the traditional princess story with unexpected plot twists and great emotional resonance."

Hales said that for her, storytelling comes naturally. When she can't find time to write, "I go a little nuts," she said. "Unwritten characters start tugging on my sleeves, words and images keep me up at night. In many ways, I feel as though I must write."

Does Hale feel pressure now that she is famousfi

"Happily, my next book is already completed and will be published this September, so I don't have to sit staring at my computer, fretting that the next one won't be as good as Princess Academy," she said.

Hale is now co-writing a graphic novel, Rapunzel's Revenge, with her husband, Dean. The book is being illustrated by Provo resident Nathan Hale, who is no relation, to be released in 2008.

Hale has also had time to reflect on what winning does not mean. After getting news of the award, "I felt my whole life so utterly changed that I actually had a moment when I realized that getting the Newbery Honor didn't mean anyone was going to come over and mop my bathroom floor," she said. "It remains unmopped, by the way."

Caleb Warnock can be reached at 756-7669 ext. 19 or cwarnock@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.