You earn the Timothy award after completing the grade 3-6 T&T books 1-4.
To earn the Meritorious award, you need to have earned the Timothy award plus the two grade 7 and 8 Trek books.
To earn the Citation award, which is the highest Awana award, and the award that gets you the most scholarships, you need to have earned the Timothy, Meritorious, plus the eight high school Journey books. The Citation is awarded to 12th graders or older.
If you start later than the grades the books are for, that's OK; you start with the book for the grade you are in, and you can catch up with the previous books at your own pace.
Two of my kids have earned their Citations and received $4000 scholarships ($1000/year) to Liberty University, and my 10th grade daughter is working towards it also.
Does this help?
Blessings,
Sabrina