2016 TD Canadian Children's Book Awards: Finalists announced

(Normally I don't post award short-lists or winners here but I always make a few exceptions for ones that I consider especially important to youngCanLit.  As such, I am posting here an identical post that will be added to my CanLit for LittleCanadians: Awards blog. No need to read it twice!)

Recently, the Canadian Children's Book Centre, our nationally-renowned authority on all things related to youngCanLit, announced the finalists for the 2016 Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards. (Press release here.)

The eight major children's book awards, which will be awarded at two invitation-only galas in November, include:

• TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($30,000) Sponsored by TD Bank Group;
• Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse ($30,000) Sponsored by TD Bank Group;
• Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award ($20,000) Sponsored by A. Charles Baillie;
• Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction ($10,000) Sponsored by the Fleck Family Foundation;
• Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($5,000) Sponsored by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Bilson Endowment Fund;
• John Spray Mystery Award ($5,000) Sponsored by John Spray of Mantis Investigation Agency;
• Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy ($5,000)  Sponsored by HarperCollins Canada; and
• Amy Mathers Teen Book Award ($5,000) Sponsored by Amy Mathers' Marathon of Books

Here are the short lists for each award category, as announced by the Canadian Children's Book Centre:

TD Canadian Children's Literature Award

Missing Nimâmâ 
by Melanie Florence
Illustrated by François Thisdale
Clockwise Press
Reviewed here

The Nest
by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins

That Squeak 
by Carolyn Beck
Illustrated by François Thisdale
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Reviewed here

The Wolf-Birds 
by Willow Dawson
Owlkids Books

A Year of Borrowed Men 
by Michelle Barker
Illustrated by Renné Benoit
Pajama Press
Reviewed here







Le Prix TD de littérature pour l'enfance et la jeunesse canadienne

L’arbragan 
par Jacques Goldstyn
Éditions de la Pastèque

Aux toilettes 
par André Marois
Illustré par Pierre Pratt
Éditions Druide

Camille 
par Patrick Isabelle
Leméac Éditeur

L’épopée de Petit-Jules 
par Maryse Rouy
Éditions Hurtubise

Le prisonnier sans frontières 
par Jacques Goldstyn
Bayard Canada












Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award 

In a Cloud of Dust 
by Alma Fullerton
Illustrated by Brian Deines
Pajama Press
Reviewed here

InvisiBill 
by Maureen Fergus
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Tundra Books

Sidewalk Flowers
by JonArno Lawson
Illustrated by Sydney Smith
Groundwood Books
Reviewed here

Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox 
by Danielle Daniel
Groundwood Books
Reviewed here

The Wolf-Birds 
by Willow Dawson
Owlkids Books












Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

The Art of the Possible: An Everyday Guide to Politics 
by Edward Keenan
Illustrated by Julie McLaughlin
Owlkids Books

A Beginner’s Guide to Immortality: From Alchemy to Avatars 
by Maria Birmingham
Illustrated by Josh Holinaty
Owlkids Books

Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War (CitizenKid)
by Jessica Dee Humphreys and Michel Chikwanine
Illustrated by Claudia Dávila
Kids Can Press
Reviewed here

Foodprints: The Story of What We Eat 
by Paula Ayer
Annick Press

Sex Is a Funny Word: A Book About Bodies, Feelings, and You 
by Cory Silverberg
Illustrated by Fiona Smyth
Seven Stories Press

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People 

Avis Dolphin 
by Frieda Wishinsky
Illustrated by Willow Dawson
Groundwood Books

The Farmerettes 
by Gisela Tobien Sherman
Second Story Press

Mad Miss Mimic 
by Sarah Henstra
Razorbill Canada
Reviewed here

Uncertain Soldier 
by Karen Bass
Pajama Press
Reviewed here

The Unquiet Past (Secrets)
by Kelley Armstrong
Orca Book Publishers

John Spray Mystery Award

The Blackthorn Key (Blackthorn Key)
by Kevin Sands
Aladdin

The Case of the Missing Moonstone (The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency)
by Jordan Stratford
Alfred A. Knopf
Reviewed here

Delusion Road 
by Don Aker
HarperTrophy Canada

The Masked Truth 
by Kelley Armstrong
Doubleday Canada

Masterminds 
by Gordon Korman
HarperCollins Publishers
Reviewed here












Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy

Clover’s Luck (Magical Animal Adoption Agency)
by Kallie George
Illustrated by Alexandra Bolder
HarperCollins Publishers
Reviewed here

The Nest 
by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins Publishers

The Scorpion Rules (Prisoners of Peace)
by Erin Bow
Margaret K. McElderry Books

A Thousand Nights 
by E.K. Johnston
Disney-Hyperion

The Unquiet 
by Mikaela Everett
Greenwillow Books













Amy Mathers Teen Book Award

5 to 1 
by Holly Bodger
Alfred A. Knopf

The Scorpion Rules (Prisoners of Peace)
by Erin Bow
Margaret K. McElderry Books

Trouble is a Friend of Mine 
by Stephanie Tromly
Kathy Dawson Books

The Truth Commission 
by Susan Juby
Razorbill Canada
Reviewed here

Young Man With Camera 
by Emil Sher
Arthur A. Levine Books









Hosted by the Canadian Children's Book Centre and TD Bank Group, the TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards will celebrate great Canadian children's books and present the winners of the awards on the evenings of November 1, 2016 and November 17, 2016 in Montreal and Toronto, respectively.