The 2012 nominees for the Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice (SYRCA) awards, the Willow Awards, have been announced.
After reading a minimum number of titles, young readers will be invited to vote for their favourite on February 28, 2013. Award winning titles will be announced in April, 2013 at a gala hosted at a
Saskatchewan school.
The three Willow Awards i.e., Shining Willow, Diamond Willow and Snow Willow are detailed below, along with this year's nominated titles.
The Shining Willow Award winner is selected from those books written for youngest readers, those in Kindergarten to Grade 3.
The 2012 Shining Willow nominees are:
• Ella May and the Wishing Stone
by Cary Fagan, Illustrated by Geneviève Côté
Tundra Books
2011
• I Know Here
by Laurel Croza, Illustrated by Matt James
Groundwood Books
2010
• In the Bag!: Margaret Knight Wraps It Up
By Monica Kulling, Illustrated by David Parkins
Tundra Books
2011
• Little Chief and Mighty Gopher: The Pemmican Frenzy
By Victor Lethbridge, Illustrated by Ben Crane
Tatanka Productions
2010
• Loon
By Susan Vande Griek, Illustrated by Karen Reczuch
Groundwood Books
2011
• Picture a Tree!
By Barbara Reid
Scholastic Canada
2011
• Small Saul
By Ashley Spires
Kids Can Press
2011
•The Busy Beaver
By Nicholas Oldland
Kids Can Press
2011
• The Flute
By Rachna Gilmore, Illustrated by Pulak Biswas
Tradewind Books
2011
• Tooter's Stinky Wish
By Brian Cretney, Illustrated by Peggy Collins
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
2011
The Diamond Willow Award winner is selected from those books written for readers of Grades 4 to 6.
The 2012 Diamond Willow nominees are:
• Better Than Weird
By Anna Kerz
Orca Book Publishers
2011
• Full Steam to Canada
By Anne Patton
Coteau Books
2011
• Ghosts of Government House
By Judith Silverthorne
Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing
2011
• Ghosts of the Titanic
By Julie Lawson
Scholastic Canada
2011
• Missing
By Becky Citra
Orca Book Publishers
2011
• No Small Victory
By Connie Brummel Crook
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
2010
• Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools Around the World
By Susan Hughes
Owlkids
2011
• Power Play
By Liam O’Donnell, Illustrated by Mike Deas
Orca Book Publishers
2011
• Somebody's Girl
By Maggie de Vries
Ocra Book Publishers
2011
• Spy, Spy Again: True Tales of Failed Espionage
By Tina Holdcroft
Annick Press
2011
The Snow Willow Award winner is selected from those books written for readers in Grades 7 to 9.
The 2012 Snow Willow nominees are:
• Accomplice
By Valerie Sherrard
Dundurn Press
2011
• Ashes, Ashes
By Jo Treggiari
Scholastic Press
2011
• Betsy Wickwire's Dirty Secret
By Vicki Grant
HarperTrophy Canada
2011
• Dust City
By Robert Paul Weston
Puffin Canada
2010
• The Gathering
By Kelley Armstrong
Doubleday Canada
2011
• Held
By Edeet Ravel
Annick Press
2011
• Shot at Dawn: World War I, Alan McBride, France 1917
By John Wilson
Scholastic Canada
2011
• This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein
By Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins
2011
• Tori By Design
By Colleen Nelson
Great Plains Fiction
2011
• Undergrounders
By David Skuy
Scholastic Canada
2011
Congratulations to all nominated authors, illustrators and publishers!
As a former chair and member of the CLA's Book of the Year for Children Award selection committee, the coming of March is always exciting, as the shortlists for all three of the CLA's book awards are announced. This morning, the Canadian Library Association press releases published the shortlists for each of its annual book awards. (I've added images of the book covers here to help readers recognize the titles when book-browsing. I always find it's nice to know what you're looking for in case it's been misshelved.)
This award recognizes an illustrator of a noteworthy Canadian book, published in 2011, that appeals to children up to the age of 12 years.
Along a Long Road
illustrated by Frank Viva
HarperCollins
Cinnamon Baby
illustrated by Janice Nadeau
Kids Can Press
A Few Blocks
illustrated by Cybèle Young
Groundwood Books
The Legend of the Fog
illustrated by Danny Christopher
Inhabit Media
Migrant
illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Groundwood Books
My Name is Elizabeth!
illustrated by Matthew Forsythe
Kids Can Press
Picture a Tree
illustrated by Barbara Reid
North Winds Press, Scholastic Canada
Qalupalik
illustrated by Joy Ang
Inhabit Media
Slimon the Slug
illustrated by Bonnie Bews
Yellow Toadstool Press
Small Saul
illustrated by Ashley Spires
Kids Can Press
This notable award recognizes a Canadian author of an outstanding book published in Canada in 2011, which appeals to children up to and including age 12.
When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew
by Jan Andrews
Groundwood Books
No Ordinary Day
by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
That Boy Red
by Rachna Gilmore
HarperCollins Canada
Howl
by Karen Hood‐Caddy
Dundurn Press
Dragon Seer’s Gift
by Janet McNaughton
HarperCollins Canada
From Then to Now: A Short History of the World
by Christopher Moore
Tundra Books
The Tiffin
by Mahtab Narsimhan
Dancing Cat Books
Dragon Turn
by Shane Peacock
Tundra Books
The Whole Truth
by Kit Pearson
HarperCollins Canada
Empire of Ruins
by Arthur Slade
HarperCollins Canada
This award recognizes an author of an outstanding English-language Canadian work of fiction (novel, collection of short stories or graphic novel), published in 2011,
that appeals to young adults between the ages of 13 and 18.
The Gathering
by Kelley Armstrong
Random House
All Good Children
by Catherine Austen
Orca Books
Fanatics
by William Bell
Random House
The Woefield Poultry Collective
by Susan Juby
HarperCollins
Once Every Never
by Lesley Livingston
Penguin Canada
My Beating Teenage Heart
by C. K. Kelly Martin
Random House
The Town that Drowned
by Riel Nason
Goose Lane
This Dark Endeavour
by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins
Karma
by Cathy Ostlere
Penguin Canada
Held
by Edeet Ravel
Annick Press
Congratulations to all nominated authors, illustrators and publishers.
Lesley Livingston, author of Once Every Never (Puffin Canada, 2011) which I reviewed here on December 12, 2011, is heralding a new fantasy YA series with this debut book, Starling, published by HarperCollins. According to Lesley Livingston's blog, the author is "thrilled to death and beyond" (Sunday, February 26, 2012) with this newly-revealed cover for Starling.
According to the blurb on the author's blog, the story starts with a young woman, Mason Starling, who rescues an unconscious young man named Fennrys Wolf. Except for his name, Fennrys has no memory, even of his role in opening the barrier between our mortal world and the Beyond Realms. But this breach allows access to a center of dark energy, located in New York City's East River. The consequent power struggle between underworld cartels of Norse, Greek and Egyptian gods and other entities places Mason Starling in danger and wondering who she can trust and who wants her dead.
If she is true to her skills, Lesley Livingston will have
written another great tome in which mythology is interwoven with
fantasy, romance and hopefully her signature humour.
With the recent Academy Awards ceremonies, I'd like to recognize the numerous contributions of the National Film Board of Canada(NFB) to promoting Canadian literature. As the NFB has been nominated for more Oscars than any production company or organization outside of Hollywood and has provided work experience for every Foreign Language film director nominated this year, its reputation for exceptional documentaries, animations and such is well established.
But did you know that there are numerous short and full-length films available for viewing
on the National Film Board of Canadawebsite? As a blogger of Canadian literature for young people (as well as a teacher-librarian), I love the short films of popular Canadian children's books that offer a different perspective on the stories. (If you're a teacher, using text and film versions of a story is a great way to teach a variety of writing and reading skills. Just look for resources about teaching with movies.)
Explore for yourself the variety of films available for viewing at the National Film Board of Canada website, including these particular favourites of mine:
Though the term "ghost" suggests frightening disembodied souls, it can also refer to a faint trace, a remote possibility, a false image, or even be a synonym for our spirit. As such, the title of Philip Roy's newest book in The Submarine Outlaw Series, Ghosts of the Pacific, could evoke horror or things left behind or future possibilities. Fortunately, Philip Roy has not chosen to emphasize one over another, but instead embraces a more comprehensive definition, resulting in another fabulously rich tale of adventure.
Since fourteen, Alfred has been exploring the world using a twenty-foot, diesel-electric submarine built by junkyard genius and friend, Ziegfried. Accompanied by his crew of Hollie, his dog, and Seaweed, a seagull,
Alfred has travelled from his home in Newfoundland around the Maritimes (Submarine Outlaw, Ronsdale Press, 2008),
across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean (Journey to Atlantis, Ronsdale Press, 2009), and down the St.
Lawrence River (River Odyssey, Ronsdale Press, 2010). Now 16, Alfred is ready for his postponed trip to the Pacific Ocean, choosing to travel northward through the Arctic and head for Saipan, part of the Mariana Islands.
Travel to Baffin Island seems easy enough, until a hunk of ice with dark pebbles turns out to be a polar bear that chases a kayaking Alfred back to the sub. This first "ghost" hails the onslaught of dangerous "growlers" (calved ice that has broken off icebergs and floats just below the surface) that are virtually imperceptible until they hit the sub, repeatedly. Inattention in this unforgiving landscape puts Alfred and his crew into deathly peril several times (even if he does get some great photo ops). However, it also provides him with the chance to meet Nanuq, an elder in Igloolik, who sadly talks of the sea dying and its inevitable destruction of all.
Death begins to haunt the story even more. Travelling blindly beneath impassable ice, searching for occasional small breaks to allow for a battery recharge, and getting stuck for days in shifting ice brings out Alfred's fear but also his resilience and resolve. His extraordinary character continues to help him endure the anguish of typhoons, the violent death of animals, the blight of garbage and the suffering of others. Still, he enjoys the company of new friends, including a young girl named Cinnamon, learning more about the world, and consciously making a difference whenever he can.
Alfred has undertaken this journey to explore unbelievable places and their tragedies, from Franklin's expedition in search of the Northwest Passage ("...the Arctic was guarding them in an icy grave"; pg. 64), to Amelia Earhart's 1937 disappearance, to the graveyard of warships in the Bikini Atoll, and ultimately to the island of Saipan where Japanese civilians and officers chose suicide rather than surrender to the Allied forces in 1944. But along his journey, his interest in the past brings him face-to-face with the tragedies of the present: fishing trawlers whose illegal practices kill countless dolphins, sharks and turtles; acres of plastic garbage, twenty to thirty feet deep, trapping and killing all life, while slowly decomposing and killing even more; and the irradiated land and waters of the Bikini Atoll, testing grounds for atomic and hydrogen bombs during World War II. Luckily, Philip Roy capably brings Alfred to see choices in his future that will allow him to continue exploration while addressing his new preoccupations.
Like a great adventure, Ghosts of the Pacific does not allow the reader the opportunity to be distracted or bored. Even seemingly mundane tasks such as exercising or finding shelter become significant experiences which the reader must follow until settled. The plot is relentless, always enriched with unexpected subplots, steeped in a multifaceted landscape of cold and warmth, hardness and softness. Though Cinnamon who is still a vague character may take on a more important role, those of Ziegfried, Sheba, Hollie and Seaweed provide the depth to carry Alfred on further journeys. Fortunately, I hear Philip Roy is already working on a fifth book in the series.
The video below captures Philip Roy talking about his Submarine Outlaw Series, including the submarine.
