2020 Canadian Children's Book Centre Book Awards: Finalists announced

Yesterday, the Canadian Children's Book Centre, our nationally-renowned authority on all things related to youngCanLit, announced the finalists for the 2020 Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards. (See their website announcement here with pdf here and video of shortlists here.)

The eight major children's book awards, which will be awarded later this fall, include:

• TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($50,000) Sponsored by TD Bank Group;
• Le Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse ($50,000) 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;
• Amy Mathers Teen Book Award ($5,000) Sponsored by Amy Mathers' Marathon of Books; and
• Le Prix Harry Black de l’album jeunesse ($5,000) Sponsored by Mary Macchiusi

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




TD Canadian Children's Literature Award

Birdsong
Written and illustrated by Julie Flett
Greystone Kids

Broken Strings
Written by Eric Walters and Kathy Kacer
Puffin Canada

It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way
Written by Kyo Maclear
Illustrated by Julie Morstad
Tundra Books

Small in the City
Written and illustrated by Sydney Smith
Groundwood Books
Reviewed here

Stand on the Sky
Written by Erin Bow
Scholastic Canada













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

Les étoiles
Written and illustrated by Jacques Goldstyn
Éditions de la Pastèque

Le grain de sable : Olivier Le Jeune, premier esclave au Canada
Written by Webster
Illustrated by ValMo
Éditions Septentrion

Mon ami Pierrot
Written by Annie Gravel
Illustrated by Enzo
Éditions Planète rebelle

Pipo
Written by Amélie Dumoulin
Illustrated by Todd Stewart
Éditions Québec Amérique

Quand le vent souffle
Written and illustrated by Todd Stewart
Translated by Nadine Robert
Comme des géants

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award

Birdsong
Written and illustrated by Julie Flett
Greystone Kids

King Mouse
Written by Cary Fagan
Illustrated by Dena Seiferling
Tundra Books

My Winter City
Written by James Gladstone
Illustrated by Gary Clement
Groundwood Books

The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota’s Garden
Written by Heather Smith
Illustrated by Rachel Wada
Orca Book Publishers

Small in the City
Written by Sydney Smith
Groundwood Books
Reviewed here










Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

Beastly Puzzles: A Brain-Boggling Animal Guessing Game
Written by Rachel Poliquin
Illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler
Kids Can Press
Reviewed here 

Cells: An Owner's Handbook
Written and illustrated by Carolyn Fisher
Beach Lane Books

Fairy Science (Fairy Science, Book 1)
Written and illustrated by Ashley Spires
Tundra Books

Killer Style: How Fashion Has Injured, Maimed, & Murdered Through History
Written by Serah-Marie McMahon and Alison Matthews David
Illustrated by Gillian Wilson
Owlkids Books

Picking Up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket
Written by Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson
Orca Book Publishers









Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People 

Among the Fallen
Written by Virginia Frances Schwartz
Holiday House

Be My Love
Written by Kit Pearson
HarperTrophy Canada

The Big Dig
Written by Lisa Harrington
Nimbus Publishing

City on Strike
Written by Harriet Zaidman
Red Deer Press

Orange for the Sunsets
Written by Tina Athaide
Katherine Tegen Books

Room for One More 

Written by Monique Polak 

Kar-Ben Publishing 

John Spray Mystery Award

The Athena Protocol
Written by Shamim Sarif
HarperTeen
304 pp.
Ages 13+
2019

Keep This to Yourself
Written by Tom Ryan
Albert Whitman & Co.
320 pp.
Ages 13+
2019

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane
Written by Julia Nobel
Sourcebooks
320 pp.
Ages 8-12
2019
Reviewed here

Songs from the Deep
Written by Kelly Powell
Margaret McElderry
320 pp.
Ages 12+
2019

The Starlight Claim
Written by Tim Wynne-Jones
Candlewick
240 pp.
Ages 13+
2019
Reviewed here









Amy Mathers Teen Book Award

All Our Broken Pieces
Written by L.D. Crichton
Hyperion

The Candle and the Flame
Written by Nafiza Azad
Scholastic Press

In the Key of Nira Ghani
Written by Natasha Deen
Running Press Teens

Keep This to Yourself
Written by Tom Ryan
Albert Whitman & Company

Love from A to Z
Written by S.K. Ali
Salaam Reads






 




Prix Harry Black de l'album jeunesse

La case 144
Written by Nadine Poirier
Illustrated by Geneviève Després
Éditions D'eux

La corde à linge
Written and illustrated by Orbie
Éditions les 400 coups

Des couleurs sur la Grave
Written by Marie-Andrée Arsenault
Illustrated by Dominique Leroux
Éditions la Morue verte

Laurent, c'est moi!
Written by Stéphanie Deslauriers
Illustrated by Geneviève Després
Éditions Fonfon

Le poisson et l'oiseau
Written by Kim Thúy
Illustrated by Rogé
Éditions de la Bagnole

The winners of the English-language awards will be announced at a small, socially distanced event, co-hosted by the Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA). There will be a free live stream of the event available on the Canadian Children's Book Centre's YouTube channel, Bibliovideo, afterwards. Leading up to the event, the CCBC and TIFA will host free panel discussions with some of the nominated creators. More event information will be available at festivalofauthors.ca on September 22.

The French-language awards will be celebrated as a part of Salon du livre Montreal, hosted by Communication-Jeunesse, with a virtual event announcing winners of Prix TD and Prix Harry Black in mid-November.

 

Make Your Mark Gallery: A Coloring Book-ish

Written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
Candlewick Press
978-1-536209310
96 pp.
Ages 4-8
September 2020

From Peter H. Reynolds, the author-illustrator whose first book, The Dot (2003), inspired today's International Dot Day, comes a new book to foster and celebrate creativity. Make Your Mark Gallery, a sort of colouring book, inspires the creator in all of us to take up the pen or pencil or paint and be our own muses.

With these encouraging words,

Peter H. Reynolds gives young readers and artists the frames and nudges to get them creating. In a series of picture frames, starting squiggles and word suggestions like "Dragon-ish," the author-illustrator provides the platform for young artists to develop their own gallery, complete with artist information box on the back of each.

From Make Your Mark Gallery by Peter H. Reynolds

Even better, each page is edged with perforations so that any and every piece of art can be removed for curation on a wall, refrigerator or other gallery space. 

From Make Your Mark Gallery by Peter H. Reynolds

With a plethora of shapes and backgrounds, suggestions and creator space, Peter H. Reynolds has given children a blank canvas without giving them the void of a completely blank page and encourages them to start imagining a world of their own art. Dragons, clouds, snakes and fruit bowls optional.

From Make Your Mark Gallery by Peter H. Reynolds

The Gryphon's Lair (A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying, Book 2): Guest review

This review was written by Grade 7 student Matthew Green.

Written by Kelley Armstrong

Puffin Canada

978-0-735265387

352 pp.

Ages 10-14

June 2020

 

The Gryphon's Lair is the second book in the A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying series by Kelley Armstrong. The Gryphon's Lair is every bit as good as A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying, which I loved, and maybe even a bit better!

The story is about the adventures of 12-year-old Princess Rowan, the Royal Monster Hunter elect, and her companions who are on a mission to reunite a lone baby gryphon with her kind after the mother (who Rowan captured in the first book) dies. But their mission is complicated by many monstrous encounters! They run into monsters of all shapes and sizes, from dropbears to wyverns and everything in between. During her adventures, Rowan learns lots of life lessons (and teaches a couple too!). For instance, she learns about the value of teamwork and she teaches that it’s better to choose peace over violence.

The story is told from Rowan’s point of view, so I enjoyed reading her inner thoughts as she slowly but surely forms plans to overcome obstacles under extreme pressure.

The book has a really great cast of characters too, both human and monster! My favourite character is Jacko the baby jackalope because he’s funny and cute and very protective of Rowan even though he's so small. I also like Wilmot the trainer because he’s tough but fair. I think that the catalogue of monster illustrations at the end of the book is pretty cool as well because it gives you a visual reference for all the monsters.

Though I have read the first book, The Gryphon's Lair explained everything before the real adventure started and that makes me very sure that you would understand this book even if you didn’t read the first one. Also, the writing itself is clear and thoughtful which makes it an easy and pleasurable read.

Overall I had a lot of fun reading this book! Personally I enjoyed the book largely because of the fantasy aspect, which is great for fantasy lovers, but I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good adventure story! I’m looking forward to more action-packed adventures with Rowan and her friends and can’t wait for the third book! I would give The Gryphon's Lair a 9/10.

~ Written by Matthew Green, Age 11 ¾

The King of Jam Sandwiches

Written by Eric Walters

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-2556-7

312 pp.

Ages 8-12

September 2020

This was a difficult story for me to write because it's so personal. Many of the things I've written about are from my life. The question I'm already being asked is, How much of this is true? The answer is simple–too much and not enough. 

(From Author's Note) 

So begins The King of Jam Sandwiches, the story of thirteen-year-old Robbie whose familial circumstances have compelled him to take on adult responsibilities and worries far beyond his years, reminding all readers that even the most unbelievable of situations can be a child's reality.

Since his mother and grandparents have passed, Robbie only has his father, a man whose erratic behaviours shout of bipolar disorder, swinging between fears for his imminent death, hoarding food supplies and disappearing for days. Though he has an Uncle Jack and Aunt Cora, Robbie is always told that he'll be going into foster care if anything happens to his dad. So Robbie is the one steady element in his family. He cares for his dog, Candy; he does the laundry, if there's detergent; he peels potatoes when he gets home from school; and he works part-time at a butcher shop, though his father doesn't want him taking food, as charity, from the kindly Mr. and Mrs. Priamo. But Robbie does more than just endure and persevere. He makes plans and he has ambition.  Working hard to earn good grades and save his money, Robbie has a plan to get out from under his father and escape, ultimately going to university.

If you're broken and you know it, you have to get up every day and work harder and longer than everybody else if you want to get anywhere. (pg. 298)

Then Robbie meets Harmony, a new student. An enigma of brashness and hopelessness, Harmony is living with her newest foster family and counting on being reunited with her mother who has been in and out of rehab.  While Robbie feels that he has to prove himself, Harmony accepts his daily jam sandwiches as tasty, not humiliating; helps him buy some new, though heavily discounted, clothes that fit; and finds a way for him to do something fun like basketball. Robbie may not want to admit to anyone that they are poor and that his father is a negligent parent, feeling like this is the life he deserves, but Harmony, in her convoluted style, makes sure that he knows otherwise. 

I am loathe to call The King of Jam Sandwiches a coming-of-age story because, sadly, Robbie and Harmony have been adults for years.  They've carried burdens that children should not. They are the parents in their lives, looking after the adults who have failed to be parents. They live disquieted lives, never knowing when danger might arise or when the flimsy stability they've create for themselves might dissipate. And Eric Walters establishes that precariousness of reality from the onset and throughout The King of Jam Sandwiches. There is no respite from the poverty or the instability. There is only survival, physical and emotional, and the reader's hope that Robbie and Harmony get through it. (The author's "Post Note" reassures that they do.)

The King of Jam Sandwiches is a tough read because no one wants to think about children suffering. But The King of Jam Sandwiches is reality for many children, and while telling us about his own childhood wrapped in Robbie's story, Eric Walters has given voice to children who, like Robbie, don't think they deserve better or that they count. They do. They are the royalty of their own realities and, if they can get the support they need and want, they may even come to recognize that,

"You already are somebody." (pg. 115) 

Harvey Holds His Own

Written by Colleen Nelson
Illustrations by Tara Anderson

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-114-4

288 pp.

Ages 8-12

August 2020

It's funny how a little dog can help people without even trying. (pg.73)

After Harvey's first adventure (Harvey Comes Home, 2019) in which he becomes lost, Maggie's West Highland Terrier is happy to be home, though he does miss the boy who'd found him and the people at Brayside Retirement Villa where he'd spent much of his "leave." However, seventh grader Maggie doesn't necessarily feel very hospitable to Austin who, though he'd cared for Harvey well, had kept her dog without looking for his home. Still, as she chooses to do her volunteer hours at Brayside where Austin works alongside his grandfather, the head custodian of the facility, Maggie will learn more about connecting with others, even those with whom she seemingly has little in common, courtesy of a little dog.

Told from the different perspectives of Maggie, Austin and Harvey, Harvey Holds His Own follows multiple plot lines, all brought together via Maggie's volunteering at Brayside. There she meets new resident, Mrs. Josephine Fradette, a spirited senior, who shares her memories of being evacuated from Winnipeg to her grandparents' home during the Red River flood of 1950 and learning car mechanics from her Pépère. This connection is especially meaningful for Maggie who is feeling isolated from best friends Lexi and Brianne. Meanwhile Austin continues to help his grandfather at Brayside and is thrilled to reacquaint himself with Harvey during Maggie's visits–though he'd dearly love a dog of his own–but is distracted by fears that his Grandpa is in danger of losing his job.  And then there's adorable Harvey whose nose will lead him to both crisis and blessing, and bring Maggie, Austin, and others together in an ending that will leave readers smiling, heartened and satisfied.

From Harvey Holds His Own by Colleen Nelson, illus. by Tara Anderson

I am always apprehensive of animal stories as I anticipate hardships like vulnerabilities, injury and cruelty, especially at the hands of humans. Unfortunately, these things do happen in reality and they always leave me emotionally shattered. But Colleen Nelson, with her compassionate heart and love for Westies–there is a photo of her with her own family's–gives us a story of a girl, a boy and a dog (or two) that will make readers happy, both entertaining and reassuring them that things can work out well in the end. And while many will be drawn to this middle-grade novel because it is an animal story at its core, there are important messages about courage and perseverance, friendships new and old, and even love.

Loving something always comes with a risk; that's what makes it so special. (pg. 245)

I had to take a risk reading Harvey Holds His Own because of my own anxieties. What I got for that risk was a lovely story–with chapter headings delightfully illustrated by Tara Anderson–that reassures that there are good people who will always do right by others, whether they be their canine families, seniors in a long-term care facility, or friends. And isn't it nice to know, especially nowadays, that there is goodness out there?