Category: honours

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Based on a True Story Contest Winner

We are thrilled to share the winning story from our writing contest. But first, here’s what one of our judges had to say about it:

“It was humorous, cheeky, filled with true facts and very cleverly strung together! [He] also managed to create a believable voice for his young narrator, which was great.”

Without further ado, here is the winning story:

Congratulations to Joah! He will receive a signed copy of Sergeant Billy from author Mireille Messier as well as $50 worth of Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers books.

There were two other stories that we felt came very close – so we want to give a shout out to these aspiring writers

  • Malala’s Dream by Ashley
  • The Childhood Of An Author by Sumal
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2019 Writers’ Trust Awards

The Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People is given annually to the author of an exceptional body of work in children’s literature and the winner is selected by a three-member judging panel. We would like to congratulate Susin Nielsen who was the recipient of this year’s award!

From the jury citation:

In one of her book titles, Susin Nielsen reminds us we are all made of molecules. Deftly, in her writing, she has managed to mould these molecules into unforgettable characters that lead us in and out of the seismic shifts of adolescence in the earthquake zone of Vancouver, where her stories are set. Nielsen celebrates the amazing resilience of young people as well as the adults around them as they face such trials as mental health issues, bullying, homelessness, and the deaths of siblings and parents. Few writing today can match her ability to make even peripheral characters memorable through a wonderful distillation of dialogue and details. A testimony to her talent is that she manages to put everything together with a humour that can only draw us in and keep us laughing even as we reach for a box of tissues. Witty, tender, fearless in the face of tackling big issues, Nielsen has staked out her territory in children’s literature – and it’s a place worth visiting often.

Word Nerd
By Susin Nielsen
ISBN 9780887769900
Ages 9-12 | Tundra Books

In this brilliantly observed novel, author Susin Nielsen transports the reader to the world of competitive Scrabble as seen from the honest yet funny viewpoint of a boy who’s searching for acceptance and for a place to call home.

Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom
By Susin Nielsen
ISBN 9781770492950
Ages 10+ | Tundra Books

When her mother takes up with the unfortunately named Dudley Wiener, Violet and her friend Phoebe decide that they need to take control. If Violet’s mom can’t pick a decent man herself, they will help her snag George Clooney.

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen
By Susin Nielsen
ISBN 9781770496545
Ages 10+ | Tundra Books

Thirteen-year-old Henry’s happy, ordinary life comes to an abrupt halt when his brother, Jesse, picks up a hunting rifle and leaves the house one morning.

We Are All Made of Molecules
By Susin Nielsen
ISBN 9781770497801
Ages 12+ | Tundra Books

Written in alternating voices, Susin Nielsen deftly explores family tragedy and family ties; sibling rivalry and union; and adolescent confusion and revelation.

Optimists Die First
By Susin Nielsen
ISBN 9781770497832
Ages 12+ | Tundra Books

This touching, hilarious tragi-comedy by award-winning author Susin Nielsen proves: Life is out to get you. But so is love. A quirky alternative to the “sick lit” genre for YA readers.

No Fixed Address
By Susin Nielsen
ISBN 9780735262751
Ages 10+ | Tundra Books

From beloved Governor General Literary Award–winning author Susin Nielsen comes a touching and funny middle-grade story about family, friendship and growing up when you’re one step away from homelessness.

Princess Puffybottom … and Darryl
By Susin Nielsen
Illustrated by Olivia Chin Mueller
ISBN 9781101919255
Ages 3-7 | Tundra Books

What’s a pampered cat to do now that she has to compete for attention with an ill-mannered puppy? Award-winning author Susin Nielsen delights in this laugh-a-minute twist on the classic sibling rivalry story.

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2019 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic

The Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic has celebrated the best in Canadian fantasy since 2001 and takes its name from the debut novel of Phyllis Gotlieb, one of the first authors to publish contemporary Canadian speculative fiction. We would like to congratulate Rachel Hartman whose novel Tess of the Road won this year’s Young Adult Fiction award.

Tess of the Road
By Rachel Hartman
544 Pages | Ages 12+ | Penguin Teen Canada
ISBN 9780385685887

From the Sunburst Awards jury:

Rachel Hartman’s Tess of the Road is a tour de force, a novel that dives headfirst into its heroine’s complex, messy, morally multifaceted world while never losing sight of the story at its heart. Hartman’s Tess is on a journey whose point is less self-discovery than it is a simple acceptance of self-worth. Her credo, “Walk on,” comes to encompass not just her physical journey but her struggle to accept that she matters and that it is possible for others to find worth in her. Tess’s progress takes place in a richly imagined fantastic landscape where even the deeply alien quigutl are so deftly painted that the unfamiliar becomes known and comforting. The reader is able to journey with Tess into an understanding that the seemingly strictest and most unshakeable beliefs can be based on lack of knowledge or unwillingness to embrace change.

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Our 2019 Governor General’s Literary Awards Finalists

GGbooks2019

Each year, the Canada Council for the Arts honours the best books in Canadian literature with the Governor General’s Literary Awards. This year, we have four finalists in the Young People’s Literature categories, one in text and three in illustrated books. Congratulations to our authors and illustrators!

Finalist for Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books

Albert’s Quiet Quest
By Isabelle Arsenault
ISBN 9781101917626 | Tundra Books
Hardcover | 48 Pages | Ages 4-8
“In Arsenault’s ideal neighborhood, independent children make their own decisions and form their own community, and they resolve their own conflicts, too.” – Publishers Weekly

How to Give Your Cat a Bath
By Nicola Winstanley
Illustrated by John Martz
ISBN 9780735263543 | Tundra Books
Hardcover | 40 Pages | Ages 3-7
“This laugh-out-loud picture book can serve as a beginning reader. . . . The inevitable ending will delight both children and adults and this title will be requested over and over.” – Starred Review, Booklist

King Mouse
By Cary Fagan
Illustrated by Dena Seiferling
ISBN 9780735264045 | Tundra Books
Hardcover | 40 Pages | Ages 3-7
“Graceful and perceptive in both illustration and text, the timeless theme is particularly pertinent today.” – Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews

Finalist for Young People’s Literature – Text

The Grey Sisters
By Jo Treggiari
ISBN 9780735262980 | Penguin Teen Canada
Hardcover | 288 Pages | Ages 12+
“Dark and gripping. . . . [R]eaders will have a hard time putting the book down.” – School Library Journal

Special thanks to the peer assessment committee: Shauntay Grant, Jon Klassen, Kathryn Shoemaker, Kagiso Lesego Molope, Kenneth Oppel, and Ellen Schwartz.

Follow the conversation on Twitter through @CanadaCouncil and by using the hashtag #GGbooks. The winners of the 2019 Governor General Literary Awards will be announced on Tuesday, October 29, 2019.

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2019 Joan Betty Stuchner – Oy Vey! – Funniest Children’s Book Award

The Joan Betty Stuchner- Oy Vey! -Funniest Children’s Book Award was created in memory of a beloved children’s author and teacher. The biannual award honours Joan’s life-affirming humour and encourages other children’s writers to laugh it up on the page the way she did. We would like to congratulate Cary Fagan, Mort Ziff is Not Dead won this year’s award!

Mort Ziff is Not Dead
By Cary Fagan
176 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Puffin Canada
ISBN 9780143198482

A humorous coming-of-age middle-grade novel set in 1960s Florida. Battling obxious siblings, sunburns, and a corporate millionaire, Norman is determined to help an old comedian save his career.

Mort Ziff is Not Dead kept the jury “buckled over with guffaws, incapacitated with giggles, and/or rib-ticklingly, side-splittingly, thigh-slappingly entertained.”

Tundra Book Group