Tundra Book Group

The Canadian Library Association is pleased to announce the shortlist for the 2016 Book of the Year for Children Award. This respected award honours a book published in Canada in 2015 by a Canadian author that appeals to readers aged 12 and younger. The award is generously sponsored by Library Services Centre. Tundra would like to congratulate Linda Bailey!

Seven Dead Pirates
Written by Linda Bailey
Hardcover | 304 Pages | Ages 8-12
ISBN: 978-1-77049-815-0
Lewis Dearborn is a lonely, anxious, “terminally shy” boy of eleven when his great-grandfather passes away and leaves Lewis’s family with his decaying seaside mansion. Lewis is initially delighted with his new bedroom, a secluded tower in a remote part of the house. Then he discovers that it’s already occupied – by the ghosts of seven dead pirates. Worse, the ghosts expect him to help them re-take their ship, now restored and on display in a local museum, so they can make their way to Libertalia, a legendary pirate utopia. The only problem is that this motley crew hasn’t left the house in almost two hundred years and is terrified of going outside. As Lewis warily sets out to assist his new roommates – a raucous, unruly bunch who exhibit a strange delight in thrift-store fashions and a thirst for storybooks – he begins to open himself to the possibilities of friendship, passion and joie de vivre and finds the courage to speak up.

Congratulations to the other shortlisted authors:
The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands
Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls are used in War by Jessica Humphreys and Michael Chikwanine
The Choice by Kathy Clarke
The First Flute by David Bouchard
Minrs by Kevin Sylvester
The Nest by Kenneth Oppel
A Pocket Full of Murder by R.J. Anderson
Trash Talk by Michelle Mulder
Young Man With Camera by Emil Sher

Thank you to the jury members for their dedication and hard work! They had to read and review 230 titles, after which 48 were long-listed before narrowing it down to the 10 finalists.