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Award-Winning English Titles
R. ROSS ANNETT JUVENILE FICTION AWARD 2002 Not awarded. RED CEDAR BOOK AWARD
Afghanistan is still under the rule of the harsh Taliban regime. Young Parvana's father can no longer teach; he was wounded when a bomb destroyed the school where he was teaching, and her mother, three sisters and baby brother are confined to a one-room apartment. Every day, 10-year-old Parvana accompanies her father to the market, where he sits in a corner trying to earn enough money to support his family by reading letters for those who cannot read. When Parvana's father is beaten up and jailed, the family is left with no means of survival. Their only hope is with Parvana - she is young enough to dress as a boy (girls are not allowed to go out in public) and knows how to read and write, which will enable her take her father's place in the market. Each day is filled with new dangers. When Parvana's mother and sisters try to go north to Mazar-e-sharif for Parvana's older sister's wedding, they are rounded up by the Taliban. Alone in Kabul, Parvana will need all her courage to survive. The Breadwinner has received international attention. The indomitable character and remarkable courage and determination of Parvana were inspired by personalities Deborah Ellis met while working in refugee camps in Pakistan. JP RED CEDAR BOOK AWARD
Knights in shining armour, princesses…. Isn't that what the Middle Ages are all about? At least that is what Josh and Emma Binkerton think until they find themselves in a field, labouring alongside peasants in the middle of the 12th century. To make matters worse, Libby, their little sister, has somehow travelled back through time with them. Josh and Emma become servants in the nearby castle - not at all the life they had imagined. The work is hard; there are no toilets, and there is no running water or electricity. Then, to their surprise, the castle is attacked. Flaming arrows and dead cows are hurled over the walls at them! Josh and Emma use their wits to save the day, and return home safe and sound with Libby. Linda Bailey has woven an interesting tale that mixes fact and fiction for the young reader. Learn what kind of food was eaten by peasants, lords and kings; see what their homes were like and what kind of clothing they wore. There are various activities depicted in the illustrations and, in addition to the story, there is a page at the end devoted to more facts about the Middle Ages. RED MAPLE AWARD
Jes is a teenager who thinks her life "sucks." Her mother is remarrying and her future stepsister is evil. Jes has an amazing amount of friends that she can talk to, if only she would open up to them. She has two best friends, Dell and Sam, and has heartfelt conversations with Sam’s mother and with Leonard, an old family friend. The family spends summers on Mara Lake, named after the god of illusion and evil. At the lake, the kids swing out from a rope, let go, and drop into the lake. The rope reminds Jes of a hangman’s noose and she has never been able to jump. Jes’s biggest fear is letting go of her illusions. While she confesses to Sam that she doesn’t believe in fairy tales or "happily ever after," she continues to cling to her fantasy of her mother and father getting back together again. This coming-of-age story presents realistic situations involving teenagers who must come to terms with change. LS RUTH SCHWARTZ CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD
This is a wonderful, read-aloud book. A young Aboriginal boy goes for a walk, collecting interesting items to put in his pouch. Realizing that it is getting dark and he is far from home, the boy becomes aware of odd noises and his imagination takes over. He calls the mystery noises "whateveritwas." When he arrives home the next morning, his mother is so happy to see him safe she forgets to be angry. The boy tells his mother about his experiences, shows her the treasures he has found and tells her of the creatures he imagined were following him. Richard Thompson’s prose builds suspense and curiosity. Martin Springett’s stylistic yet ethereal illustrations provide an excellent backdrop for the text. Springett has won three Canadian Children’s Book Centre Our Choice awards as well as the Aurora Award for his body of work in Science Fiction and Fantasy. The author and illustrator also collaborated on The Follower. LS RUTH SCHWARTZ CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD
(Sequel to: The Breadwinner) This is a graphic account of 13-year-old Parvana’s struggle to find her family in war-torn Afghanistan. In the first chapter, a solitary Parvana buries her father. Her mother, sisters and baby brother are somewhere in the chaos that used to be a country. The ruling Taliban don’t like women being seen in public, so Parvana dresses as a boy. Although in this country, it is also dangerous to be a child - dangerous because there are adults so desperate for food and money that they would sell boys and girls to the Taliban. Parvana meets other equally unfortunate children on her journey: an orphaned baby boy, whom Parvana names Hassan; the obnoxious Asif, who has only one leg, and a dreamy nine-year-old named Leila, who believes she is impervious to landmines. Clinging to one another for comfort, survival becomes their only priority as they attempt to find food and a safe place to sleep. Ellis interviewed women and children refugees from Afghanistan, whose stories inspired Parvana’s Journey, the sequel to The Breadwinner. All royalties from the sale of this book go to Women for Women, an organization that helps women in Afghanistan. THE SHEILA A. EGOFF CHILDREN’S PRIZE
Eleven year-old Andy Flynn is lucky to be alive. His mother and stepfather died in an unexpected and tragic flood, along with many of his neighbours. Somehow he survived, but now finds himself alone. Aunt Mona, his mother’s sister whom he has never met, comes for Andy and takes him back to his birthplace of Halifax. Aunt Mona is a stern, no-nonsense woman, who tells Andy his father is still alive. Unable to live with such a cold woman, Andy runs away on a journey that leads him to his father, an incessantly good-natured and cheerful man. How wonderful to have found him! Yet soon Andy comes to realize that his father, Vincent, is unreliable and barely able to take care of himself. He leads a dangerous life, is unpredictable and does not see the consequences of his actions. Through a great deal of soul-searching, Andy learns that sometimes people never change, particularly those who have lived solitary lives. He also comes to appreciate the goodness in others, which he may have overlooked by judging too quickly. This story is about self-discovery, courage, making decisions and meeting life’s challenges head-on. ACM THE SHINING WILLOW AWARD
Got to Go is a large, grey cat living at the Sylvia Hotel in Vancouver. Mr. Foster, the hotel manager, is always saying, "Is that cat still here? He’s got to go." That’s how the cat got his name. Life is sweet for Got to Go until the day Mr. Foster brings Arnie home. Arnie is a very small, very noisy Yorkshire terrier. Indignant, Got to Go hides in the furnace room, where he stays for three days until Mr. Foster at last coaxes him out. Now that Arnie stays with Mr. Foster in his office, poor Got to Go has to take his afternoon nap downstairs. Soon, Arnie’s barking and playful mischief causes even Mr. Foster to get headaches. A solution presents itself when Madame LaTour introduces Arnie to her little dog, Fifi, and takes both dogs away on holiday. Cat lovers will appreciate Lois Simmie’s light-hearted tale of a cat’s woes. The watercolour pictures by Cynthia Nugent are humorous and detailed, enchanting young and old alike. The people and animals’ faces are very expressive. This is the sequel to the award-winning Mister Got to Go: The Cat That Wouldn’t Leave. LS SILVER BIRCH AWARD
For teenage brothers Jack and George, what begins as a lazy summer of domestic chores and the occasional swim in the town of Whitby, Ontario, quickly becomes an amazing adventure of international espionage as they stumble into Canada’s top-secret spy camp. It is 1943. After witnessing what seems to be the planting of explosives on a railway bridge by German-speaking men, Jack and George investigate and uncover an eye-popping spectacle of secret military operations. Caught and interrogated, the trembling boys are forced to explain how they infiltrated the heavily guarded Camp X. To Jack and George’s astonishment, they are enlisted as spy agents and assigned the task of testing the camp’s security under an oath of secrecy! Excitement turns to caution and fear when the local newspaper editor, Mr. Krum, starts asking questions and is soon revealed to be nothing that the brothers thought he was. In a dire turn of events, Jack and George find their lives in danger and the fate of many in their hands. This piece of historical fiction introduces young readers to Canada’s role in espionage initiatives during the Second World War, and this country’s most famous intelligence operative, Sir William Stephenson. This is Eric Walters’ 19th children’s novel. He won the Silver Birch Award for Trapped in Ice. TC SILVER BIRCH AWARD
Available in French under the title: La valise d'Hana (Montréal: Hurtubise HMH, 2003) This is the true story of a search for the owner of a suitcase - a suitcase that arrived at the Tokyo Holocaust Center in Japan in 2000. The only clues were the words painted on the outside of the suitcase: the name of a girl, Hana Brady; a date, May 31, 1931; and the word "Waisenkind" - the German name for orphan. Armed only with the knowledge that the suitcase had come from Auschwitz, a Second World War concentration camp, the centre’s director, Fumiko Ishioka, sets out to discover who Hana Brady was and what happened to her. This poignant story simultaneously traces Fumiko’s journey to Europe and Canada, and the life of Hana Brady, who was killed in Auschwitz at age 13. Told with honesty and sensitivity, readers will gain an understanding of the horrors of the Holocaust, tempered with a lesson of hope. Black-and-white photographs, documents and sketches give an intimate view of this remarkable story. DS THE SNOW WILLOW AWARD
After a year of troublemaking, Sean is determined to behave himself, even if it means avoiding his friend and fellow troublemaker, Scott. Despite his good intentions, he gets in a fight with David, a new student who was recently paralysed in a car accident. As punishment for the fight, Sean is required to show David around the school. To their surprise, the boys begin to like each other, and they discover a mutual love of basketball. Together, Sean and David navigate the challenges of eighth grade, and David helps Sean prepare for the basketball team tryouts. Sean admires David's toughness, but he suspects that his friend’s reckless and confrontational behaviour is masking the fact that he has not come to terms with his injury. With Sean's help, David realizes that it is okay to hope that he might someday walk again, but that he must also make the most of his life in the here and now. Author Eric Walters’ experience as an elementary school teacher has given him unique insight into the lives and behaviour of eighth-grade students. Both boys and girls alike will enjoy this book. VICKY METCALF AWARD 2002 Presented to the author of a body of work in children's literature that, in the opinion of the judges, is demonstrative of the highest literary standards (Previously administered by the Canadian Authors’ Association). Julie Johnston Julie Johnston was born in Smith Falls, Ontario. A graduate of the Physical and Occupational Therapy program at the University of Toronto in 1963, Johnston worked at the Ontario Hospital School for children with developmental handicaps and as an occupational therapist in Kingston. She began studying part time at Trent University and received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature in 1984. Julie Johnston began writing in 1978, publishing short stories and feature articles for several magazines and producing one-act plays for the Sears Drama Festival. After an interview with a writer-in-residence at Trent University, she began working on a novel, Hero of Lesser Causes, which was published in 1992. That year, it won the Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Literature. Her second novel, Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me (1994), also won the Governor General's Literary Award, making Johnston the first author to win for both her first and second novels. In 1998, she published her third novel, The Only Outcast, and in 1999 she edited Love Ya Like a Sister. Julie Johnston is married with four grown daughters, two grandsons and two granddaughters. She lives in Peterborough, Ontario. Awards
WHITE PINE READING PROGRAM 2003
The title of this book comes from Rupert Brooke’s 1914 poem The Soldier. If I should die, think only this of me: Set during the Second World War, this story is told mainly from the point of view of 14-year-old Ellen Logan. With two older brothers in the service and her mother involved in the war effort, Ellen is forced to look after her younger brother, Colin, and run the house. Her father praises the sacrifices being made by the young soldiers, who are putting their dreams on hold, while turning a blind eye to the sacrifice of Ellen’s own dreams. Ellen meets Stephen Dearborn, a young pilot at the Service Flight Training School in Hagersville, Ontario. Stephen comes from England and lied about his age to enter the Air Force, desperate to do his bit for his country. His point of view is shared in his letters home and in his nightmares. Growing up during the war years, these children had no childhood. Most were expected to shoulder adult responsibilities from an early age. This bittersweet story deals with death as well as love, dreams and shattering reality. LS YOUNG ADULT CANADIAN BOOK AWARD
Noreen is a sad and angry young girl on the run. Taking refuge from a heavy rainfall, she ends up at the local café in Pembina Lake, a small town an hour away from Winnipeg. Estranged from her irresponsible mother and Gladys, her affectionate stepsister, Noreen has taken off with her boyfriend’s savings and his truck. Lynda, the café owner, senses the young girl’s distress, which echoes some dark moments of her own youth. She offers the teenager shelter. Noreen’s arrival triggers a series of unfortunate events, and Lynda wonders if she should have offered her hospitality. Showing their support are Lynda’s friends: Dolores, an older woman who is still grieving over her daughter’s death, and Del, a bachelor farmer whose brother drowned a long time ago. These characters share private pains, but a strong sense of community binds them and they trust that Noreen will be able to find her own inner peace. Their support helps her to learn about commitment and responsibility. Martha Brooks delivers a tender story where the goodness of strangers can make a difference in a young person’s life. JP International Literary Awards
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This graphic of a star indicates an award-winning book with multiculturalism as its theme.
