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English Award-Winning Books
AMELIA FRANCES HOWARD-GIBBON AWARD(CANADIAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION)FOR BEST ILLUSTRATIONS
The story begins with Arabella, her mother and a crated piano arriving in a sawmill town in mid-winter. Arabella's glamorous mother - the new piano teacher - and her daughter both seem out of place. Arabella's ribbons and ringlets are frowned upon by her schoolteacher, and when it's time to play music in the classroom, Arabella is left with only the wooden blocks to play. The lonely Arabella finds solace in playing the piano at home with her mother. But with the arrival of spring comes the much-anticipated piano recital. For Arabella, it's an opportunity to shine. This story, about how people can be brought together through the beauty of music, is wonderfully illustrated and touchingly told. ANN CONNOR-BRIMER AWARD 2000(THE NOVA SCOTIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION)FOR BEST BOOK BY AN ATLANTIC AUTHOR
Like most mice, Eckhart and his family spend their summers outside. Each year with the arrival of winter's chill, they seek refuge indoors, where they live within the dark, cool walls of a farmhouse. Life is bleak in the old house, until one day in late December, when something special happens - suddenly there is an abundance of crumbs for the mice to eat. Not even the elders know the reason why. Young Eckhart is destined to discover the hidden mystery of this annual magical event, which comes to be known to the mice as the Crumbfest. This heartwarming story about a little mouse will please young readers and will serve to remind them of the true meaning of Christmas. The illustrations by Dale McNevin are lively and capture with detail and humour the wonderful world of our young hero, Eckhart. ANN CONNOR-BRIMER AWARD 2001(THE NOVA SCOTIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION)FOR BEST BOOK BY AN ATLANTIC AUTHOR
Blay Raytee is a lyrical name, rhythmic and fanciful. But for Blay Raytee, there's little song or imagination in her real life. Blay lives in the year 2368. She slaves in a government work camp, scrounging in a landfill site for items like Styrofoam, plastic bottles and bundles of paper. She may be 13, 12 or 14 years old; she's not even sure that her name is Blay Raytee. It's a name she adopted so she wouldn't be just another nameless, faceless child like so many of the others in the camp. Blay's love of reading leads to a new life. She is chosen from the work camp kids to serve as a tutor to Marrella, the new bio-indicator who has special sensitivities to the environment. In the end, it's Blay, not Marrella, who learns about the environment. Blay goes on to discover who she really is; she finds out about her enigmatic past and the secret that's buried under her skin. The Secret under My Skin, written by Governor General Award winner Janet McNaughton, is a captivating science-fiction tale full of dreams, suspense and revelations. ARTHUR ELLIS AWARDSCHILDREN'S FICTION(THE CRIME WRITERS OF CANADA)FOR BEST JUVENILE MYSTERY NOVEL
Ever since his father's mysterious disappearance, life has been difficult for Jim. He helps his mother as much as he can, as she struggles to keep the family farm. He is also doing his best to come to terms with his father's death, despite the lingering hope that his dad will some day show up at the door. Jim's grief can sometimes be overpowering, keeping him away from the rest of the world. Jim is drawn to Ruth Rose, a misfit who is shunned by everybody, including her stepfather, Father Fischer. Ruth Rose suffers from manic disorders and has to take medication to level her mood swings. She claims to know what happened to Jim's father; she says that her stepfather, Father Fisher, is hiding dark secrets. Will Jim believe her, or will he fall under the controlling fist of Father Fisher, a powerful figure in their small farming community? The Boy in the Burning House is a well-rounded novel that is complex and fast-paced. To unfold the mystery, the young characters must find strength within themselves to overcome their fears. BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR CHILDREN AWARD(CANADIAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION)FOR BEST TEXT
While perched in her favourite tree, Wild Girl imagines adventures in castles and pirate ships. Gran keeps her company, sitting at the base of the tree, knitting brightly coloured patchwork squares. When summer turns to fall, Gran begins to weaken, and in winter, passes away. Wild Girl is grief-stricken and rejects her mother's idea of making a quilt out of Gran's patchwork squares. She is angry when her mother says that Gran's death is a blessing; it doesn't feel like a blessing to her. Out in the woods, scattering Gran's ashes, Wild Girl's mother tells stories of her own childhood with Gran. Wild Girl finally understands that her mother loved Gran too, and this knowledge helps her deal with her own grief. With her mother watching, she begins her treetop adventures anew. This story beautifully captures the close bond between Wild Girl and Gran. The accompanying paintings evoke the colours of the passing seasons, mirroring the emotions Wild Girl experiences as she deals with her grief and struggles to rediscover her adventurous spirit. ELIZABETH MRAZIK-CLEAVER CANADIAN PICTURE BOOK AWARD(INTERNATIONAL BOARD ON BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE - CANADA)FOR BEST ILLUSTRATIONS
This is a story about a little girl who, like a multitude of other children, has lots of questions. After brushing her teeth and kissing her parents goodnight, the little girl in this story finds herself unable to sleep. Thousands of questions flood her mind -- questions about the world, herself, her future, and questions, too, about life and its circumstances -- thoughts and questions like those of countless little girls. Here is a little girl looking both outside and inside herself. Her new sense of the life within her comes up against the world. Outside, a stormy night reflects the turbulence of her thoughts -- thoughts like so many other girls, so many other children, so many of us all. Stormy Night is truly a children's book in the sense that it speaks to our inner child: the ever-present child who faces simple truths and asks the big questions before they become realities. Stormy Night combines the frankness of the questions with simple black and white illustrations. The presentation is sparse, which emphasizes, in contrast, the weighty questions asked in this book. Stormy Night asks questions relentlessly, but offers no answers, except to tell us that life is insatiable. In the face of all the mysteries and uncertainties of existence, the only response is that of the little girl, who only stops asking questions long enough to state, "I'm hungry." GEOFFREY BILSON AWARD FOR HISTORICAL FICTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE(CANADIAN CHILDREN'S BOOK CENTRE)FOR BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK
Charlie Wilcox is a young boy from Newfoundland who dreams of following in the footsteps of both his father and grandfather and becoming a sealer. Charlie's father, however, is hoping to offer his son a better future. A misunderstanding over a comment made by his father makes Charlie more determined than ever to go out on the ice and prove himself. He tries to hide on a sealing vessel but ends up a stowaway on a military ship heading to the trenches of World War I. Waiting to be sent back home, Charlie looks for the Newfoundland Regiment where he finds Mac, a nurse who had previously cared for him in St. John's Hospital. Surrounded by wounded young soldiers from home, he proves to be a courageous and dedicated young orderly. Charlie Wilcox is an historical novel set during World War I that weaves together adventure, attention to historical detail and believable characters with endearing qualities. GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD/CHILDREN'S LITERATURE(THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS)FOR BEST TEXT
Khyber is a smart, gritty 11-year-old girl who lives in the low-income Toronto neighbourhood of Regent Park with her single mother and autistic twin brothers. Despite her difficult circumstances, including her odd-girl-out status at school, Khyber finds pleasure in caring for her brothers as well as a mentally ill homeless woman named X, who hangs out at a nearby park. Any time left over is spent reading and dreaming about one day exploring faraway exotic lands. When her mother decides the twins have become too much to handle and agrees to put them in a group home, Khyber's life begins to unravel. First, she succumbs to the schoolyard taunts of a group of girls and gets into a fight. Later, she is accused of vandalism and expelled from school, when in fact she had been attempting to protect her friend X from a group of marauding skinheads at the time the incident took place. To clear her name, she sets out on an all-night search for X through the frightening Toronto streets. This realistic story is told from the point of view of the young girl, whose courage in the face of adversity will inspire anyone who reads it. It touches on numerous social issues, including homelessness and government attitudes towards the poor and towards autism, but also examines problems familiar to all young people: trouble at school, fitting in with peers and tension within the family. GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD/CHILDREN'S LITERATURE(THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS)FOR BEST ILLUSTRATIONS
A yucky girl by the name of Amy has just moved into the house next to Austin's. Amy has freckles, wears small bows on her shoes and probably recycles Popsicle sticks rather than do something really useful with them like build life-sized statues of dinosaurs. Amy invites Austin to her birthday party and, yucky as girls can be, Austin wants to give her something special for her birthday. If only Austin could give Amy the moon… . After a couple of unsuccessful tries, Austin snares the moon. Following his whirlwind tour of 22 countries, Austin manages to get the moon back to his back yard, and there he ties it to a tree. The next day, Austin gives Amy the moon. Yuck, a Love Story is an endearing tale about romancing yucky girls who maybe, just maybe, aren't that yucky after all. Don Gillmor's prose is both bright and clean. Illustrator Marie-Louise Gay's depiction of Austin's small world of little boys is marvellous, and she captures his global adventure with detail and humour. |
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Indicates an award-winning book with nature or the environment as its theme.
