The 2011 Scottish Children’s Book Awards have been announced. Nominees must be authors or illustrators resident in Scotland. The awards were voted on by over 23,000 Scottish children and are split into three categories:
Bookbug Readers (Ages 0-7)
Dear Vampa by Ross Collins
Young Readers (Ages 8-11)
Zac & the Dream Pirates by Ross MacKenzie
Older Readers (Ages 12-16)
Wasted by Nicola Morgan
The nominees for the 2011 Nebula Awards (awarded in 2012) have been announced by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Here are the nominees for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book:
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor (my review)
Chime by Franny Billingsley (my review)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (my review)
Everybody Sees the Ants by A. S. King
The Boy at the End of the World by Greg van Eekhout
The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (my review)
Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson
The 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Finalists have been announced. The winner in each category will be announced on Friday, April 20, 2012.
Here are the finalists in the Young Adult Literature category:
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
I cheered aloud when I read the Telegraph article about Patrick Ness winning the Red House Children’s Book Award for A Monster Calls. Even better, this is a dark, wondrous read that won a vote by children for the top place! Love it!
The winners of the other two age categories are:
Scruffy Bear and the Six White Mice by Chris Wormell in the Younger Children category
The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon in the Young Readers’ category
For the first time, the British Waterstones award is broken into three age categories with a short list for each. Each of the three winners then goes on to vie for the top spot of overall winner. Category winners earn £2,000 prizes and the overall winner will receive an additional £3,000. Winners will be selected by booksellers and revealed on Wednesday, March 28.
Here are the shortlists:
Picture Books:
No! by Marta Altés
I Don’t Want to be a Pea! by Ann Bonwill & Simon Rickerty
The Pirates Next Door by Jonny Duddle
A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton (titled changed to Little Owl Lost in the US)
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
Good Little Wolf by Nadia Shireen
Fiction 5-12:
The Windvale Sprites by Mackenzie Crook
Muncle Trogg by Janet Foxley
Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis
The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by L. Pichon
Milo and the Restart Button by Alan Silberberg
Claude in the City by Alex T. Smith
Teen:
You Against Me by Jenny Downham
Being Billy by Phil Earle
Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Out of over 1100 reviews of books for teens in 2011, VOYA reviewers only awarded 24 books perfect tens. That means they scored a perfect 5 in both quality and popularity. A rare thing indeed! The fascinating thing is that these are very different books than those seen on recent award lists.
Here are the 24 perfect ten books for teens:
Ashes by Ilsa Bick
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
City of Ice by Laurence Yep
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
Death Sentence: Escape from Furnace 3 by Alexander Gordon Smith
Everneath by Ashton Brodi
Fear: A Gone Novel by Michael Grant
He’s So Not Worth It by Kieran Scott
Hidden by Helen Frost
Legend by Marie Lu
The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma
Mrs. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace
Perfect by Ellen Hopkins
Rivals in the Tudor Court by D. L. Bogdan
Saving June by Hannah Harrington
The Shadowing: Hunted by Adam Slater
Troublemaker, Book1 and Book 2 by Janet Evanovich and Alex Evanovich
What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Wildwood by Colin Meloy
School Library Journal has announced their 2012 contenders in the Battle of the Kids’ Books. The competition is between 16 of the best books of 2011, and is judged by top authors in children’s books.
Here are the contenders:
Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming
Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Bootleg by Karen Blumenthal
The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Drawing from Memory by Allen Say
The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami
Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Match 1 (March 13, Judge TBA)
Amelia Lost vs Anya’s Ghost
Match 2 (March 14, Judge TBA)
Between Shades of Gray vs Bootleg
Match 3 (March 15, Judge TBA)
The Cheshire Cheese Cat vs Chime
Match 4 (March 16, Judge TBA)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone vs Dead End in Norvelt
Match 5 (March 19, Judge TBA)
Drawing from Memory vs The Grand Plan to Fix Everything
Match 6 (March 20, Judge TBA)
Heart and Soul vs Inside Out and Back Again
Match 7 (March 21, Judge TBA)
Life: An Exploded Diagram vs A Monster Calls
Match 8 (March 22, Judge TBA)
Okay for Now vs Wonderstruck
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) annually recognizes a list of the best books for children. The list is a lengthy one, so I’ll break it up by ages, as the committee does. The links head to GoodReads.
Here is the list for Older Readers:
Amelia lost : the life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart. By Candace Fleming.
Anya’s ghost. By Vera Brosgol.
Between shades of gray. By Ruta Sepetys.
Billions of years, amazing changes: The story of evolution. By Laurence Pringle, Illus. by Steve Jenkins.
Black & White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor by Larry Dane Brimner.
Blizzard of glass: the Halifax explosion of 1917. By Sally M. Walker.
Bluefish. By Pat Schmatz.
Bootleg: murder, moonshine, and the lawless years of prohibition. By Karen Blumenthal.
Dead End in Norvelt. By Jack Gantos.
Drawing from memory. By Allen Say.
The elephant scientist. By Caitlin O’Connell;Donna M. Jackson, Illus. by Caitlin O’Connell and Timothy Rodwell.
The fingertips of Duncan Dorfman. By Meg Wolitzer.
Flyaway. By Lucy Christopher.
Hidden. By Helen Frost.
The house Baba built : an artist’s childhood in China. By Ed Young.
How they croaked : the awful ends of the awfully famous. By Georgia Bragg, Illus. by Kevin O’Malley.
Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck. By Margarita Engle.
Into the unknown : how great explorers found their way by land, sea, and air. By Stewart Ross, Illus. by Stephen Biesty.
Jefferson’s sons : a founding father’s secret children. By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.
Lost & found. By Shaun Tan.
A monster calls. By Patrick Ness.
Music was it : young Leonard Bernstein. By Susan Goldman Rubin.
Okay for now. By Gary D. Schmidt.
Queen of hearts. By Martha Brooks.
Raggin’, jazzin’, rockin’ : American musical instrument makers. By Susan VanHecke.
The Scorpio Races. By Maggie Stiefvater.
Sita’s Ramayana. By Samhita Arni, Illus. by Moyna Chitrakar.
Space, stars, and the beginning of time : what the Hubble telescope saw. By Elaine Scott.
Stones for my father. By Trilby Kent.
Tall story. By Candy Gourlay.
Terezin : voices from the Holocaust. By Ruth Thomson.
Under the mesquite. By Guadalupe Garcia McCall.
Witches! the absolutely true tale of disaster in Salem. By Rosalyn Schanzer.
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) annually recognizes a list of the best books for children. The list is a lengthy one, so I’ll break it up by ages, as the committee does. The links head to GoodReads.
Here is the list for All Ages:
Can we save the tiger? By Martin Jenkins, Illus. by Vicky White.
Heart and soul: the story of America and African Americans. By Kadir Nelson.
If rocks could sing: A Discovered Alphabet. By Leslie McGuirk.
Never forgotten. By Pat McKissack, Illus. by Leo and Diane Dillon.
Press here. By Hervé Tullet.
Swirl by swirl: spirals in nature. By Joyce Sidman, Illus. by Beth Krommes.
Waking Brain Cells 