The winners of the Aurealis Awards have been announced. The awards celebrate the best of Australia’s speculative fiction. Here are the winners for the main categories. You can visit their official site here for the full list.
BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION
The Apprentice Witnesser by Bren MacDibble (available in U.S. in June)
BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
Anomaly by Emma Lord
BEST FANTASY NOVEL
Thoroughly Disenchanted by Alexandra Almond
BEST SF NOVEL
Temporal Boom by J M Voss (available in U.S.)
The finalists for the 2025 Christian Book Awards have been announced by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Below you will see the youth categories, but there are many more to be seen here. As a public librarian, I find these lists very helpful to identify materials sometimes missed by professional reviews.
CHILDREN’S BOOK FINALISTS
All Creation Waits: Children’s Edition by Gayle Boss, illustrated by Sharon Spitz
Build by Emily Lex
God’s Big Picture Bible Storybook by N.T. Wright, illustrated by Helena Perez Garcia
Indescribable Atlas Adventures by Louie Giglio, illustrated by Nicola Anderson and Lynsey Wilson
Up Toward the Light by Granger Smith
When God Makes Scribbles Beautiful by Kate Rietema, illustrated by Jennie Poh
YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE FINALISTS
The Action Bible: Faith in Action Edition by Sergio Cariello
Get Your Hopes Up by Carlos Whittaker
Marion Brunet, a French author, has won the largest international children’s and young adult literature prize. In honor of the author of Pippi Longstocking, the Swedish award has one of the biggest monetary pots at 5m SEK or around $500,000.
Only two of Brunet’s books are available in the United States. Translated by Katherine Gregor, Summer of Reckoning was released here in 2020 and Vanda in 2022. Both are YA psychological thrillers set in France.
Hat tip to The Bookseller for the news.
The finalists for the 2025 Hugo Awards have been announced. The following are some of the finalists. Click here to see the entire list from Seattle Worldcon 2025.
LODESTAR AWARD FOR BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK
The Feast Makers by H.A. Clarke
Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao
The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko
Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee
Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger
So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole
BEST NOVEL
Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
BEST NOVELLA
The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo – great series of novellas for teens!
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard
The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher
BEST GRAPHIC STORY OR COMIC
The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag – a YA graphic novel
The Hunger and the Dusk: Vol. 1 by G. Willow Wilson, art by Chris Wildgoose
Monstress, Vol. 9: The Possessed by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Book 2 by Emil Ferris
Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way by Ryan North, art by Chris Fenoglio
We Called Them Giants by Kieron Gillen, art by Stephanie Hans – a YA graphic novel
Parents Magazine has announced their picks for the Best Books for Children & Teens 2021. 30 books for children and 10 books for teens were selected. For librarians, it’s great to see a list of books selected by others and get us out of our bubbles. There are many titles here you won’t see on other lists. Here are the winning titles:
BOARD BOOKS
Comparrotives by Janik Coat
Count to Love! by Andrea Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
Drive the Fire Truck by Dave Mottram
Peekaboo: Bear by Camilla Reid, illustrated by Ingela P. Arrhenius
Snap! Chomp Your Jaws! by Bob Barner
Turn Seek Find: Habitats by Ben Newman
Washer and Dryer’s Big Job by Steven Weinberg
Who Needs a Hug? by Dean Hacohen, illustrated by Sherry Scharschmidt
PICTURE BOOKS
Bear Is a Bear by Jonathan Stutzman, illustrated by Dan Santat
Bicycle Bash by Alison Farrell
Chez Bob by Bob Shea
Maybe… by Chris Haughton
Mel Fell by Corey R. Tabor
Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson
The Olphabet: “O” No! An Alphabet Revolt by Jess M. Brallier, illustrated by Nichola Cowdery
Our Skin: A First Conversation about Race by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli, illustrated by Isabel Roxas
Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham
Stella’s Stellar Hair by Yesenia Moises
Stick and Stone: Best Friends Forever! by Beth Ferry, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
Uma Wimple Charts Her House by Reif Larsen, illustrated by Ben Gibson
CHAPTER BOOKS
The Chance to Fly by Ali Stroker and Stacy Davidowitz
The Double Life of Danny Day by Mike Thayer
I’m On It by Andrea Tsurumi
Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey by Erin Entrada Kelly
Pawcasso by Remy Lai
Simon and Chester: Super Detectives by Cale Atkinson
Sisters of the Neversea by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Stamped (for Kids) Adapted by Sonja Cherry-Paul from the book by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, illustrated by Rachelle Baker
That Thing about Bollywood by Supriya Kelkar
The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu
TEENS
Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani, illustrated by Julia Iredale
Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve
Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert
Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon
Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood by Gary Paulsen
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Minalima Edition by J.K. Rowling
Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt
Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas
Love Is a Revolution by Renee Watson
Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach
The November/December 2021 Kids Indie Next List has been announced. The books on the list are all released during in the fall of this year and were selected by independent booksellers from across the country. Here are the books that made the list:
#1 PICK
Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
PICTURE BOOKS
Amos McGee Misses the Bus by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Bathe the Cat by Alice B. McGinty, illustrated by David Roberts
Dog’s First Baby by Natalie Nelson
Everybody in the Red Brick Building by Anne Wynter, illustrated by Oge Mora
Gladys the Magic Chicken by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Adam Rex
A Hundred Thousand Welcomes by Mary Lee Donovan, illustrated by Lian Cho
Our Table by Peter H. Reynolds
Read Island by Nicole Magistro, illustrated by Alice Feagan
Room for Everyone by Naaz Khan, illustrated by Mercè López
Sweater Weather by Matt Phelan
MIDDLE GRADE
African Icons: Ten People Who Shaped History by Tracy Baptiste
Barakah Beats by Maleeha Siddiqui
Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Fifty-Four Things Wrong with Gwendolyn Rogers by Caela Carter
Frankie & Bug by Gayle Forman
Manu by Kelly Fernandez
Neverforgotten by Alejandra Algorta, Aida Salazar, Iván Rickenmann
Playing the Cards You’re Dealt by Varian Johnson
The Troubled Girls of Dragomire Academy by Anne Ursu
Tidesong by Wendy Xu
YOUNG ADULT
All of Us Villains by Amada Foody and Christine Lynn Herman
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert
The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros
The Keeper of the Night by Kylie Lee Baker
Little Thieves by Margaret Owen
Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen
Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle
Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood
You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao
The finalists have been announced for the 2021 Governor General Awards, given by The Canada Council for the Arts. The awards recognize Canada’s best English-language and French-language books in seven categories. Two of those categories are specifically for young people’s literature. Below are the finalists in those categories.
YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE – TEXT
Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury
The Fabulous Zed Watson by Basil Silvester and Kevin Silvester
Firefly by Philippa Dowding
Peter Lee’s Notes from the Field by Angela Ahn
Unravel by Sharon Jennings
YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE – ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh: This Is How I Know by Brittany Luby and Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley
On the Trapline by David A. Robertson, illustrated by Julie Flett
Out into the Big Wide Lake by Paul Harbridge, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon
The Library Bus by Bahram Rahman and Gabrielle Grimard
The Wind and the Trees by Todd Stewart
The winners of the 2021 Canadian Children’s Literature Awards have been announced. The winners are:
TD CANADIAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AWARD
The Barnabus Project by the Fan Brothers
MARILYN BAILLIE PICTURE BOOK AWARD
Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki
NORMA FLECK AWARD FOR CANADIAN CHILDREN’S NON-FICTION
Powwow: A Celebration Through Song and Dance by Karen Pheasant-Neganigwane
GEOFFREY BILSON AWARD FOR HISTORICAL FICTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
The Paper Girl of Paris by Jordyn Taylor
AMY MATHERS TEEN BOOK AWARD
Facing the Sun by Janice Lynn Mather
JEAN LITTLE FIRST-NOVEL AWARD
No Vacancy by Tziporah Cohen
The Blue Peter Book Awards celebrate the best authors and illustrators in children’s fiction and nonfiction. The award is given by BookTrust in the UK. The 2022 longlists for the awards have been announced and will be shortened to three books per category on November 11th. The winners will be selected by over 200 children from schools across the UK with the winners announced in March 2022. Here are the longlisted titles:
BEST STORY
The Amazing Edie Eckhart by Rosie Jones, illustrated by Natalie Smillie
Bad Panda by by Swapna Haddow, illustrated by Sheena Dempsey
The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh by Helen Rutter
Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths by Maisie Chan, illustrated by Anh Cao (published in the U.S. as Danny Chung Sums It Up in September 2021.)
Dragon Mountain by Katie Tsang and Kevin Tsang
The Last Bear by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold
October, October by Katya Balen, illustrated by Angela Harding
The Shark Caller by Zillah Bethell, illustrated Saara Söderlund
When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten
The Wizard in My Shed by Simon Farnaby, illustrated by Claire Powell
BEST BOOK WITH FACTS
24 Hours in the Stone Age by Lan Cook, illustrated by Laurent Kling
Climate Action by Georgina Stevens, illustrated by Katie Rewse
A Different Sort of Normal by Abigail Balfe
Good News by Rashmi Sirdeshpande, illustrated by Adam Hayes
Invented by Animals by Christiane Dorion, illustrated by Gosia Herbia
Kay’s Anatomy by Adam Kay, illustrated by Henry Paker
The Magic of Sleep by Vicky Woodgate
What a Wonderful Phrase by Nicola Edwards, illustrated by Manu Montoya
Wild Child: A Journey Through Nature by Dara McAnulty, illustrated by Barry Falls
A Year Full of Celebrations and Festivals by Claire Grace, illustrated by Christopher Corr
Waking Brain Cells 