Here is the Shortlist for Children’s Books (really much more like teen book):

Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd

Troubadour by Mary Hoffman

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera (not out yet in the US)

 

The Costa Book Award is given to the most enjoyable books of the year by writers from the UK and Ireland.  You may remember them as I do as the Whitbread Awards but they have a new name now.

Kirkus has put out their latest supplement: The Best Children’s Books of 2009.

For me, the supplement was like revisiting old friends.  There are so many great titles in this collection that it makes me want to rush out and read the ones I missed because they are in such good company.

Here are handful of the bright spots on the list from my perspective:

The Secret World of Walter Anderson by Hester Bass, illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Zero Is the Leaves on the Tree by Betsy Franco, illustrated by Shino Arihara

My People by Langston Hughes, photographs by Charles R. Smith Jr.

The Doll Shop Downstairs by Yona Zeldis McDonough, illustrated by Heather Majone

  

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

 

Any of your own favorites that made the list?

Phillip Hoose has won the 2009 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for his book Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice.  At the National Book Award website, you can see the other winners and an interview with Phillip Hoose.

There were 251 books nominated for the award in the Young People category.  The five finalists were great choices and so is the winner.  Congratulations to all!

The longlist for the 2010 Kate Greenaway Medal has been announced.  This is the UK award for children’s book illustration. 

Here are the nominees:

Allwright, Deborah (text by Jill Lewis) Don’t Read This Book!
Ayto, Russell (text by Andy Cutbill) The Best Cow in Show
Baker-Smith, Grahame (text by Angela McAllister) Leon and the Place Between
Bartram, Simon Bob’s Best Ever Friend
Blackwood, Freya (text by Margaret Wild) Harry and Hopper

Blackwood, Freya (text by Roddy Doyle) Her Mother’s Face
Bright, Rachel What does Daddy do?
Clare, Imogen (text by Sanchia Oppenheimer) Lucy Goes to Market
Clark, Emma Chichester (text by Colin McNaughton) Not Last Night But The Night Before
Cleminson, Katie Box of Tricks
Cooper, Helen Dog Biscuit

Fardell, John Manfred the Baddie
Fearnley, Jan Milo Armadillo
Finlay, Lizzie Dandylion
Foreman, Michael A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope
Fucile, Tony Let’s Do Nothing!
Gliori, Debi The Trouble with Dragons
Gravett, Emily Dogs
Gravett, Emily The Rabbit Problem
Grey, Mini Traction Man meets Turbodog
Horacek, Petr Elephant

Hyde, Catherine (text by Carol Ann Duffy) The Princess’ Blankets
Ingman, Bruce (text by Allan Ahlberg) The Pencil
Jeffers, Oliver The Great Paper Caper
Kitamura, Satoshi Millie’s Marvellous Hat
Kitamura, Satoshi (text by John Agard) The Young Inferno
Kohara, Kazuno The Haunted House
Lloyd, Sam Mr Pusskins Best In Show
Lord, Leonie (text by Martin Waddell) The Dirty Great Dinosaur

MacLennan, Cathy Monkey, Monkey, Monkey
McKean, Dave (text by Neil Gaiman) Crazy Hair
Milton, Alexandra (text by Giles Milton) Call Me Gorgeous!
Odriozola, Elena (text by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz) The story blanket
PatrickGeorge A Filth of Starlings
Rayner, Catherine Sylvia and Bird
Riddell, Chris (text by Martin Jenkins) Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote
Riddell, Chris (text by Neil Gaiman) The Graveyard Book
Roberts, David (text by Julia Donaldson) The Troll
Roberts, David (text by Paul Fleischman) The Dunderheads

Ross, Tony (text by Jeanne Willis) Big Bad Bun
Russell, Natalie Moon Rabbit
Scheffler, Axel (text by Julia Donaldson) Stick Man
Schwarz, Viviane There are Cats in this Book
Sharratt, Nick The Foggy, Foggy Forest
Stojic, Manja (text by Harriet Blackford) Gorilla’s Story
Tatarnikov, Pavel (text by John Matthews) Arthur of Albion
Williams, Marcia My Secret War Diary, by Flossie Albright
Wormell, Chris Ferocious Wild Beasts!

The 2010 Carnegie Medal Longlist has been announced.  This is the UK’s outstanding children’s book award.  I love that they do a long list and always hope that the Newbery folk are going to add a long and short list to their process.  Talk about adding drama! 

Here are the nominees:

Agard, John The Young Inferno
Allen-Gray, Alison Lifegame
Almond, David Jackdaw Summer
Anderson, Laurie Halse Chains
Anderson, R J Knife
Ashley, Bernard Solitaire
Bowler, Tim Bloodchild
Brennan, Sarah Rees The Demon’s Lexicon
Brooks, Kevin Killing God

Burgess, Melvin Nicholas Dane
Caldecott, Elen How Kirsty Jenkins stole the elephant
Cassidy, Anne The Dead House
Chancellor, Henry The Remarkable Adventures of Tom Scatterhorn: The Museum’s Secret
Christopher, Lucy Stolen
Creech, Sharon Hate That Cat
Crossley-Holland, Kevin Waterslain Angels
Dogar, Sharon Falling
Donaldson, Julia Running on the cracks

Dowd, Siobhan Solace of the Road
Dowswell, Paul Auslander
Finn, Daniel Two Good Thieves
Fisk, Pauline Flying for Frankie
Forman, Gayle If I Stay
Gaiman, Neil The Graveyard Book
Golding, Julia Wolf Cry
Grant, Helen The Vanishing of Katharina Linden

Hardinge, Frances Gullstruck Island
Hearn, Julie Rowan the Strange
Higgins, F E The Eyeball Collector
Hoffman, Mary Troubadour
Kennen, Ally Bedlam
LaFleur, Suzanne Love, Aubrey
Laird, Elizabeth The Witching Hour
Manning, Mick & Granstrom, Brita Tail-End Charlie
Muchamore, Robert Brigands M.C.
Ness, Patrick The Ask and the Answer
Newbery, Linda The Sandfather
Patterson, James Max

Peet, Mal Exposure
Perera, Anna Guantanamo Boy
Philip, Gillian Crossing the Line
Pratchett, Terry Nation
Rai, Bali City of Ghosts
Reeve, Philip Fever Crumb
Riordan, James The Sniper
Riordan, Rick Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian
Sedgwick, Marcus The Kiss of Death

Sedgwick, Marcus Revolver
Strangolov, Lazlo Feather and Bone
Stroud, Jonathan Heroes of the Valley
Valentine, Jenny The Ant Colony
Ward, Rachel Numbers
Whitley, David The Midnight Charter
Wilson, Leslie Saving Rafael

Remember, lots of these may not be out in the US yet.

Thanks to Charlotte for the heads-up that the list was announced!

The National Book Award finalists for 2009 have been announced:

Deborah Heiligman for Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith

Phillip Hoose for Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

David Small for Stitches

Laini Taylor for Lips Touch: Three Times

Rita Williams-Garcia for Jumped

Mal Peet has won the British Guardian’s fiction prize for his book Exposure.  It is a novel that takes Othello and resets it into the world of South American soccer. 

Peet won the Carnegie Medal for his novel Tamar.

Adding another book into my ever-growing MUST READ pile.

The UK Booktrust Teenage Prize was started in 2003 to recognize the best of contemporary fiction for teens.  Here is the shortlist:

Auslander by Paul Dowswell (released in US in January 2010)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (I admit I groaned when I saw this listed.  I love the book, but enough already!  Let’s give other books a chance to shine!)

Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray (released in US in March 2010)

The Ant Colony by Jenny Valentine (no US release date yet)

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant (no US release date yet)

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

The nominees for the 2010 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award have been announced.  There are 170 people on the list, so I won’t reprint the entire list here!  Scanning for familiar names, I saw that the following are on the list:

David Almond

Quentin Blake

Aiden Chambers

Niki Daly

Morris Gleitzman

Kevin Henkes

Russel Hoban

Shirley Hughes

Maira Kalman

Lois Lowry

Margret Mahy

Michael Morpurgo

Greg Mortenson

Walter Dean Myers

Anne Pellowski

Jutta Richter

Allen Say

Uri Shulevitz

Peter Sis

Shaun Tan

Kate Thompson

Tomi Ungerer

Jacqueline Wilson

Diana Wynne Jones

 

I’m sure I missed authors in my quick scan!  I wonder how they manage to make a selection with so many amazing and diverse authors nominated.  Glad I don’t have to make that choice!