The first finalists for the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award have been announced.  The award recognizes an author whose work shows “a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit.”  The award is sponsored by ALAN (The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents) and is unique in its emphasis on a positive point of view towards life. 

Here are the finalists:

After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Me, the Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger

Neil Gaiman! 

Winning for Best Novel – note: not best children’s or YA novel.  Best novel.  Period.

Hurrah!

This is last week’s news, but it’s important enough to repeat!

Siobhan Dowd has won the Carnegie Medal for children’s literature, making her the first author to win posthumously.  She won the medal for Bog Child.  Her first novel, A Swift Pure Cry, was also shortlisted for the Carnegie. 

Dowd began writing in 2003 and died in 2007.  In those four short years, she created four books for young people.  Amazing.

The 2009 Boston Globe – Horn Book Awards have been announced.  They “reward excellence in children’s and young adult literature” and have three categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonfiction, and Picture Book.

The winners are:

Fiction and Poetry:

Nation by Terry Pratchett

Nonfiction:

The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming

Picture Book:

Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Polly Dunbar

 

Honor Books

Fiction and Poetry:

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves by MT Anderson

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Nonfiction:

The Way We Work by David Macaulay

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone

Picture Book:

Old Bear by Kevin Henkes

Higher! Higher! by Leslie Patricelli

One of my favorite features of VOYA reviews is that they review books from two perspectives.  One is whether they have literary quality (Q) and the other is whether they have teen appeal (P).  In each of those they can receive up to 5 points, so the top score would be 5Q 5P.  That’s a perfect ten. 

Here is the list of the 2008 Perfect Tens, many of which have 2007 publication dates.  You can see how very rare this high rating is.  Even better, so you can see that they tend to buck the trendy books and you can find unexpected titles to add to your collection.  Books that are guaranteed to appeal to teens but still be well written.

Peter and the Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card

Total Constant Order by Crissa-Jean Chappell

The Dragon Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

Hell Week by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Coraline by Neil Gaiman (Graphic Novel)

The Unnatural Inquirer by Simon R. Green

Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce

Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman

When the Black Girl Sings by Bil Wright

The Guardian children’s fiction longlist has been announced.  Dark-themed books are the bulk of the list with a distinct lack of vampires.  Who would ever have thought that dark and deep novels would be a refreshing change of pace!

Here is the list:

Genesis by Bernard Beckett (available in the US)

Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd (coming to the US in October 2009)

The Silver Blade by Sally Gardner (coming to the US in September 2009)

Then by Morris Gleitzman (Don’t think this is available yet in the US.  Not clear.)

Rowan the Strange by Julie Hearn (not in the US yet)

Exposure by Mal Peet (not in the US yet)

Nation by Terry Pratchett (like this cover much better than the US one!)

Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick (coming July 2009)

IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) has announced the nominees for the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Awards, given every other year to an author and illustrator whose body of work “have made an important and lasting contribution to children’s literature.” 

I just love looking at the range of authors and illustrators from around the world, so I included some covers for the authors I could find.

 

• Argentina: Author: Liliana Bodoc; Illustrator: Luis Scafati

• Austria: Author: Heinz Janisch; Illustrator: Linda Wolfsgruber

• Belgium: Author: Pierre Coran; Illustrator: Carll Cneut
• Brazil: Author: Bartolomeu Campos de Queirós; Illustrator: Roger Mello

• Canada: Author: Brian Doyle; Illustrator: Marie-Louise Gay
• China: Author: Liu Xianping

• Croatia: Illustrator: Svjetlan Junakóvić
• Cyprus: Author: Maria Pyliotou
• Czech Republic: Author: Pavel Šrut; Illustrator: Jiří Šalamoun

• Denmark: Author: Louis Jensen; Illustrator: Lilian Brøgger

• Finland: Author: Hannu Mäkelä; Illustrator: Salla Savolainen

• France: Author: Jean-Claude Mourlevat; Illustrator: Grégoire Solotareff

• Germany: Author: Peter Härtling; Illustrator: Jutta Bauer
• Greece: Author: Loty Petrovits-Andrutsopulou; Illustrator: Diatsenta Parissi
• Iran: Author: Ahmad Reza Ahmadi

• Ireland: Author: Eoin Colfer; Illustrator: P.J. Lynch

• Japan: Author: Shuntaro Tanikawa; Illustrator: Akiko Hayashi

• Lithuania: Illustrator: Kęstutis Kasparavičius

• Mexico: Author: Alberto Blanco; Illustrator: Fabricio Vanden Broeck
• Mongolia: Author:  Dashdondog Jamba
• Netherlands: Author: Peter van Gestel; Illustrator: Harrie Geelen

• Norway: Author: Bjørn Sortland; Illustrator: Thore Hansen
• Russia: Illustrator: Nickolay Popov
• Serbia: Author: Zoran Božović
• Slovak Republic: Author: Ján Uličiansky Illustrator: Peter Uchnár
• Slovenia: Author: Tone Pavček; Illustrator: Ančka Gošnik Godec

• Spain: Author: Jordi Sierra i Fabra; Illustrator: Xan López Domínguez

• Sweden: Lennart Hellsing; Illustrator: Anna-Clara Tidholm

• Switzerland: Illustrator: Etienne Delessert

• Turkey: Author: Muzaffer İzgü; Illustrator: Can Göknil
• Uganda: Author: Evangeline Ledi Barongo

• United Kingdom: Author: David Almond; Illustrator: Michael Foreman

• USA: Author: Walter Dean Myers; Illustrator: Eric Carle

Celebrating Children’s Book Week, the Children’s Choice Book Awards have been announced.  These are the winners selected by children and teens themselves:

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! written and illustrated by Mo Willems

Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year

Spooky Cemeteries by Dinah Williams

Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year

Thirteen by Lauren Myracle

Teen Choice Book of the Year

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Author of the Year

Stephenie Meyer for Breaking Dawn

Illustrator of the Year

Jon J Muth for Zen Ties

You can also check out a short piece on the awards on the Today Show.

It’s a happy surprise to see Jon J Muth recognized by the kids.  I would have expected Mo Willems to win it.

The 2009 Americas Award has been announced.  It is an annual award for books for children and teens that “authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States.”

The 2009 Winners are:

Just in Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book by Yuyi Morales

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle

 

The Honorable Mentions

The Best Gift of All by Julia Alvarez

Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos

The Storyteller’s Candle by Lucia Gonzalez

 

And there were several commended titles that can be found on the press release.