The votes are in and the plaques have been handed out. The Ontario Library Association has announced the winners of the 2016 Forest of Reading program, following three days of ceremonies and book-related fun at the Festival of Trees at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. Thousands of kids and teens descended on the venue to watch the awards, participate in workshops, and get books signed by their favourite writers.
This year’s event included a full day of programming for French-language authors and books, a first for the festival.
More than 250,000 Ontario students read the shortlisted titles and cast their votes to determine this year’s winners. They are:
Blue Spruce Award: If Kids Ruled the World by Linda Bailey; David Huyck, illus. (Kids Can Press)
Red Maple Award: The Dogs by Allan Stratton (Scholastic Canada)
White Pine Award: The Bodies We Wear by Jeyn Roberts (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Silver Birch Express Award: The End of the Line by Sharon E. McKay (Annick Press)
Silver Birch Award for Non-fiction: Haunted Canada 5: Terrifying True Stories by Joel A. Sutherland (Scholastic Canada)
Silver Birch Fiction Award: Masterminds by Gordon Korman (HarperCollins Canada)
Le Prix Peuplier: Ça commence ici! by Caroline Merola (Bayard Canada Livres)
Le Prix Tamarac: Un clic de trop by Rhéa Dufresne (Bayard Canada Livres)
Le Prix Tamarac Express: Les trois grands Cauchon by Sonia Sarfati; Jared Karnas, illus. (Quebecamer)