Awards: Kelley Armstrong‚ Willow Dawson‚ Ken Oppel among CCBC finalists

Kelley Armstrong‚ nominated in two categories (Photo: Kathryn Hollinrake)

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre has announced the shortlists for its annual awards for kidlit in eight categories‚ seven English-language and one French.

The awards for the English-language titles will be given out at the Carlu in Toronto on November 17, with thePrix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse being awarded November 1 at Le Windsor in Montreal. With prize money totalling $135,000, the CCBCs are the most lucrative awards for children’s literature in Canada.

The English-language finalists are:

TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($30,000 prize)

Michelle Barker; Renné Benoit‚ ill.‚ A Year of Borrowed Men (Pajama Press)
Carolyn Beck; François Thisdale‚ ill.‚ That Squeak (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)
Willow Dawson‚ The Wolf-Birds (Owlkids Books)
Melanie Florence; François Thisdale‚ ill.‚ Missing Nimama (Clockwise Press)
Kenneth Oppel; Jon Klassen‚ ill.‚ The Nest (HarperCollins Canada)

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award ($20,000 prize)

Danielle Daniel‚ Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox (Groundwood Books)
Willow Dawson‚ The Wolf-Birds (Owlkids)
Maureen Fergus;Dušan Petričić‚ ill.‚ InvisiBill (Tundra Books)
Alma Fullerton; Brian Deines‚ ill.‚ In A Cloud of Dust (Pajama Press)
JonArno Lawson; Sydney Smith‚ ill.‚ Sidewalk Flowers (Groundwood)

Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-fiction ($10,000 prize)

Paula Ayer‚ Foodprints: The Story of What We Eat (Annick Press)
Maria Birmingham; Josh Holinaty‚ ill.‚ A Beginner’s Guide to Immortality: From Alchemy to Avatars (Owlkids)
Jessica Dee Humphreys and Michel Chikwanine; Claudia Dávila‚ ill.‚ Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War (Kids Can Press)
Edward Keenan; Julie McLaughlin‚ ill.‚ The Art of the Possible: An Everyday Guide to Politics (Owlkids)
Cory Silverberg; Fiona Smyth‚ ill.‚ Sex is a Funny Word: A Book About Bodies‚ Feelings‚ and You (Seven Stories Press)

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($5,000 prize)

Kelley Armstrong‚ The Unquiet Past (Secrets Series) (Orca)
Karen Bass‚ Uncertain Soldier (Pajama)
Sara Henstra‚ Mad Miss Mimic (Razorbill Canada)
Gisela Tobien Sherman‚ The Farmerettes (Second Story Press)
Frieda Wishinsky; Willow Dawson‚ ill.‚ Avis Dolphin (Groundwood)

John Spray Mystery Award ($5,000)

Don Aker‚ Delusion Road (HarperTrophy)
Kelley Armstrong‚ The Masked Truth (Doubleday Canada)
Gordon Korman‚ Masterminds (HarperCollins)
Kevin Sands‚ The Blackthorn Key (Aladdin)
Jordan Stratford‚ The Case of the Missing Moonstone (Alfred A. Knopf)

Monica Hughes Award for Science-fiction and Fantasy ($5,000 prize)

Erin Bow‚ The Scorpion Rules (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Mikaela Everett‚ The Unquiet (Greenwillow Books)
Kallie George‚ Clover’s Luck: The Magical Animal Adoption Agency (Book One) (HarperCollins)
E.K. Johnston‚ A Thousand Nights (Disney-Hyperion)
Kenneth Oppel; Jon Klassen‚ ill.‚ The Nest (HarperCollins)