The finalists for the 2024 CCBC Book Awards have been announced. Handed out by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, the eight awards celebrate exceptional books for young people.
The shortlisted titles are:
TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($50,000)
- Do You Remember? by Sydney Smith (Groundwood Books)
- Green Papayas by Nhung N. Tran-Davies and Gillian Newland, ill. (Red Deer Press)
- Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow (Scholastic Canada)
- Skating Wild on an Inland Sea by Jean E. Pendziwol and Todd Stewart, ill. (Groundwood Books)
- The Umbrella House by Colleen Nelson (Pajama Press)
Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award ($20,000)
- Love Is in the Bear by Judith Henderson and Nahid Kazemi, ill. (Owlkids Books)
- Our Pool by Lucy Ruth Cummins (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster)
- Skating Wild on an Inland Sea by Jean E. Pendziwol and Todd Stewart, ill. (Groundwood Books)
- A Tulip in Winter: A Story About Folk Artist Maud Lewis by Kathy Stinson and Lauren Soloy, ill. (Greystone Kids)
- When You Can Swim by Jack Wong (Orchard Books/Scholastic)
Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($5,000)
- Bernice and the Georgian Bay Gold by Jessica Outram (Second Story Press)
- The Cricket War by Thọ Phạm and Sandra McTavish (Kids Can Press)
- Focus. Click. Wind. by Amanda West Lewis (Groundwood Books)
- Mall Goth by Kate Leth (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
- Out of the Dark by Julie Lawson (Nimbus Publishing)
Amy Mathers Teen Book Award ($5,000)
- Brighter Than the Sun by Daniel Aleman (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers/Hachette)
- Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury (Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster)
- Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian (Balzer + Bray/Macmillan)
- Something More by Jackie Khalilieh (Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada)
- The Space Between Here & Now by Sarah Suk (Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins)
Jean Little First-Novel Award ($5,000)
- Bee Bakshi and the Gingerbread Sisters by Emi Pinto (HarperCollins)
- The Boy Who Woke the Sun by A.T. Woodley and Mike Deas, ill. (Red Deer Press)
- The Cricket War by Thọ Phạm and Sandra McTavish (Kids Can Press)
- The Secret of the Ravens by Joanna Cacao (Clarion Books/HarperCollins)
- Where the Water Takes Us by Alan Barillaro (Candlewick Press)
Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy ($5,000)
- Bonesmith (House of the Dead Duology, Book 1) by Nicki Pau Preto (Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster)
- The Boy, the Cloud and the Very Tall Tale by Heather Smith (Orca Book Publishers)
- City of Nightmares (City of Nightmares Duology, Book 1) by Rebecca Schaeffer (Clarion Books/HarperCollins)
- Nightbreaker (Nightbreaker, Book 1) by Coco Ma (Viking Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House)
- The Stars of Mount Quixx (The Brindlewatch Quintet, Book 1) by S.M. Beiko (ECW Press)
David Booth Children’s and Youth Poetry Award ($3,500)
- Forever Our Hom, by Tonya Simpson and Carla Joseph, ill. (Orca Book Publishers)
- I Want to Build a Seahouse by Whitney Moran and Josée Bisaillon (Nimbus Publishing)
- Like a Hurricane by Jonathan Bécotte and Jonathan Kaplansky, trans. (Orca Book Publishers)
- The Prisoner and the Writer by Heather Camlot and Sophie Casson, ill. (Groundwood Books)
- Robot, Unicorn, Queen: Poems for You and Me by Shannon Bramer and Irene Luxbacher, ill. (Groundwood Books)
- The Yellow Leaves Are Coming by James Gladstone and François Thisdale, ill. (Red Deer Press)
Richard Allen Chase Memorial Award ($2,500)
- Alone: The Journeys of Three Young Refugees by Paul Tom and Mélanie Baillairgé, ill.; Arielle Aaronson, trans. (Groundwood Books)
- The Halifax Explosion: 6 December 1917, at 9:05 in the Morning by Afua Cooper and Rebecca Bender, ill. (Plumleaf Press)
- The Secret Pocket by Peggy Janicki and Carrielynn Victor, ill. (Orca Book Publishers)
- Shizue’s Path by Mark Sakamoto and Rachel Wada, ill. (HarperCollins Publishers)
- A Star Explodes: The Story of Supernova 1054 by James Gladstone and Yaara Eshet, ill. (Owlkids Books)
The winners will be announced at an in-person event at the Toronto Reference Library on Monday, October 28, hosted by Ainara Alleyne, co-creator of Ainara’s Bookshelf.