The finalists for the 2026 CCBC Book Awards have been announced. Handed out by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, the six awards celebrate exceptional books for young people.

The shortlisted titles are:

Amy Mathers Teen Book Award ($5,000)

• Among Ghosts by Rachel Hartman (Penguin Teen Canada)
• A Drop in the Ocean by Léa Taranto (Arsenal Pulp Press)
• The Fragments that Remain by Mackenzie Angeconeb (DCB Young Readers)
• He’s So Possessed with Me by Corey Liu (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• Songs for Ghosts by Clara Kumagai (Penguin Teen Canada)
• You Started It by Jackie Khalilieh (Tundra Books)

David Booth Children’s and Youth Poetry Award ($3,500)

• The Lightning Circle by Vikki VanSickle and Laura K. Watson, ill. (Tundra Books)
• Lights at Night by Tasha Hilderman and Maggie Zeng, ill. (Tundra Books)
• A Pond, a Poet, and Three Pests by Caroline Adderson and Lauren Tamaki, ill. (Groundwood Books)
• Reasons to Look at the Night Sky by Danielle Daniel (Tundra Books)
• Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams by Shari Green (Andrews McMeel Publishing)
• This Is a Tiny Fragile Snake by Nicholas Ruddock and Ashley Barron, ill. (Groundwood Books)

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($3,000)

• I Won’t Feel This Way Forever by Kim Spencer (Orca Book Publishers)
• Joe and the Wreck of the Tribune by Jacqueline Halsey (Nimbus Publishing)
• Saving Wolfgang by Gregor Craigie (Orca Book Publishers)
• Seabird by Michelle Kadarusman (Pajama Press)
• A Storm Unleashed by Carol Matas (Scholastic Canada)

Richard Allen Chase Memorial Award ($5,000)

• Akemi’s Song by Joanne Kwok and Yiting Hui, ill. (Plumleaf Press)
• Fantastic Lou: Little Comics from Real Life by Qin Leng (Tundra Books)
• kisēwātisi – Be Kind by Elizabeth Merasty and Brie Phillips, ill.; Edie Venne, trans. (Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing)
• Little Moments in a Big Universe by Todd Stewart (Owlkids Books)
• Oasis by Guojing (Godwin Books)

Sharon Fitzhenry Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction ($10,000)

• Game Changers: Stories of Hijabi Athletes from Around the World by Charlene Smith and Natalya Tariq, ill. (Orca Book Publishers)
• Never Silent: A Hiroshima Survivor’s Story by Setsuko Thurlow and Kathy Lowinger; Michelle Theodore, ill. (Annick Press)
• Ours to Tell: Reclaiming Indigenous Stories by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger (Annick Press)
• The Sustainable School: A Journey Through Time and Energy by Erica Fyvie and Scot Ritchie, ill. (Kids Can Press)
• The True Story of Vanilla: How Edmond Albius Made History by Ann Richards and Arden Taylor, ill. (Orca Book Publishers)

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award ($20,000)

• Everybelly by Thao Lam (Groundwood Books)
• Ins and Outs by Elizabeth Withey and Salini Perera, ill. (Orca Book Publishers)
• My Friend May by Julie Flett (Greystone Kids)
• The One About the Blackbird by Melanie Florence and Matt James, ill. (Tundra Books)
• Rock by Laurel Croza and Matt James, ill. (Groundwood Books)

The winners will be announced at an in-person event at DoubleTree by Hilton’s downtown Toronto location on Oct. 26. The event will be live streamed.