The Witness Blanket among titles shortlisted for Canada's biggest children's book awards
Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson's book explores a collection of objects from residential schools
The Witness Blanket: Truth, Art and Reconciliation is among the shortlisted titles for the 2023 Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards.
The seven awards, which include prizes for nonfiction, YA and picture books, annually recognize the best in Canadian children's literature.
The book, which was put together by Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson is a finalist for both the $50,000 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, which recognizes the best Canadian book for readers up to age 12 in any genre, and the $10,000 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction.
It uses pictures to showcase artist Carey Newman's living work of art, the Witness Blanket, a collection of objects from residential schools, each with a story — including that of Newman's own father. Newman is of Kwakwaka'wakw, Coast Salish and settler heritage and worked with Victoria writer and editor Kirstie Hudson to write this book.
Weird Rules to Follow by Kim Spencer, writer and member of the Ts'msyen Nation, is also nominated in more than one category. It is shortlisted for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, the $5,000 Jean Little First-Novel Award and the $5,000 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People.
Weird Rules to Follow, geared for readers aged 10-14, follows 11-year-old Mia and her best friend Lara as they grow up in the coastal fishing town of Prince Rupert in the 1980s. The girls grapple with the usual pre-teen drama as well as questions of identity when Mia begins to notice how people treat her differently because she's Indigenous.
Other celebrated writers shortlisted include the Fan Brothers, Elise Gravel, Deborah Falaye and Kenneth Oppel.
The Fan Brothers are finalists for the $20,000 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award for their picture book Lizzy and the Cloud, a story about a girl who cares for her pet cloud. The Fan Brothers are also known for their books The Night Gardener and Ocean Meets Sky and for illustrating The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield.
Quebec author and illustrator Gravel made the shortlist for the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction. Pink, Blue, And You!, written with Mykaell Blais, explores gender roles and stereotypes in an accessible way. Gravel is the author of several books for children, including The Bat, The Worst Book Ever, The Mushroom Fan Club, I Want a Monster! and What Is a Refugee. Blais is a Montreal-based training coordinator for GRIS-Quebec, a nonprofit community organization and support program for LGBTQ+ kids and young adults.
Nigerian Canadian YA author Falaye's Blood Scion is a finalist for the $5,000 Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy. Blood Scion is her debut novel and follows the adventures of 15-year-old Sloane who can incinerate an enemy at will. It was on the Canada Reads 2023 longlist and named one of the best Canadian YA books of 2022 by CBC Books.
Oppel's Ghostlight is also on the shortlist for the Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy. Ghostlight tells the story of Gabe, a teenager working at Toronto Island for the summer, and how his ghost tour awakens a spirit and draws him into a dark world.
Oppel is a bestselling author whose books include the Silverwing trilogy, which has sold over a million copies worldwide, and Airborn, which won the Governor General's Literary Award for children's literature — text. His most recent books include Inkling, Every Hidden Thing and The Nest.
The winners will be announced at an in-person event at One King West Hotel & Residence in Toronto on Oct. 23.
You can see the shortlisted titles for all seven awards below.
The finalists for the $50,000 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award are:
- Berani by Michelle Kadarusman
- Kunoichi Bunny by Sara Cassidy, illustrated by Brayden Sato
- Sitting Shiva by Erin Silver, illustrated by Michelle Theodore
- Weird Rules to Follow by Kim Spencer
- The Witness Blanket: Truth, Art and Reconciliation by Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson
The finalists for the $20,000 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award are:
- Boobies by Nancy Vo
- Fox and Bear by Miriam Körner
- I'm Not Sydney! by Marie-Louise Gay
- Lizzy and the Cloud by the Fan Brothers
- Mina by Matthew Forsythe
The finalists for the $10,000 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction are:
- Better Connected: How Girls Are Using Social Media for Good by Tanya Lloyd Kyi and Julia Kyi, illustrated by Vivian Rosas
- Pink, Blue, And You! Questions for Kids About Gender Stereotypes by Elise Gravel with Mykaell Blais
- Sun in My Tummy by Laura Alary, illustrated by Andrea Blinick
- Why Humans Build Up: The Rise of Towers, Temples and Skyscrapers by Gregor Craigie, illustrated by Kathleen Fu
- The Witness Blanket: Truth, Art and Reconciliation by Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson
The finalists for the $5,000 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People:
- Hidden on the High Wire (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers) by Kathy Kacer
- How to Be a Goldfish by Jane Baird Warren
- The Ribbon Leaf by Lori Weber
- The Secret Diary of Mona Hasan by Salma Hussain
- Weird Rules to Follow by Kim Spencer
The finalists for the $5,000 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award:
- As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
- The Red Palace by June Hur
- Road of the Lost by Nafiza Azad
- TJ Powar Has Something to Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo
- Wrong Side of the Court by H.N. Khan
The finalists for the $5,000 Jean Little First-Novel Award are:
- The Grave Thief by Dee Hahn
- How to Be a Goldfish by Jane Baird Warren
- Scout Is Not a Band Kid by Jade Armstrong
- Weird Rules to Follow by Kim Spencer
- The Wolf Suit by Sid Sharp
The finalists for the $5,000 Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy are:
- Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye
- Ghostlight by Kenneth Oppel
- The Limitless Sky by Christina Kilbourne
- A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin
- Sneaks by Catherine Egan
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