David A. Robertson, Xiran Jay Zhao & Christian Allaire among finalists for top Canadian children's book awards
CBC Books | | Posted: September 12, 2022 9:17 PM | Last Updated: September 13, 2022
The annual awards celebrate literature for young people
Prolific writer David A. Robertson, sci-fi and fantasy writer Xiran Jay Zhao and fashion journalist Christian Allaire are among the finalists for the 2022 Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards.
The eight awards, which include prizes for nonfiction, YA and picture books, annually recognize the best in Canadian children's literature.
Robertson is nominated in two categories for his picture book On the Trapline: 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 $20,000 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, which is for the best Canadian picture book of the year. On the Trapline is illustrated by Julie Flett.
On the Trapline tells the story of a young boy who flies north with his Moshom – his grandfather – to the trapline his family used when his grandpa was growing up. The boy imagines what life was like then and how it's both different and similar to his life now.
On the Trapline won the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — illustrated books.
Robertson is a Swampy Cree author and graphic novelist based in Winnipeg. He has published more than 20 books across a variety of genres including novels, children's books and memoir. His recent books include Black Water, Breakdown, The Barren Grounds. He won the 2021 Freedom to Read Award.
Flett is a Cree-Métis author and artist. She has illustrated several picture books including Richard Van Camp's Little You and We Sang You Home, and Monique Gray Smith's My Heart Fills with Happiness. Her book We All Play is nominated alongside On the Trapline for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award.
Zhao's YA novel Iron Widow also received two nominations, for the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award and the Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Iron Widow is set in the world of Huaxia where boys pair up with girls to operate transforming robots named Chrysalises, a teen girl named Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot and takes on the mantle of an Iron Widow.
Zhao is a Vancouver-based author and social media creator. They write books and make digital content about Chinese history and culture.
Vogue writer Allaire, who won Canada Reads 2022, has made the shortlist for the $10,000 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's nonfiction for his YA nonfiction book The Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures.
The Power of Style highlights the need for diversity and representation in fashion — and examines topics such as cosplay, make-up, hijabs and hair to show the intersection of style, culture and social justice over the years.
Allaire is an Ojibway author and Vogue fashion writer from Nipissing First Nation. He won Canada Reads 2022 with a successful defence of the novel Five Little Indians by Michelle Good.
LISTEN | Christian Allaire on the power of style:
This year features two new awards: the Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy and the David Booth Children's and Youth Poetry Award. The Arlene Barlin Award is a $5,000 prize for the best Canadian children's speculative fiction, while the David Booth Award is a $3,500 prize for poetry written for Canadian youth.
The winners will be announced at an in-person event at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto on Sept. 29, 2022.
You can see the shortlisted titles for all eight awards below.
The finalists for the $50,000 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award are:
- Borders by Thomas King, illustrated by Natasha Donovan
- The Fabulous Zed Watson! by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester
- Growing Up Trans: In Our Own Words edited by Dr. Lindsay Herriot and Kate Fry
- A Kid Is a Kid Is a Kid by Sara O'Leary, iIllustrated by Qin Leng
- On the Trapline by David A. Robertson, illustrated by Julie Flett
The finalists for the $20,000 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award are:
- Hare B&B by Bill Richardson, illustrated by Bill Pechet
- Lala's Words by Gracey Zhang
- On the Trapline by David A. Robertson, illustrated by Julie Flett
- Time is a Flower by Julie Morstad
- We All Play by Julie Flett
The $10,000 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's nonfiction recognizes nonfiction for readers up to age 18.
The finalists are:
- Boy from Buchenwald: The True Story of a Holocaust Survivor by Robbie Waisman with Susan McClelland
- The Girl Who Loved Giraffes and Became the World's First Giraffologist by Kathy Stinson, illustrated by François Thisdale
- Growing Up Trans: In Our Own Words edited by Dr. Lindsay Herriot and Kate Fry
- Mad for Ads: How Advertising Gets (and Stays) in Our Heads by Erica Fyvie, illustrated by Ian Turner
- The Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures by Christian Allaire, illustrated by Jacqueline Li
The $5,000 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People recognizes historical fiction for readers up to age 18.
The finalists are:
- Dear Peter, Dear Ulla by Barbara Nickel
- Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer by Leslie Gentile
- Second Chances by Harriet Zaidman
- Stealing Home by J. Torres, illustrated by David Namisato
- Traitors Among Us by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
The $5,000 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award recognizes Canadian young adult books for readers between the ages of 13 and 18.
The finalists are:
- Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury
- If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kaur
- Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
- Misfit in Love by S.K. Ali
- The Project by Courtney Summers
The $5,000 Jean Little First Novel Award recognizes the first book by a Canadian writer for young people.
The finalists are:
- Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer by Leslie Gentile
- Living with Viola by Rosena Fung
- Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas
The $5,000 Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy recognizes excellence in Canadian children's speculative fiction.
The finalists are:
- Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury
- Hunting by Stars by Cherie Dimaline
- Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
- Sisters of the Snake by Sarena Nanua and Sasha Nanua
- Spell Sweeper by Lee Edward Födi
The $3,500 David Booth Children's and Youth Poetry Award recognizes excellence in Canadian children's and youth poetry.
- The Book of Selkie by Briana Corr Scott
- A Great Big Night by Kate Inglis, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon
- I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott, illustrated by Sydney Smith
- Our Corner Store by Robert Heidbreder, illustrated by Chelsea O'Byrne
- Summer Feet by Sheree Fitch, illustrated by Carolyn Fisher
- Welcome to the Cypher by Khodi Dill, illustrated by Awuradwoa Afful