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Award-Winning Titles 2004English Awards (continued)MR. CHRISTIE'S BOOK AWARD 2002
This is the story of two sisters who have left Ontario after their mother's death to live in St. John's, Newfoundland, in the fall of 1926. While their father works for a mining company inland, Sadie, 14, and Flora, 8, try to adapt to a new school and a new town in the absence of their parents. The woman who boards them is mean Mrs. Hatch, who feeds the children lumpy porridge and makes them do household chores. Sadie and Flora anxiously await the return of their father at the end of the school year, but rather than coming to collect the girls, he leaves to search for gold. Threatened with eviction and worried for their father, the children run away to Corner Brook, where a friend of their mother takes them in. Eventually their father, who has suffered hardships on his own adventures, is found, and the family is reunited. This is a poignant story of two young girls striving to make the best of their circumstances in pre-Confederation Newfoundland. -BM MUNICIPAL CHAPTER OF TORONTO IODE BOOK AWARD
Benny's grandfather makes the best bagels in town. Everyone thinks that the bagels are so good because they are baked with love, but Grandpa explains to Benny that it is God, after all, that they should thank. What follows is a touching story of a boy's efforts to be heard by God. At first, the young Jewish boy is uncertain about how to thank God, but his strong desire to do so leads him to the synagogue, a place where people go to connect with God. He bravely opens the big wooden door of the Holy Ark and leaves a steaming bag of bagels inside. He continues to leave bagels for God week after week until he discovers that a hungry, tattered man has been eating them. Grandpa reassures the disappointed Benny that by making the world a better place he has indeed thanked God. Bagels from Benny is told with humour and sensitivity by talented storyteller Aubrey Davis. This heart-warming adaptation of a Jewish folk tale from Spain will appeal to all children. The humour and emotion of Dušan Petričić's expressive illustrations enhance the story. Each illustration is encased in a round, warm beige circle, just like a bagel. -BF NATIONAL CHAPTER OF CANADA IODE VIOLET DOWNEY BOOK AWARD
Jack lives at the Opportunities School for Orphans and Foundlings. He is known as Otherjack to differentiate him from another orphan with the same name. Jack loves books and words. Shortly after his 12th birthday, he learns that he is to be apprenticed to a bookkeeper. Jack is overjoyed; he will be taking care of books! Unfortunately, he discovers that "bookkeeping" means adding numbers. Jack is miserable -- going back to school is unthinkable -- so he does the only thing he can think of, he runs away. Travelling to the market town of Aberlog, the clever and resourceful Jack becomes an ideas peddler. He sells whims, opinions, plans, impressions and notions. He's very successful, and now must decide whether to settle down in Aberlog or continue life on the road. With wit and humour, the multiple-award-winning author Sarah Ellis presents a beautiful historical tale. The story features an endearing and resourceful character who is determined to make his own way in the world. Bruno St-Aubin's black-and-white drawings outline the story and matche Ellis's tone. -AC NORMA FLECK AWARD FOR CHILDREN'S NON-FICTION 2003
As Long as the Rivers Flow is the true story of Larry Loyie, a First Nations child. Larry recounts the summer of 1944, when the 10 year old was living happily at home with his family in the bush near Slave Lake in northern Alberta. Larry is the eldest of a family of four children. His grandpa named him Oskiniko (Young Man) because he was brave. Through the summer, he learns patience and discipline. He cares for an abandoned baby owl, helps the family to hunt and fish, watches his grandmother make moccasins, and sees her kill a huge grizzly with a single shot. The summer ends in sadness for Oskiniko, his brothers and his sister when a truck comes to take them away to boarding schools. They will be taught according to European customs and religions in order to erase their traditional languages and cultures. An epilogue concerning the history and conditions of North America's residential schools, as well as Loyie family photographs, follow the story. -MD R. ROSS ANNETT JUVENILE FICTION AWARD 2003
Travis lives in a two-story trailer outside a small Canadian prairie town with his aunt, his verbally abusive uncle and their young children. His mother, a country-and-western singer, is often on the road. Travis loves to sew and play with puppets; he wants to be a professional puppeteer. Travis doesn't mind being poor or being different, but because he is different he is teased and violently bullied by Shon and his friends. Travis and his disabled friend Chantelle, together with several of their classmates, create a puppet adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Travis is excited about the puppet show, but unfortunately the bullying escalates to dangerous extremes. Stitches is a poignant and gripping coming-of-age story that deals with bullying, disabilities and abuse. The story offers valuable lessons on friendship and understanding, while encouraging teens to celebrate their individuality and to stand up for themselves. -AC RED CEDAR BOOK AWARD
Born on a plantation in Alabama, 13-year-old Phoebe has known nothing but the life of a slave in a kitchen or on a plantation, picking cotton. She lives with her parents in a house that used to be full of joy and children. Now she is all that is left of their family of seven. Slaves not only do not own their own land, they also have no rights as a family. Phoebe has seen three of her siblings auctioned off, and her sister Rachel has run away to Canada on the Underground Railroad. Phoebe dreams of the day she will be free. One day, she meets Liney and, along with her two children, they flee the plantation the week before Phoebe is to be sold. They chart a path using clues taken from songs sung on the plantation as they make their way north to Canada. It is an almost impossible undertaking, filled with enemies, danger, passwords, cold and hunger, but it is one that they must risk in order to attain the freedom they so desperately seek. In her first novel, Virginia Frances Schwartz brings to life Phoebe's courage and faith as she risks her life for freedom. -ANC RED CEDAR BOOK AWARD
What's smaller than a bee's mouth? What did the grape say to the elephant? The answers will make you groan, and that's just the sort of jokes that kids love! There are many puns and silly giggles to be found in this book. A lot of the gags are oldies that children have found funny for ages and that adults will recognize from their own childhood. In addition to the laughs there are optical illusions to fascinate all ages. In each section there are interesting facts related to the theme of the jokes. For example, alongside the bird jokes, the reader learns why birds don't fall off their perches while sleeping. The illustrations are in keeping with the spirit of the text: goofy, cartoon-like, weird and just plain funny. -AR RED MAPLE AWARD 2003
Everything is going badly for 15-year-old Mike. His history teacher, Mr. Riel, is after him for a late assignment; he has a suspension to serve; and his guardian, Uncle Billy, is only interested in drinking beers with his buddies. Mike's girlfriend's parents forbid him to call her at home. Life was a lot better when Mike's mother was alive. The house was clean and smelled of home-cooked food. She was always there to help him with his homework. This was before she was killed in a hit-and-run accident four years ago. Problems seem to pile up in Mike's life: he is involved in an incident with the police, he loses his part-time job, and Mr. Riel continues to pressure him. We learn that Mr. Riel was once a policeman -- the policeman who investigated Mike's mother's accident. Together, he and Mike embark on a thrilling quest to discover the truth about what really happened on the night of the accident. This is a gripping story by crime writer Nora McClintock, four-time winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Crime Fiction. -JP RUTH SCHWARTZ CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD
A mouse named Nib lives with his large family under a busy subway station. At night, the old mice tell stories about Tunnel's End, a dangerous and wonderful mythical world. Nib begins to feel fed up with subway noise and his rowdy cousins who invade his cozy nest. He decides to find Tunnel's End. On his way, he meets Lola, a spunky girl mouse who decides to join him on his quest. Nib and Lola face many dangers but finally discover Tunnel's End, a more perilous and beautiful place than they have ever dreamed of. The story is captivating, showing us that with determination anything can be achieved. The double-page Plasticine illustrations are colourful and vibrant. With The Subway Mouse, acclaimed author and illustrator Barbara Reid has created a well-written and beautifully illustrated book that is sure to be a hit with readers. -AC
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