AMELIA FRANCES HOWARD-GIBBON AWARD
(CANADIAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION)
FOR BEST ILLUSTRATIONS.
1996 WINNER:
Many children in war-torn England will not get Christmas presents, so each
child in Sally's Sunday school class must bring a gift for White Gift Sunday.
The gift must be wrapped in white paper and, to make the giving especially
meaningful, it must be something that the giver really loves. Her brother
cheats and wraps up a book he hates but Sally knows that she must give
away Ann Marie, her prettiest doll. Her heart is torn in two. Will the
little girl who receives Ann Marie cherish her as much as Sally does? Set
in the 1940s, this beautifully illustrated story conveys the joy of giving
to children of any period.
1997 WINNER:
On one level, Ghost Train tells the story of impoverished Chinese immigrants
who were exploited and killed during the construction of the transcontinental
railway. On another level it tells of the bond between Choon-yi, an artistic
child, and her father, one of the construction workers who lost his life.
Visiting her in dream sequences after his death, Ba encourages Choon-yi
to create a perfect painting of a fire-car to transport the souls of the
dead Chinese workers back to their homeland so that they may rest in peace.
Hauntingly beautiful oil paintings, evocative of the talent of Choon-yi,
complement the finely honed narrative perfectly.
ANN CONNOR-BRIMER AWARD
(THE NOVA SCOTIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION)
FOR BEST BOOK BY AN ATLANTIC AUTHOR.
![OF THINGS NOT SEEN](91/7061-v2.gif) |
OF THINGS NOT SEEN
DON AKER
TORONTO: STODDART, 1995, 197 P.
ISBN 0773674357
AGES 12 TO 15
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This is a finely tuned novel about family violence in which the protagonists,
a 16-year-old and his mother, struggle to maintain a fragile peace within
the family and the appearance of normalcy without. It is an impossible
task because the only sure thing in their lives is the ferocious unpredictability
of the stepfather's rage. Ben knows the importance of silence and solitude.
When he "lets his guard down" with his girlfriend, his English teacher,
and an octogenarian neighbour, his awful secret becomes less secure and
the stage is set for a final reckoning with his stepfather and the chance
to live a normal life. Ben's story, told with honesty and sensitivity,
is heartbreaking but it is not without hope.
ARTHUR ELLIS AWARDS
CHILDREN'S FICTION
(THE CRIME WRITERS OF CANADA)
FOR BEST JUVENILE MYSTERY NOVEL.
1996 WINNER:
![MISTAKEN IDENTITY](91/7062-v2.gif) |
MISTAKEN IDENTITY
NORAH McCLINTOCK
RICHMOND HILL, ONT.: SCHOLASTIC CANADA, 1995, 183 P.
ISBN
0590246275
AGES 11 TO 15
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When Zanny Dugan's overprotective father dies a violent and mysterious
death shortly after her picture appears in the paper, Zanny learns that
there's a lot about her past that she doesn't know and that there are few
people in the present that she can trust to help her. Determined to learn
more about her dad, she searches through old newspapers at the public library
only to discover that he was accused of stealing ten million dollars from
a Chicago crime family 14 years ago. Nothing in this fast-paced mystery,
however, is what it seems and Zanny and the reader have to keep their wits
about them to find the right answers.
1997 WINNER:
![HOW CAN A FROZEN DETECTIVE STAY HOT ON THE TRAIL?](91/7063-v2.gif) |
HOW CAN A FROZEN DETECTIVE STAY HOT ON THE TRAIL?
LINDA BAILEY
TORONTO: KIDS CAN PRESS, 1996, 163 P.
(A STEVIE DIAMOND MYSTERY
; 4)
ISBN 155074321X
AGES 8 TO 11
AVAILABLE IN FRENCH: TERREUR CHEZ LES CARNIVORES
(SAINT-LAMBERT,
QUÉBEC: HÉRITAGE, 1997)
|
Although warned about Winnipeg winters, Stevie Diamond is completely unprepared
for the breathtaking cold which greets her when she and Jesse Kulniki visit
Jesse's grandmother, Bobbi, during the Christmas holidays. Thawing out
in Bobbi's living room shortly after their arrival, the mystery-solving
duo are almost immediately thrust into a new case. Jesse's 16-year-old
uncle has been accused of stealing some rare carnivorous plants from a
local horticultural club and Bobbi expects them to clear his name. The
detectives follow false leads, hatch ineffectual schemes, and generally
blunder their way through the case before a strange twist of events leads
them to the culprit, the one person they least suspected.
BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR CHILDREN AWARD
(CANADIAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION)
FOR BEST TEXT.
1996 WINNER:
![THE TINY KITE OF EDDIE WING](91/7064-v2.gif) |
THE TINY KITE OF EDDIE WING
MAXINE TROTTIER
ILLUSTRATIONS: AL VAN MIL
TORONTO: STODDART, 1995, 24 P.
ISBN
0773728651
AGES 4 TO 8
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From the moment he gets up until the moment he goes to sleep, Eddie thinks
of nothing but kites and kite flying. Because his family is too poor to
buy him a kite, Eddie has to make do with his imagination and his dreams.
His resourcefulness and determination inspire the other children to cheer
for the invisible kite which he flies over the hill tops. Eventually, Eddie's
love of kites inspires Old Chan, who organizes the annual Festival of Kites,
to realize his own neglected dream of becoming a poet. Old Chan, in turn,
helps to make Eddie's dream come true.
1997 WINNER:
At 112 years of age, Mickey McGuire cannot remember the names of his nurses
or what he ate for lunch. He can, however, recall "in vivid detail" the
events of November 1895, when he and his mother fled from his abusive father.
Sent to stay with Uncle Ronald, a gentle giant of a man, who lived north
of Ottawa in the village of Low, Mickey wasn't even afraid when the army
invaded. Freed temporarily from the fear of his father's violence, he was
secure, for the first time in his childhood existence, in the loving embrace
of his mother's cockamamie family. This bitter-sweet "memoir" is told with
the humour and wisdom of a 100-year-old perspective.
ELIZABETH MRAZIK-CLEAVER CANADIAN PICTURE BOOK AWARD
(INTERNATIONAL BOARD ON BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE – CANADA)
FOR BEST ILLUSTRATIONS.
![<B>SELINA AND THE BEAR PAW QUILT</B>](91/7066-v2.gif) |
SELINA AND THE BEAR PAW QUILT
BARBARA SMUCKER
ILLUSTRATIONS: JANET WILSON
TORONTO: LESTER PUBLISHING, 1995,
32 P.
ISBN 0773729925 (BOUND)
0773758372 (PAPERBACK)
AGES 6 TO 9
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When Selina's Mennonite family moves to Upper Canada to escape the death
and destruction of the American Civil War, Grandmother gives Selina a Bear
Paw quilt (reproduced on the book's endpapers). The scraps of cloth in
Selina's quilt come from her own baby clothes, her aunt's favourite dress,
and even her grandmother's wedding dress. A link across the miles and between
the generations, it is truly a precious memento which eases the heartache
of so abrupt a move. This gorgeous picture book looks back in time to celebrate
the importance of family history and traditions.
GEOFFREY BILSON AWARD FOR HISTORICAL FICTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
(CANADIAN CHILDREN'S BOOK CENTRE)
FOR BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK.
![REBELLION: A NOVEL OF UPPER CANADA](91/7067-v2.gif) |
REBELLION: A NOVEL OF UPPER CANADA
MARIANNE BRANDIS
ILLUSTRATIONS: GERARD BRENDER À BRANDIS
ERIN, ONT.: PORCUPINE'S QUILL, 1996, 284 P.
ISBN 0889841756
AGES 11 TO 15
|
In the fall of 1837, 14-year-old Adam Wheeler travels to Upper Canada aboard
a crowded immigrant ship with his disparaging uncle and family. Sensitive
to his uncle's scorn and to his own need for independence he quickly finds
work in a paper mill on the outskirts of Toronto. He finds also that the
festering malevolence between William Lyon Mackenzie's followers and the
Family Compact touches everything and everyone that autumn. His uncle supports
the rebels, his upper-class friends (the de Grassi sisters) support the
Tories, his employers waffle, and he becomes implicated.... This is the
universal story of one boy's search for self-knowledge told against a backdrop
of Canadian history.
GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD/CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
(THE CANADA COUNCIL)
FOR BEST TEXT.
On one level, Ghost Train tells the story of impoverished Chinese immigrants
who were exploited and killed during the construction of the transcontinental
railway. On another level it tells of the bond between Choon-yi, an artistic
child, and her father, one of the construction workers who lost his life.
Visiting her in dream sequences after his death, Ba encourages Choon-yi
to create a perfect painting of a fire-car to transport the souls of the
dead Chinese workers back to their homeland so that they may rest in peace.
Hauntingly beautiful oil paintings, evocative of the talent of Choon-yi,
complement the finely honed narrative perfectly.
|