2015 Forest of Reading winners and honour books announced!

On Tuesday, May 12 and Wednesday, May 13, 2015, the Festival of Trees was held at Toronto's Harbourfront.  Over 8000 readers participated in the events at the Festival, which focused on the awards ceremonies for the different Forest of Reading programs of the Ontario Library Association.

Here are this year's readers' choice selections for each reading program:

Blue Spruce

WINNER 

The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten
by Maureen Fergus
Illustrated by Mike Lowery
Kids Can Press

Reviewed here

          Honour Books         

The Highest Number In the World

by Roy MacGregor

Illustrated by Geneviève Després

Tundra Books

Young Frank, Architect

by Frank Viva

Harry N. Abrahams

Oddrey and the New Kid

by Dave Whamond

Owlkids

  

Silver Birch EXPRESS

   WINNER

Let's Get Cracking: Kung Pow Chicken #1

by Cyndi Marko
Scholastic Canada


Reviewed here

          Honour Books        

The Fly
by Elisa Gravel
Tundra Books









My Name is Blessing
by Eric Walters
Illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes
Tundra Books

Seconds
by Sylvia Taekema
Orca Book Publishers













Silver Birch FICTION

 WINNER

The Night Gardener

by Jonathan Auxier
Puffin

Reviewed here

          Honour Books      

Striker
by David Skuy
Lorimer

September 17 
by Amanda West Lewis
Red Deer Press 

The Creature Department
by Robert Paul Weston 
Razorbill

Silver Birch NON-FICTION 

WINNER

Annaleise Carr: How I Conquered Lake Ontario to Help Kids Battling Cancer
by Annaleise Carr, as told to Deborah Ellis
Lorimer

          Honour Books     

Zoobots: Wild Robots Inspired by Real Animals
by Helaine Becker & Alex Ries
Kids Can Press

Cat Champions: Caring For Our Feline Friends
by Rob Laidlaw 
Pajama Press

Le Prix Peuplier

                    Lauréat                   

Le voleur de couche 

by Nadia Sévigny, AnneMarie Bourgeois 

Éditions de la Smala

          Honour Books     

La limace
by Elise Gravel
La Courte Échelle

Rocheux anniversaire Léopold!
by Isabelle Gaul 
Éditions de la Smala







Le cadeau des frères Bravo
by Caroline Merola
Éditions de la Bagnole

Le Prix Tamarac 

                   Lauréat

La plus grosse poutine du monde

par Andrée Poulin
Bayard Canada

          Honour Books     

La fabuleuse histoire de Jérémy Leloup
par Gilles Tibo & Jean-Luc Trudel
Éditions Québec Amérique

Le journal de guerre d’Émilio
par André Jacob & Christine Delezenne
Éditions De L'Isatis

Le Prix Tamarac EXPRESS

                   Lauréat

Guiby - Une odeur de soufre 

par Sampar (Samuel Parent)
Éditions Michel Quintin

          Honour Books     

Moi, zèbre bouchard
par Myriam De Repentigny & Yvan Deschamps
Soulières éditeur

Il m’énerve, ce William Parker!
par Alain M. Bergeron 
Soulières éditeur

Tsuki, princesse de la Lune
par Suzanne de Serres & Virginie Rapiat 
Éditions Planète Rebelle

Red Maple Fiction

WINNER

The Rule of Three
by Eric Walters 
Razorbill

Reviewed here

          Honour Books      

The Boundless
by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins Canada

Unspeakable
by Caroline Pignat
Puffin Canada

Red Maple Non-Fiction

WINNER

The Last Train: A Holocaust Story
by Rona Arato
Owlkids

          Honour Books      

Sentenced to Life at Seventeen: The Story of David Milgaard

by Cynthia J. Faryon

Lorimer

We Are Canada

by Rikia Saddy & Cameron McLellan

Simply Read Books

White Pine FICTION

WINNER

Rush
by Eve Silver
Katherine Teegen Books/HarperCollins

Reviewed here

          Honour Books     

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B
by Teresa Toten
Doubleday Canada

Baygirl
by Heather Smith 

Orca Book Publishers

                                                                                                                 

Thrilling news for all authors, illustrators and publishers!

Enjoyed all the more for being selected 

by young Canadian readers!

Congratulations to everyone!

2015 Arthur Ellis Awards for Canadian Crime Writing: Shortlists announced

The shortlists of nominees for the Arthur Ellis Awards for Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing were announced almost two weeks ago but, with a less than cooperative computer, I've just been allowed to post them now! Awarded annually by the Crime Writers of Canada since 1984, the Arthur Ellis Awards are given in the following categories:

For Published Works:
• Best Novel 
• Best First Novel 
• Best Novella
• Best Short Story
• Best Book in French
• Best Juvenile/Young Adult Book
• Best Nonfiction Book

For Unpublished Work:

• The Unhanged Arthur Award for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel 

Here are the nominees for the 2015 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile/Young Adult Crime Book:

Face-Off

by Michael Betcherman

Penguin Canada

Dead Man's Switch

by Sigmund Brouwer

Harvest House

The Voice inside My Head

by S. J. Laidlaw

Tundra

About That Night

by Norah McClintock
Orca Book Publishers

The Bodies We Wear
by Jeyn Roberts
Knopf Books for Young Readers

The 2015 winners will be announced at the Arthur Ellis Awards gala dinner on Thursday, May 28, 2015, at the Arts & Letters Club in downtown Toronto.