Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

Image. Advertisement:

NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults finalists announced

1 June 2023   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

The finalists for the 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults have been announced.

The shortlists in each category are:

Picture book

  • Duck Goes Meow (Juliette MacIver, illus by Carla Martell, Scholastic New Zealand)
  • Farewell, Anahera (Vanessa Hatley-Owen, illus by Scott Irvine, trans by Kanapu Rangitauira, Duck Creek Press & David Ling Publishing)
  • How My Koro Became a Star (Brianne Te Paa, illus by Story Hemi-Morehouse, Huia Publishers)
  • Roo and Vladimir: An unlikely friendship (Minky Stapleton, Scholastic New Zealand)
  • The Lighthouse Princess (Susan Wardell, illus by Rose Northey, Puffin)

Junior fiction 

  • Below (David Hill, Puffin)
  • Children of the Rush (James Russell, Dragon Brothers Books)
  • Jason Mason and the World’s Most Powerful Itching Powder (Jason & Andrew Gunn, Bateman Books)
  • Masher (Fifi Colston, Puffin)
  • Pipi and Pou and the Raging Mountain (Tim Tipene, illus by Isobel Te Aho-White, OneTree House)

Young adult 

  • Andromeda Bond in Trouble Deep (Brian Falkner, Red Button Press)
  • Eddy, Eddy (Kate De Goldi, A&U)
  • Indigo Moon (Eileen Merriman, Penguin)
  • Iris and Me (Philippa Werry, Ahoy, The Cuba Press)
  • Miracle (Jennifer Lane, Cloud Ink Press)

Nonfiction award

  • A New Dawn (Emili Sione, illus by Darcy Solia, Mila’s Books)
  • Freestyle: The Israel Adesanya story (David Riley, illus by Ant Sang, Reading Warrior)
  • Sylvia and the Birds (Johanna Emeney & Sarah Laing, Massey University Press)
  • Te Wehenga: The separation of Ranginui and Papatūānuku (Mat Tait, A&U)
  • Weather and Climate New Zealand (Sandra Carrod, Oratia Books) 

Illustration

  • A Portrait of Leonardo (Donovan Bixley, Upstart)
  • Four Yaks and a Yeti (Ant Sang, Bateman Books)
  • Roar Squeak Purr: A New Zealand treasury of animal poems (Jenny Cooper, Puffin)
  • Te Wehenga: The separation of Ranginui and Papatūānuku (Mat Tait, A&U)
  • The Lighthouse Princess (Rose Northey, Puffin)

Te Kura Pounamu Award for books written entirely in te reo Māori

  • He Raru ki Tai (Jane Cooper, illus by Story Hemi-Morehouse, Huia Publishers)
  • Kua Whetūrangitia a Koro (Brianne Te Paa, illus by Story Hemi-Morehouse, Huia Publishers)
  • Te Kōkōrangi: Te Aranga o Matariki (Witi Ihimaera, illus by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White, trans by Hēni Jacob, Puffin) 

Best first book 

  • Echo (Arlo Kelly, Sparrow Press)
  • He Raru ki Tai (Jane Cooper, illus by Story Hemi-Morehouse, Huia Publishers)
  • Holding the Horse (J L Williams, Ocean Echo Books and Cave Books)
  • Kidnap at Mystery Island (Carol Garden, Scholastic New Zealand)
  • The Lighthouse Princess (Susan Wardell, illus Rose Northey, Puffin).

The winners of each of the six main categories receive NZ$7500, while the winner of the best first book award receives NZ$2500. The winners in the six main categories then go into the running for the overall Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award, which awards a further NZ$7500 prize money.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Wellington on 10 August. For more information about the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, see the NZ Book Awards Trust website.

 

Category: Local news