NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2024 finalists announced

In Aotearoa New Zealand the 2024 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults finalists have been announced.

The finalists in each category are:

Picture book award ($8500)

• At the Bach (Joy Cowley, illus by Hilary Jean Tapper, Gecko)
• Dazzlehands (Sacha Cotter, illus by Josh Morgan [Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Te Whānau-a-Kai], Huia)
• Hatch and Match (Ruth Paul, Walker)
• Lucy and the Dark (Melinda Szymanik, illus by Vasanti Unka, Puffin)
• Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai (Michaela Keeble, illus by Tokerau Brown, Gecko)

Esther Glen junior fiction award ($8500)

• DoubleDippers! (Raymond McGrath, Scholastic)
• Lopini the Legend (Feana Tu‘akoi, Scholastic)
• Nine Girls (Stacy Gregg [Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Pūkeko, Ngāti Maru Hauraki], Penguin)
• Take Me to Your Leader (Leonie Agnew, Puffin)
• The Grimmelings (Rachael King, A&U)

Young adult fiction ($8500)

• Catch a Falling Star (Eileen Merriman, Penguin)
• New Dawning (A M Dixon, One Tree House)
• The Sparrow (Tessa Duder, Penguin)
• Tonight, I Burn (Katharine J Adams, Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand)
• Tsunami (Ned Wenlock (Earth’s End Publishing)

Elsie Locke award for nonfiction ($8500)

• Patu: The New Zealand Wars (Gavin Bishop [Tainui, Ngāti Awa], Puffin)
• The Observologist: A Handbook for Mounting Very Small Scientific Expeditions (Giselle Clarkson, Gecko)
• Tuatara: A Living Treasure (Katie Furze, illus by Ned Barraud, Scholastic)
• Ultrawild: An Audacious Plan to Rewild Every City on Earth (Steve Mushin, A&U)
• Wot Knot You Got? Mophead’s Guide to Life (Selina Tusitala Marsh, Auckland University Press)

Russell Clark award for illustration ($8500)

• Dazzlehands (illus by Josh Morgan [Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Te Whānau-a-Kai], Huia)
• Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai (illus by Tokerau Brown, Gecko)
• Patu: The New Zealand Wars (illus by Gavin Bishop [Tainui, Ngāti Awa], Puffin)
• Samples from the Lab (illus by Rob Foote, Creativity Unleashed)
• The Dream Factory (illus by Zak Ātea [Te Āti Awa Taranaki], Huia)

Award for books written entirely in (or translated into) te reo Māori ($8500)

• He Tārū Kahika (Melinda Szymanik, illus by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White [Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu], trans by Pānia Papa [Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, Ngāti Mahuta], Scholastic)
• Nani Jo me ngā Mokopuna Porohīanga (Moira Wairama, illus by Margaret Tolland, Baggage Books)
• Te Pīkari Pipi (Angie Belcher, illus by Lily Uivel, trans by Pānia Papa [Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, Ngāti Mahuta], Scholastic)
• Te Pukapuka ka kore e Pānuihia (Tim Tipene [Ngāti Kurī, Te Uri-o-Hau, Ngāti Whātua], illus by Nicoletta Benella, trans by Kanapu Rangitauira [Te Arawa, Ngati Porou, Te Whakatohea], Oratia)
• Te Rā Kura Ki Aotearoa (Donovan Bixley, trans by Darryn Joseph [Ngāti Maniapoto, Rereahu], Upstart)

Best first book ($2500)

• A M Dixon, for New Dawning (One Tree House)
• Tokerau Brown (illustrator), for Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai (Michaela Keeble, Gecko)
• Tangaroa Paul [Muriwhenua], for Rere Atu Taku Poi! Let My Poi Fly! (illus by Rebecca Gibbs, Oratia)
• Ned Wenlock, for Tsunami (Earth’s End Publishing)
• Steve Mushin, for Ultrawild: An Audacious Plan to Rewild Every City on Earth (A&U).

The winners of each of the six main categories will be in the running to be named the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, worth a further $8500. More information about the finalists in on the award website.

The ceremony to announce the winners will take place in Wellington on the evening of Wednesday 14 August.

Category: Awards Local news