Academic literature on the topic 'Sequoyah Young Adult Book Award'

AbstractAndrew McGahan is one of Queensland's most successful novelists. Over the past 23 years, he has published six adult novels and three novels in his Ship Kings series for young adults. McGahan's debut novel, Praise (1992), won the Vogel National Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript, Last Drinks (2000) won the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Writing, and The White Earth went on to win the Miles Franklin Literary Award, The Age Book of the Year Award and the Courier-Mail Book of the Year Award, and was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards. In 2009, Wonders of a Godless World earned McGahan the Best Science Fiction Novel in the Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction. McGahan's unashamedly open critiques of Australian, and specifically Queensland, society have imbued his works with a sense of place and space that is a unique trait of his writing. In this interview, McGahan allows us a brief visit into the mind of one of Australia's pre-eminent contemporary authors, shedding light on the ‘what ifs’ and ‘idle daydreaming’ that have pushed his ideas from periphery to page.

This research investigates the portrayal of masculinity in Australian young adult novels published in 2019. The novels were taken from the 2020 Children’s Books Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year for Older Readers Notables List. Established in 1946, these annual awards are considered the most prominent and prestigious in Australian children’s and young adult literature and are likely to be accessible and promoted to young readers in schools and libraries. The three texts studied were Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte, The Boy who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews, and This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield. Using a Critical Content Analysis methodology (Beach et al., 2009), researchers completed a review of the literature and theories around masculinity and chose to analyse three exemplary texts using the attributes of the Hegemonic Masculinity Schema (HMS) and Sensitive New Man Schema (SNMS) as described by Romøren and Stephens (2002). Attributes from the HMS include traits and behaviours like being violent, physical or verbal bullying, and hostile to difference while attributes from the SNMS include being supportive, affectionate, and considerate and respectful of the space and feelings of others (especially females). In this method, researchers identify examples of the attributes within the main characters and minor characters from each of the three books, recording quotes and noting critical incidents depicting aspects of masculinity. Notable findings of the research include the acknowledgment and portrayal of a particular conception of hegemonic masculinity in the selected novels often informed or shaped by the presence of dominant father figures and the absence of the concept of “the mother.” The characters who aligned to the schema used within this research are often overshadowed by a dominant father figure who conformed to an extreme version of hegemonic masculinity and who shaped their child’s actions even if the fathers were absent from the novel. The research reveals commonly held conceptions of masculinity aligned to those used in the schema and demonstrated that young adult literature, like popular media, can be used as a vehicle for the dissemination of such concepts and reveal contemporary understandings of it. Outputs from this research include the development of a modified and more contemporary schema which could be applied to future research. Significantly, this interdisciplinary research bridges the library, education and literature fields to examine the different ways maleness and masculinity are depicted to young adult readers in prize-nominated Australian young adult novels.

The article is devoted to E. Nekrasova, a contemporary writer, whose school novel Kalechina-malechina was short-listed for The Big Book Prize and The National Bestseller Award in 2019. Kalechina-malechina is analyzed as a specimen of the contemporary Russian crossover novel (which targets both adult and young audiences), highly popular in the West, but having trouble taking root in Russia – perhaps, because the genre suggests a polyphony not only in terms of the plot, but also psychology, whereas Russian literature of the 2000s – 2010s is predominantly monologic. Nekrasova, on the other hand, in her Kalechina-malechina and Sestromam, a collection of short stories, embraces the principle of the diversity of voices. Comparing Nekrasova’s work with another example of contemporary school prose, provided by B. Khanov’s Inconstants [Nepostoyannye velichiny], the author decides that the integrity of a text today is defined by its polyphonic quality, by the ability to hear a different opinion: the ability that some modern authors and even critics are badly lacking.

News and AnnouncementsAs we move into the so-called “summer reading” mode (although reading is obviously not a seasonal thing for many people), here is a “summery” (pardon the pun) of some recent Canadian book awards and shortlists.To see the plethora of Forest of Reading ® tree awards from the Ontario Library Association, go to https://www.accessola.org/WEB/OLAWEB/Forest_of_Reading/About_the_Forest.aspx. IBBY Canada (the Canadian national section of the International Board on Books for Young People) announced that the Claude Aubry Award for distinguished service in the field of children’s literature will be presented to Judith Saltman and Jacques Payette. Both winners will receive their awards in conjunction with a special event for children's literature in the coming year. http://www.ibby-canada.org/ibby-canadas-aubry-award-presented-2015/IBBY Canada also awarded the 2015 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Picture Book Award to Pierre Pratt, illustrator of Stop, Thief!. http://www.ibby-canada.org/awards/elizabeth-mrazik-cleaver-award/The annual reading programme known as First Nation Communities Read (FNCR) and the Periodical Marketers of Canada (PMC) jointly announced Peace Pipe Dreams: The Truth about Lies about Indians by Darrell Dennis (Douglas & McIntyre) as the FNCR 2015-2016 title as well as winner of PMC’s $5000 Aboriginal Literature Award. A jury of librarians from First Nations public libraries in Ontario, with coordination support from Southern Ontario Library Service, selected Peace Pipe Dreams from more than 19 titles submitted by Canadian publishers. “In arriving at its selection decision, the jury agreed that the book is an important one that dispels myths and untruths about Aboriginal people in Canada today and sets the record straight. The author tackles such complicated issues such as religion, treaties, and residential schools with knowledge, tact and humour, leaving readers with a greater understanding of our complex Canadian history.” http://www.sols.org/index.php/links/fn-communities-readCharis Cotter, author of The Swallow: A Ghost Story, has been awarded The National Chapter of Canada IODE Violet Downey Book Award for 2015. Published by Tundra Books, the novel is suggested for children ages nine to 12. http://www.iode.ca/2015-iode-violet-downey-book-award.htmlThe 2015 winners of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards were selected by two juries of young readers from Toronto’s Alexander Muir / Gladstone Avenue Junior and Senior Public School. A jury of grade 3 and 4 students selected the recipient of the Children’s Picture Book Award, and a jury of grade 7 and 8 students selected the recipient of the Young Adult / Middle Reader Award. Each student read the books individually and then worked together with their group to reach consensus and decide on a winner. This process makes it a unique literary award in Canada.The Magician of Auschwitz by Kathy Kacer and illustrated by Gillian Newland (Second Story Press) won the Children’s Picture Book Category.The winner for the Young Adult/Middle Reader Category was The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel (HarperCollins Publishers).http://www.ontarioartsfoundation.on.ca/pages/ruth-sylvia-schwartz-awardsFrom the Canadian Library Association:The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier (Penguin Canada) was awarded CLA’s 2015 Book of the Year for Children Award.Any Questions?, written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay (Groundwood Books) won the 2015 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award.This One Summer by Mariko & Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood) was awarded the 2015 Young Adult Book Award.http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Book_Awards&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=16132The 2015 Winner of the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Awards for Best Juvenile/YA Book was Sigmund Brouwer’s Dead Man's Switch (Harvest House). http://crimewriterscanada.com/Regional awards:Alberta’s Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature 2015:Little You by Richard Van Camp (Orca Book Publishers) http://www.bookcentre.ca/awards/r_ross_annett_award_childrens_literatureRocky Mountain Book Award 2015:Last Train: A Holocaust Story by Rona Arato. (Owl Kids, 2013) http://www.rmba.info/last-train-holocaust-storyAtlantic Book Awards 2015 from the Atlantic Book Awards SocietyAnn Connor Brimer Award for Children’s Literature: The End of the Line by Sharon E. McKay (Annick Press).Lillian Shepherd Award for Excellence in Illustration: Music is for Everyone illustrated by Sydney Smith and written by Jill Barber (Nimbus Publishing) http://atlanticbookawards.ca/awards/Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award 2015:English fiction: Scare Scape by Sam Fisher.English non-fiction: WeirdZone: Sports by Maria Birmingham.French fiction: Toxique by Amy Lachapelle.French non-fiction: Au labo, les Débrouillards! by Yannick Bergeron. http://hackmatack.ca/en/index.htmlFrom the 2015 BC Book Prizes for authors and/or illustrators living in British Columbia or the Yukon:The Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize was awarded to Dolphin SOS by Roy Miki and Slavia Miki with illustrations by Julie Flett (Tradewind).The Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize for “novels, including chapter books, and non-fiction books, including biography, aimed at juveniles and young adults, which have not been highly illustrated” went to Maggie de Vries for Rabbit Ears (HarperCollins). http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/winners/2015The 2015 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award (MYRCA) was awarded to Ultra by David Carroll. http://www.myrca.ca/Camp Outlook by Brenda Baker (Second Story Press) was the 2015 winner of the SaskEnergy Young Adult Literature Award. http://www.bookawards.sk.ca/awards/awards-nominees/2015-awards-and-nominees/category/saskenergy-young-adult-literature-awardFor more information on Canadian children’s book awards check out http://www.canadianauthors.net/awards/. Please note that not all regional awards are included in this list; if you are so inclined, perhaps send their webmaster a note regarding an award that you think should be included.Happy reading and exploring.Yours in stories (in all seasons and shapes and sizes)Gail de VosGail de Vos is an adjunct professor who teaches courses on Canadian children's literature, young adult literature, and commic books and graphic novels at the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) at the University of Alberta and is the author of nine books on storytelling and folklore. She is a professional storyteller and has taught the storytelling course at SLIS for over two decades.

Greetings all,It has been a long winter in the Edmonton Area so we are very happy to be welcoming spring weather and warm temperatures! This issue’s news items are a bit of a mixed bag of recaps and award announcements:Recap of TD Canadian Children’s Book Week & Lana Button TD Canadian Children’s Book Week was held May 5-12 across Canada. Events across the country featured 400 readings to 28,000 children in 175 communities. At the University of Alberta we featured Lana Button on May 9th for a presentation, showcasing her newest picture book, My Teacher’s Not Here! To read more about Lana Button check out the UAlberta Library Blog: Library News. To read more about other Book Week events see: http://bookweek.ca/CCBC AGMCanadian Children’s Book Centre is holding its Annual General Meeting 2018 on June 14, 2018. This year’s guest speaker is veteran publisher Jim Lorimer. CCBC members and the general public are welcome to attend.WHEN: Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 6:30 pmWHERE: Room 200, Northern District Library40 Orchard View Blvd.Toronto, Ontario The American Library Association Announces Youth Medal Awards for 2018 The annual ALA Medal Awards for 2018 were announced in February. Notable award winners were as follows:John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature: Hello, Universe written by Erin Entrada KellyRandolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children: Wolf in the Snow illustrated and written by Matthew CordellCoretta Scott King Book Awards recognizing African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults: Piecing Me Together written by Renée WatsonMichael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults: We Are Okay written by Nina LaCourStonewall Book Award – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award given annually to English-language children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender experience: Little & Lion written by Brandy Colbert and The 57 Bus written by Dashka SlaterFor a full description of all award winners see the announcement on the ALA website.Finally, as some food for thought I thought this article from the Family section of The New York Times (April 16, 2018) might be of interest to some our readers. Perri Klass, M.D. writes about how Reading Aloud to Young Children Has Benefits for Behavior and Attention.All the best for an enjoyable spring!Hanne PearceCommunications Editor

First, we would like to follow up on news about award shortlists reported in the last issue of the Deakin Review. The UK’s Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (www.cilip.org.uk ) announced the winners for the 2012 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards. Interestingly, both the Carnegie Medal for outstanding book for children and the Kate Greenaway Medal for distinguished illustration in a book for children were awarded for the same book - A Monster Calls published by Walker Books. Patrick Ness received the Carnegie award as author and Jim Kay the Kate Greenaway award as illustrator. In fact, Patrick Ness also won the award in 2011 for Monsters of Men. It sounds like a book not to be missed! www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/carnegie/ and www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/greenaway/ For its part, the Canadian Library Association (CLA) announced the winners of its three children’s literature awards at the CLA conference in Ottawa at the end of May. The Whole Truth by Kit Pearson (HarperCollins Canada) won the Book of the Year for Children Award, My Name is Elizabeth illustrated by Matthew Forsythe (Kids Can Press) was awarded the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award, and All Good Children by Catherine Austen (Orca) was chosen for the Young Adult Book Award. http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Book_Awards&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=12660 As for upcoming awards, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (www.bookcentre.ca/award ) recently released the finalists for each of its seven children’s book award with winners to be announced at the TD Canadian Children`s Literature Awards and Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse events in Toronto and Montreal later this Fall. Notably, this year marks the inaugural year for the new Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy. Reviews of a few of the finalists have appeared in the Deakin Review. Pussycat, Pussycat, Where have you been? is up for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award (see Deakin review here: ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/deakinreview/article/view/17078) while This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein is in contention for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People (see Deakin review here: ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/deakinreview/article/view/17096) On a local note since we are based out of the University of Alberta, Edmonton writer Nicole Luiken is a finalist for the inaugural Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy for her book Dreamline. Also, we note that Gail de Vos, a professor at our very own School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta is the chair of the jury for this award. Finally, we would like to note a few changes here at The Deakin Review of Children’s Literature. Sarah Mead-Willis who was the communication editor for the first four issues (and rare book cataloguer at the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library at the University of Alberta has, as she remarks, “moved to the other end of occupational spectrum” and is enrolled in a professional cooking program at the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver. We wish her well and thank her for her contributions.Also, Maria Tan has joined the team filling in for Kim Frail who is off on maternity leave and Nicole Dalmer has stepped in as intern editor.Have a wonderful summer filled with great reads.David Sulz, Communications Editor

With the beginning of summer came many exciting announcements in the world of children’s and young adult book awards. In the United Kingdom, the prestigious Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals were awarded. Canada saw the announcement of the BC Book Prizes and Jewish Book Awards, while in the United States, the Locus Award for young adult science fiction was conferred. Also announced were the much-anticipated Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards. Below is a complete list of the prize winners for each competition. Canada BC Book Prizes: Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize: Maggie de Vries, Hunger Journeys (HarperCollins Canada) Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize: Julie Flett. Owls See Clearly at Night: A Michif Alphabet / Lii Yiiboo Nayaapiwak lii Swer: L’alfabet di Michif. (Simply Read Books) Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Awards (youth category) Judie Oron, Cry of the Giraffe (Annick Press) United Kingdom CILIP Carnegie Medal Patrick Ness, Monsters of Men (Walker Books) CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal (for book illustration) Grahame Baker-Smith, FArTHER (Templar) United States: Locus Awards (youth category) Paolo Bacigalupi, Ship Breaker (Little, Brown) Boston Globe – Horn Book Awards Fiction: Tim Wynne-Jones, Blink & Caution (Candlewick) Nonfiction: Steve Sheinkin, The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery (Flash Point/Roaring Brook) Picture book: Salley Mavor Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes (Houghton)

Lionni, Leo. Little Blue and Little Yellow. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. Print. Award-winning author, artist, and graphic illustrator, Leo Lionni, had a distinguished, decades-spanning career and wrote over 40 children’s books in an easily recognizable style. Little Blue and Little Yellow was his first children’s book, and it won the New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year award in 1959. Lionni was also a four-time Caldecott Honor Book winner, an award that celebrates excellence in children’s picture books. This review pertains to the 2011 board book edition, just right for the littlest hands. The story is simple perfection. Little Blue and Little Yellow, are best friends who live across the street from one another. They enjoy all sorts of games both together and with their other equally-colourful friends. One day, Little Blue wants to play with Little Yellow but cannot find him. Overjoyed as they finally meet up, they hug until they become green! However, when they go home, their parents do not recognize them, and they are very sad. Where did Little Blue and Little Yellow go? Are they lost? This delightful story has many layers. It can simply be read as a way to introduce the concept of colour to young children, but it has deeper, yet understated, themes of friendship and diversity. It is a delight to read and look at, and while this sturdy edition is certainly aimed at the preschool crowd, older children will enjoy it too. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Debbie FeisstDebbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta. When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)<br>This study is an examination of one of Australia’s most prestigious and influential literary prizes: the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award. It aims to clarify the reasons the award was part of the brief when the Children’s Book Council was created in 1945, and to determine the extent to which the award’s subsequent development has continued to meet its stated objectives. The study focuses on a single category: that of Older Readers. To be eligible for judging in this category, entries must be: 'outstanding books of fiction, drama or poetry which require of the reader a degree of maturity to appreciate the topics, themes and scope of emotional involvement. Generally, books in this category will be appropriate in style and content for readers in their secondary years of schooling'.(CBCA 2009, p.4) For the first ten years of the award’s history, there was just one category, Book of the Year, and definition by the age of a book’s implied readers only began in 1982, when Junior Book of the Year was introduced. In 1987, the two non-picture book categories were renamed Book of the Year: Older Readers and Book of the Year: Younger Readers. Leaving aside the erratic development of the Picture Book of the Year category, which will be outlined in chapter 2, effectively for most of its history, the Older Readers category is the Book of the Year. The two remain practically synonymous today in media coverage of the awards and for those reasons alone, the restricting of this study to the Older Readers category would be valid. This is the Children’s Book Council’s flagship award. But because since the 1960s this category has been a highly contested site for defining ‘childhood’ and ‘literature’, an examination of its development yields significant findings about the function of the Children’s Book Council (‘the CBC’) overall. This study interrogates the CBC’s claim that the role of the Book of the Year is simply to uphold standards of literary excellence. The clear implication is that its judges have no agenda other than adherence to these standards and that they are universally agreed. By considering the evolution of the awards in both historical and cultural contexts, the study aims to define the agenda of the Book of the Year in greater detail. It then tests that agenda in individual case studies of six winning novels in the Older Readers category. Each of the texts for case study is by a writer who has been acknowledged in the awards more than once – in some cases many times. So the study aims to determine the ways in which the text in question and its writer’s work as a whole are aligned with the criteria the awards are based on. The case studies cover a 20-year period of rapid growth in the Australian publishing industry and in the influence of the CBC. They focus on the following winners: Bread and Honey by Ivan Southall (1971) The Ice is Coming by Patricia Wrightson (1978) So Much to Tell You by John Marsden (1988) Beyond the Labyrinth by Gillian Rubinstein (1989) Strange Objects by Gary Crew (1991) Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1993) The awards given to these novels represent significant moments in the ongoing conversation between the CBC and its constituents and within the organisation itself about the process of choosing books for young readers. Should a winning book focus on Australian subject matter? Should it demonstrate inclusiveness of gender, sexuality, race, other physical differences and social class? Are city dwellers still interested in the bush and the outback? Will boys read novels about girls? Are young readers today interested in history? Do young Australians prefer realist narratives? Do they – or their adult carers – demand narrative closure? Should the language of a Book of the Year be high-end literary, or accessible to readers with a wider range of abilities? How frank can it be in its treatment of sex, drugs and violence? What effect does using books in the classroom have on young people’s enthusiasm for reading? This study pursues such questions in order to clarify the CBC’s role in directing the conversation and its objectives in doing so. There is, of course, a parallel conversation about the kinds of book young readers themselves choose, but the CBC has never regarded this as its main concern. It is only due to public pressure in recent years that the Book of the Year awards handbook advises judges to ‘ensure that their evaluation takes into account the responses of children who have read the books’ (CBCA 2009, p.9) and somewhat perfunctorily at that, so that the CBC cannot be accused of indifference to the issue of popularity. The organisation has generally left this conversation to the state-based children’s choice awards and to the growing number of websites that invite young readers to blog or post reviews. An endorsement from the Children’s Book Council can have a direct influence on the income of all those involved in the production and distribution of a book, as well as a less tangible, but potentially more important, influence on the reading experience of thousands of children. And because the influence is frequently negative, there have been objections to it throughout the organ-isation’s history. There has been little sustained and reasoned analysis of that influence, however, perhaps due to a fear of diminishing its positive aspects while exposing the negative. Close scrutiny may also have been delayed by the fact that the CBC’s members are an enthusiastic band of volunteers who have had to fight against the subordination of children’s literature – unless the delay itself is further proof of that subordination. And although aspects of this study will not please the CBC, it is not intended as an attack. Indeed it should be read as an acknowledgment that the CBC has been extraordinarily successful in achieving the aims set out in its constitution. On the other hand, the study argues that one of its undisclosed concerns has been the shoring up of a narrowly defined and reactionary set of literary and cultural values and its own power to ensure that they are maintained. The aim of this study is not to invalidate the considerable pleasure many have derived from the work of the CBC. Nor is it intended to fuel the resentment of the many producers and distributors who feel they have been burned over the years by the CBC judges’ decisions. Ironically by constructing itself as the last bastion of universally accepted values in the assessment of literature, the CBC may be undermining its ability to promote the enjoyment of books by children and threatening its own continued growth. So if the present writer may be allowed a personal wish, it is that the study may be read not just as a critical history of a remarkable cultural phenomenon, but also read by those who care about children and books and the Children’s Book Council as a wake-up call.