NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2021 finalists announced

The finalists for the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults have been announced.

The shortlists in each category, chosen from 166 entries, are:

Picture Book Award

• Hare & Ruru: A quiet moment (Laura Shallcrass, Beatnik Publishing)
• Hound the Detective (Kimberly Andrews, PRH NZ)
• Kōwhai and the Giants (Kate Parker, Mary Egan Publishing)
• The Hug Blanket (Chris Gurney, illus by Lael Chisholm, Scholastic New Zealand)
• This Is Where I Stand (Philippa Werry, illus by Kieran Rynhart, Scholastic New Zealand)

Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award

• Across the Risen Sea (Bren MacDibble, A&U)
• Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea (T K Roxborogh, illus by Phoebe Morris, Huia Publishers)
• Red Edge (Des Hunt, Scholastic New Zealand)
• The Inkberg Enigma (Jonathan King, Gecko Press)
• The Tunnel of Dreams (Bernard Beckett, Text)

Young Adult Fiction Award

• Draw Me a Hero (N K Ashworth, Lasavia Publishing)
• Fire’s Caress (Lani Wendt Young, OneTree House)
• Katipo Joe: Spycraft (Brian Falkner, Scholastic New Zealand)
• The King’s Nightingale (Sherryl Jordan, Scholastic New Zealand)
• The Pōrangi Boy (Shilo Kino, Huia Publishers)

Elsie Locke Award for Nonfiction 

• Egg and Spoon: An illustrated cookbook (Alexandra Tylee, illus by Giselle Clarkson, Gecko Press)
• Mophead Tu: The Queen’s Poem (Selina Tusitala Marsh, Auckland University Press)
• New Zealand Disasters (Maria Gill, illus by Marco Ivančić, Scholastic New Zealand)
• North and South (Sandra Morris, Walker Books Australia)
• You’re Joking: Become an expert joke-teller (Tom E Moffatt, illus by Paul Beavis, Write Laugh Books)

Russell Clark Award for Illustration 

• Hare & Ruru: A quiet moment (Laura Shallcrass, Beatnik Publishing)
• I Am the Universe (Vasanti Unka, PRH NZ)
• Kōwhai and the Giants (Kate Parker, Mary Egan Publishing)
• Moon & Sun (illus by Malene Laugesen, written by Melinda Szymanik, Upstart Press)
• Te Uruuru Whenua o Ngātoroirangi (illus by Laya Mutton-Rogers, written by Chris Winitana, Huia Publishers)

Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for books written completely in te reo Māori

• Aroha Te Whai Ora (Rebekah Lipp, illus by Craig Phillips and trans by Karena Kelly, Wildling Books)
• Mihi (Gavin Bishop, Gecko Press)
• Pīpī Kiwi (Helen Taylor, trans by Hēni Jacob, PRH NZ)
• Ngake me Whātaitai (Ben Ngaia, illus by Laya Mutton-Rogers, Huia Publishers)
• Te Uruuru Whenua o Ngātoroirangi (Chris Winitana, illus by Laya Mutton-Rogers, Huia Publishers)

Best First Book Award

• Laura Shallcrass for Hare & Ruru: A quiet moment (Beatnik Publishing)
• Kate Parker for Kōwhai and the Giants (Mary Egan Publishing)
• Jonathan King for The Inkberg Enigma (Gecko Press)
• Amy Haarhoff (illustrator) for The Midnight Adventures of Ruru and Kiwi (written by Clare Scott, PRH NZ)
• Shilo Kino for The Pōrangi Boy (Huia Publishers).

The winners of each of the six main categories—Picture Book, Junior Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction, Illustration and te reo Māori—receive NZ$7500 (A$6960) and are then in the running for the overall Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award, with a further $7500 (A$6960) prize money. In addition, the judges will award a Best First Book prize of $2000 (A$1855) to a previously unpublished author or illustrator.

The winners are scheduled to be announced at an in-person ceremony at the National Library in Wellington on 11 August.

Category: Awards Local news