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NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults finalists announced

Thursday, 2 June 2022   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

The finalists for the 2022 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults have been announced.

The shortlists in each category, chosen from a record 199 entries, are:

Picture book

  • Bumblebee Grumblebee (David Elliot, Gecko Press)
  • Lion Guards the Cake (­­Ruth Paul, Scholastic)
  • My Cat Can See Ghosts (Emily Jo, Beatnik)
  • The Eight Gifts of Te Wheke (Steph Matuku, illus by Laya Mutton-Rogers, Huia Publishers)
  • The Greatest Haka Festival on Earth (Pania Tahau-Hodges, illus by Story Hemi-Morehouse, Huia Publishers)

Junior fiction

  • Amorangi and Millie’s Trip Through Time (Lauren Keenan, Huia Publishers)
  • Spark Hunter (Sonya Wilson, The Cuba Press)
  • The Memory Thief (Leonie Agnew, Puffin)
  • The Tomo (Mary-anne Scott, OneTree House)
  • The Uprising—The Mapmakers in Cruxcia (Eirlys Hunter, illus by Kirsten Slade, Gecko Press)

Young adult

  • Coastwatcher (David Hill, Puffin)
  • Displaced (Cristina Sanders, Walker)
  • Katipo Joe: Wolf’s lair (Brian Falkner, Scholastic)
  • Learning to Love Blue (Saradha Koirala, Record Press)
  • Violet Black (Eileen Merriman, Penguin)

Nonfiction award

  • Atua: Māori gods and heroes (Gavin Bishop, Picture Puffin)
  • Draw Some Awesome (Donovan Bixley, Upstart Press)
  • Why is That Spider Dancing? (Simon Pollard and Phil Sirvid, Te Papa Press)
  • How Do I Feel? A dictionary of emotions for children (Rebekah Lipp, illus by Craig Phillips, Wildling Books)
  • Kia Kaha: A storybook of Māori who changed the world (Stacey Morrison & Jeremy Sherlock, Puffin)

Illustration

  • Atua: Māori gods and heroes (Gavin Bishop, Picture Puffin)
  • Mokopuna Matatini (Story Hemi-Morehouse, written by Pania Tahau-Hodges, Huia Publishers)
  • Moose the Pilot (Kimberly Andrews, Penguin Random House NZ)
  • My Cat Can See Ghosts (Emily Joe, Beatnik)
  • The Eight Gifts of Te Wheke (Laya Mutton-Rogers, written by Steph Matuku, Huia Publishers)

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

  • He Wheke Wai Mamangu Au (Stephanie Thatcher, trans by Pānia Papa, Scholastic)
  • I Waho, i te Moana (Yvonne Morrison, illus by Jenny Cooper, trans by Pānia Papa, Scholastic)
  • Ki te Moe Aotearoa (Donovan Bixley, trans by Darryn Joseph, Upstart Press)
  • Mokopuna Matatini (Pania Tahau-Hodges, illus by Story Hemi-Morehouse, Huia Publishers)
  • Te Hipo Huna (Juliette MacIver, illus by Sarah Davis, trans by Karena Kelly, Gecko Press)

Best first book

  • Hine and the Tohunga Portal (Ataria Sharman, Huia Publishers)
  • I am Autistic (Chanelle Moriah, A&U)
  • Mokopuna Matatini (Pania Tahau-Hodges, illus by Story Hemi-Morehouse, Huia Publishers)
  • My Cat Can See Ghosts (Emily Joe, Beatnik)
  • Spark Hunter (Sonya Wilson, The Cuba Press).

The growing strength of books with te ao Māori worldview and the growing number and quality of titles in te reo Māori stood out to this year’s judges. ‘Māori language and world views are taonga unique to Aotearoa,’ said convenor of judges Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith. ‘Having these valued in children’s literature is an encouraging sign of the growth of our nation.’

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: Awards Junior Local news