Thursday
6 June 2024
Books that will delight and inform –
from big names such as Joy Cowley, Gavin Bishop, Stacy
Gregg, Tessa Duder and Donovan Bixley as well as talented
newcomers – have been announced today as finalists in the
2024 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young
Adults.
The shortlist highlights the best books for
young readers, with picture books that entertain, junior
fiction novels that offer escapism, young adult fiction that
doesn’t shy away from the complexity of the teenage
experience, non fiction that expands minds, and beautifully
illustrated titles that showcase Aotearoa’s creative
talent.
This year’s two expert judging panels – a
bilingual English and Māori panel and a separate Te Kura
Pounamu panel to judge titles in te reo Māori – were
impressed by the calibre of entries. The 175 submissions
were reduced to a shortlist of 28 titles only after many
hours of debate.
“There were many titles filled with
humour to spark joy and provoke giggles, alongside
explorations of big topics of identity, climate change,
grief, mental health and history that are relevant to
curious younger readers,” says 2024 convenor of judges
Maia Bennett (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti
Pikiao, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), who is a public and secondary
school librarian in Wānaka.
“The interest and focus
on our past perhaps reflects the impact of the Aotearoa New
Zealand history curriculum on our publishing community. And
we were impressed by how many books were woven through with
te reo and aspects of te ao Māori,” Maia says.
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The
judges are mindful of the role the shortlist serves as a
curated annual guide to the best in local publishing for
children and teenagers. Maia says the diverse 2024 shortlist
offers something for every type of reader.
To this
end, tamariki and rangatahi were involved in the judging
process this year in a larger way than ever before. Kura
Kaupapa Māori, primary, intermediate and secondary schools
across the motu all put their hands up to receive entries in
relevant categories, along with judging guidelines and
review templates to encourage considered feedback for the
judging panel. In total 75 schools participated and over 500
reviews were supplied for consideration.
The judges
found the student feedback invaluable, and Maia believes
this is an important aspect of shaping a shortlist that
resonates with young readers.
The winners of each of
the six main categories – Picture Book, Junior Fiction,
Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction, Illustration and te reo
Māori – take home $8500 and are then in the running to be
named the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, with a further
$8500 prize money. In addition, the judges will award a Best
First Book prize of $2500 to a previously unpublished author
or illustrator.
The ceremony to announce the
winners will take place at Pipitea Marae in
Wellington on the evening of Wednesday 14
August.
The 2024 New Zealand Book
Awards for Children and Young Adults finalists
are:
Picture Book Award
Finalists
The judges were impressed by the
boldness and brilliance of this year’s Picture Book Award
finalists. Each created a unique world to experience, and
demonstrated mastery in writing, illustration, and the
harmony between the two.
• At the Bach, Joy
Cowley, illustrated by Hilary Jean Tapper (Gecko
Press)
• Dazzlehands, Sacha Cotter,
illustrated by Josh Morgan (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki,
Rongowhakaata, Te Whānau a-Kai) (Huia Publishers)
•
Hatch and Match, Ruth Paul (Walker Books
Australia)
• Lucy and the Dark, Melinda
Szymanik, illustrated by Vasanti Unka (Penguin Random House
NZ) • Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai, Michaela
Keeble, illustrated by Tokerau Brown (Gecko
Press)
Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen
Junior Fiction Award Finalists
Themes of
identity, belonging, community and connection run throughout
all the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Junior Fiction
Award finalists. Engaging stories hook the reader from the
start and the judges believe these books have some of the
best ever first lines.
• DoubleDippers!,
Raymond McGrath (Scholastic New Zealand)
•
Lopini the Legend, Feana Tu‘akoi (Scholastic New
Zealand)
• Nine Girls, Stacy Gregg (Ngāti
Mahuta, Ngāti Pūkeko, Ngāti Maru Hauraki) (Penguin Random
House NZ) • Take Me to Your Leader, Leonie Agnew
(Penguin Random House NZ)
• The Grimmelings,
Rachael King (Allen & Unwin)
Young
Adult Fiction Award Finalists
The finalists
in the Young Adult Fiction Award all find truth in the
imagined lives of young people facing challenges and making
choices. The diverse settings range from Aotearoa’s
colonial past to potential dystopian futures. Realistic
characters and excellent story craft combine in these
compelling reads.
• Catch a Falling Star,
Eileen Merriman (Penguin Random House NZ)
•
New Dawning, A M Dixon (One Tree House)
•
The Sparrow, Tessa Duder (Penguin Random House
NZ)
• Tonight, I Burn, Katharine J Adams
(Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand)
• Tsunami,
Ned Wenlock (Earth’s End Publishing)
Elsie
Locke Award for Non-Fiction Finalists
The
finalists in this year’s Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction
encourage children to look closely at both our own history
and the natural world around them. Superbly written,
illustrated and designed, the judges said all shortlisted
books in this category have the wow factor.
•
Patu: The New Zealand Wars, Gavin Bishop (Tainui,
Ngāti Awa) (Penguin Random House NZ) • The
Observologist: A Handbook for Mounting Very Small Scientific
Expeditions, Giselle Clarkson (Gecko Press) •
Tuatara: A Living Treasure, Katie Furze, illustrated
by Ned Barraud (Scholastic New Zealand) • Ultrawild: An
Audacious Plan to Rewild Every City on Earth, Steve
Mushin (Allen & Unwin) • Wot Knot You Got?
Mophead’s Guide to Life, Selina Tusitala Marsh (Auckland
University Press)
Russell Clark Award for
Illustration Finalists
From our fraught and
bloody history to our wild and colourful internal worlds,
all the illustrators on this year’s Russell Clark Award for
Illustration shortlist show great sympathy with, and
understanding of, their subjects.
• Dazzlehands,
illustrated by Josh Morgan (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki,
Rongowhakaata, Te Whānau-a-Kai) (Huia Publishers)
•
Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai, illustrated by
Tokerau Brown (Gecko Press)
• Patu: The New
Zealand Wars, illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Tainui,
Ngāti Awa) (Penguin Random House NZ) • Samples from
the Lab, illustrated by Rob Foote (Creativity
Unleashed)
• The Dream Factory, illustrated
by Zak Ātea (Te Āti Awa Taranaki) (Huia
Publishers)
Wright Family Foundation Te Kura
Pounamu Award Finalists
The finalists for
this year’s Te Kura Pounamu Award have retold stories of
te ao Māori with care, and in a way that is meaningful to
young readers. The books all showed different forms of
auahatanga creativity, and hiranga inspiration. They also
demonstrated exceptional knowledge and understanding of te
reo Māori.
• He Tārū Kahika, Melinda
Szymanik, illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti
Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu), translated by Pānia Papa (Ngāti
Korokī Kahukura, Ngāti Mahuta) (Scholastic New Zealand)
• Nani Jo me ngā Mokopuna Porohīanga, Moira
Wairama, illustrated by Margaret Tolland (Baggage Books) •
Te Pīkari Pipi, Angie Belcher, illustrated by Lily
Uivel, translated by Pānia Papa (Ngāti Korokī Kahukura,
Ngāti Mahuta) (Scholastic New Zealand)
• Te
Pukapuka ka kore e Pānuihia, Tim Tipene (Ngāti Kurī,
Te Uri-o-Hau, Ngāti Whātua), illustrated by Nicoletta
Benella, translated by Kanapu Rangitauira (Te Arawa, Ngati
Porou, Te Whakatohea) (Oratia Books)
• Te Rā
Kura Ki Aotearoa, Donovan Bixley, translated by Darryn
Joseph (Ngāti Maniapoto, Rereahu) (Upstart
Press)
NZSA Best First Book Award
Finalists
The books shortlisted for the NZSA
Best First Book Award range across categories and showcase
the work of very talented first-time authors and
illustrators. The judges said the calibre of the finalists
bodes well for the future of New Zealand’s literary
landscape.
• A M Dixon, New Dawning (One Tree
House)
• Tokerau Brown (illustrator), Paku Manu
Ariki Whakatakapōkai (Gecko Press)
• Tangaroa
Paul (Muriwhenua) (author), Rere Atu Taku Poi! Let My Poi
Fly! (Oratia Books) • Ned Wenlock, Tsunami
(Earth’s End Publishing)
• Steve Mushin,
Ultrawild: An Audacious Plan to Rewild Every City on
Earth (Allen & Unwin)
As well as acknowledging
the best and brightest in books for children and teens, a
core aspect of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and
Young Adults’ mission is to foster literacy and a love of
reading among New Zealand’s tamariki and
rangatahi.
This includes a programme of Books Alive
large-scale events, which see finalist authors and
illustrators bring the magic of books to life at sessions
for school children. This year, thanks to the generous
support of the Mātātuhi Foundation, a day of joyous Books
Alive fun will be held for Invercargill school children on
Wednesday 7 August,
alongside the regular events held
in Christchurch (on Friday 9 August) and Wellington (on
Wednesday 14 August) in the immediate lead up to the Awards
ceremony.
The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and
Young Adults also administers the ever-popular HELL Reading
Challenge, which has been running for over a decade. Last
year almost 850 schools and libraries around the motu took
part in the programme and 325,000 pizza wheels were
distributed, leading to an estimated 2,275,000 books
read.
The formidable task of narrowing the field to a
shortlist of finalists was met by this year’s experienced
English and bilingual judging panel: Convenor of judges Maia
Bennett (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Pikiao,
Ngāti Tūwharetoa), a public and secondary school librarian
in Wānaka; Belinda Whyte, the Resource Teacher of
Literacy
for the Horowhenua region; Helen Wadsworth,
co-owner of The Dorothy Butler Children’s Bookshop in
Tāmaki Makaurau; Kitty Brown (Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti
Mamoe, Ngāti Kahungunu), an award-winning author and an
avid reader of children’s literature from Ōtepoti; and Mat
Tait (Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti
Kuia), a freelance artist, illustrator, writer and te reo
Māori tutor based in the Motueka area.
They were
joined by a separate panel specially appointed to judge te
reo Māori entries: Convenor Lawren Matrix (Tūhoe), the
Whānau Learning Specialist for Auckland Council Libraries;
Mihi Te Rina Henare (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Porou, Te
Whānau-ā-Apanui), an Assistant Support Archivist at
Archives New Zealand; Quintin Te Maari (Ngāti Porou,
Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa), who is currently
undertaking teacher training; and Mat Tait, who also brings
his knowledge and experience to the Te Kura Pounamu
panel.
The New Zealand Book Awards for Children &
Young Adults and their associated programmes are made
possible through the generosity, commitment and vision of
funders and partners: Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, the
Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa,
Wellington City Council, New Zealand Society of Authors Te
Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa, the National Library of New Zealand
Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, the Mātātuhi Foundation,
and Nielsen BookData. The Awards are administered by the New
Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau
Hiringa.
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