Forest of Reading Honours

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Catherine Austen

If you’re a children’s book writer, a teacher, a librarian, or a student in Ontario, you probably know about the Forest of Reading, Ontario’s children’s choice book award program. (It’s like the Hackmatacks on the East coast, the Red Cedars on the west, and the Willows and MYRCA in between, but larger in scope and population.)

Run by the Ontario Library Association, and delivered by dedicated librarians, teachers, and volunteers across the province, the Forest of Reading introduces new titles, from picture books to teen fiction, to thousands of young readers each year. And I mean thousands — more than 250,000 readers of all ages participate through their school or library every year.

Having your book nominated for one of the Forest’s 8 awards is a huge honour and a great opportunity to reach new readers. This year I was fortunate to have my teen novel, All Good Children, selected as one of the ten books nominated for a White Pine Award (the teen fiction “tree”). Last week, All Good Children was named a White Pine 2013 Honour Book. (That’s like a runner up at a beauty contest.) That means a lot of young readers got to know and love my book through this program — and I got to meet quite a few of them last week at the Toronto Festival of Trees. What an honour that was.

Here is a list of this year’s Forest of Reading winners, chosen by young readers themselves.

The 2013 Blue Spruce Award Winner:

Kate and Pippin by Martin Springett and Isobel Springett

Blue Spruce Honour Books: Splinters by Kevin Sylvester; Don’t Laugh at the Giraffe by Rebecca Bender

The 2013 Silver Birch Fiction Award Winner: Making Bombs for Hitler by Marsha Skrypuch

Silver Birch Fiction Honour Books: Missing by Becky Citra; A Tinfoil Sky by Cindy Sand-Eveland

Silver Birch Express Award Winner: Margaret and the Moth Tree by Brit & Kari Trogen. Honour Books: Dalen & Gole by Mike Deas; Harry Houdini by Janice Weaver

The 2013 Silver Birch Non-Fiction Award Winner:

No Shelter Here by Rob Laidlaw

Silver Birch Non-Fiction Honour Books: Case Files by Larry Verstraete; 50 Underwear Questions by Tanya Lloyd Kyi and Ross Kinnaird

The 2013 Red Maple Fiction Award Winner:

The Vindico by Wesley King

Red Maple Fiction Honour Books: This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel; The Vampire Stalker by Allison Van Diepen

The 2013 Red Maple™ Non-Fiction Award Winner

Real Justice: Fourteen and Sentenced to Death by Bill Swan

Red Maple Non-Fiction Honour Books: Last Airlift by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch; Running To Extremes by Steve Pitt with Ray Zahab

The 2013 White Pine Award Winner:

Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

2013 White Pine Honour Books: Witchlanders by Lena Coakley; All Good Children by Catherine Austen

Le Prix Tamarac 2013 Lauréat:

Le mystère des jumelles Barnes by Carole Tremblay

Honour Books for Le Prix Tamarac: Hackerboy by Julie Champagne; Biodôme by Frédéric Antoine and Yohann Morin

Le Prix Tamarac Express Laureat: Billy Stuart by Alain M. Bergeron & Sampar. Honour Books: Du soccer extreme by François Gravel & Philippe Germain; Ziiip Sur Terre! by Johanne Mercier & Yvan Deschamps

Le Prix Peuplier 2013 Lauréat:

Le zoo de Yayaho by Geneviève Lemieux & Bruno St-Aubin

Honour Books for Le Prix Peuplier: Salto by Pierre Labrie & Tristan Demers; Prince Olivier et le dragon by Caroline Merola

It was wonderful to be included among all these great titles and so many others. Check out all the selected titles from last year — and next year — on the Forest of Reading website.