Press Release: Ninth Annual Children’s Choice Book Awards Finalists Announced

KIDS & TEENS TO DETERMINE THE WINNERS BY VOTING AT CCBOOKAWARDS.COM FROM MARCH 8- APRIL 25, 2016 | New York, NY — February 16, 2016

Every Child a Reader (ECAR) and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) have announced the finalists in the ninth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards (CCBA), the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by kids and teens. Young readers across the country will determine the winners in all 7 categories of the Children’s Choice Book Awards by voting online atccbookawards.com from Tuesday, March 8 through Monday, April 25, 2016. 

In 2015, over 1.3 million votes were cast online by young readers. Winners will be announced during the 97th annual Children’s Book Week (May 2-8, 2016). 

The finalists for the K-2, 3-4, and 5-6 Book of the Year categories were selected by kids through the Children’s Choices Program, a joint project of the International Literacy Association (ILA) and the CBC, in which children from different regions of the United States read newly-published children’s and young adult trade books and voted for the ones they liked best. This year, 117,975 votes were cast. 2,000+ votes were cast on Teenreads.com to determine the Teen Book of the Year finalists.

The five finalists in this year’s Children’s Choice Debut Author, Teen Choice Debut Author and Children’s Choice Illustrator categories were determined by two selection committees comprised of librarians, educators, booksellers, and children’s literature experts appointed by Every Child a Reader:

Children’s & Teen Choice Debut Author Committee:

• Jonathan Hunt, Coordinator of Library Media Services, San Diego County Office of Education
• Amanda Hurley, Manager, Inkwood Books, Tampa, FL
• Max Rodriguez, Founder, Harlem Book Fair & Westchester Children’s Book Festival; Publisher, QBR The Black Book Review
• John Schumacher, Ambassador of School Libraries, Scholastic Book Fairs; Founder, Watch, Connect, Read
• Seira Wilson, Senior Books Editor, Amazon.com

Children’s Choice Illustrator Committee:

• Betsy Bird, Collection Development Manager, Evanston Public Library; A Fuse #8 Production (SLJ)
• Julie Danielson, MLS, Founder, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Colby Sharp, Teacher, Parma Elementary, MI; Co-Founder, Nerd Camp
• Tegan Tigani, PNBA President; Bookseller and Children’s Book Buyer for Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, WA; Editor for nwbooklovers.org
• Kimberly L. Jones, Store Manager, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, GA

The 2016 Children’s Choice Book Awards finalists are:

KINDERGARTEN TO SECOND GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR

• Clark the Shark: Afraid of the Dark by Bruce Hale, illustrated by Guy Francis (HarperCollins Children’s)
• The Little Shop of Monsters by R.L. Stine, illustrated by Marc Brown (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Hachette Book Group)
• Sick Simon by Dan Krall (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
• Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (HMH Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• To the Sea by Cale Atkinson (Disney-Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group)

THIRD TO FOURTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR

• Escape from the Lizzarks (Nnewts: Book 1) by Doug TenNapel (GRAPHIX, an imprint of Scholastic)
• Fort by Cynthia DeFelice (Farrar Straus Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
• Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras by Duncan Tonatiuh (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
• I’m Trying To Love Spiders by Bethany Barton (Viking Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Monkey and Elephant and a Secret Birthday Surprise by Carole Lexa Schaefer, illustrated by Galia Bernstein (Candlewick Press)

FIFTH TO SIXTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR

• Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman (Scholastic Press)
• Hilo Book 1: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winick (Random House Books for Young Readers)
• Saved By the Bell by Joelle Sellner, illustrated by Chynna Clugston-Flores and Tim Fish (Roar Comics)
• The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett and Jory John, illustrated by Kevin Cornell (Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams Books)
• Tom Gates: Everything’s Amazing (Sort Of) by Liz Pichon (Candlewick Press)

TEEN BOOK OF THE YEAR

• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
• All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books)
• P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (Harper Teen, an imprint of HarperCollins)
• Winter (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer (Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)

CHILDREN’S CHOICE DEBUT AUTHOR

• Elana K. Arnold for The Question of Miracles (HMH Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Ali Benjamin for The Thing About Jellyfish (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Hachette Book Group)
• Alex Gino for George (Scholastic Press)
• Victoria Jamieson for Roller Girl (Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Kelly Jones for Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer (Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books)

TEEN CHOICE DEBUT AUTHOR

• Becky Albertalli for Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s)
• Kelly Loy Gilbert for Conviction (Disney-Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group)
• Adam Silvera for More Happy Than Not (Soho Teen)
• Sabaa Tahir for An Ember in the Ashes (Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Tommy Wallach for We All Looked Up (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

CHILDREN’S CHOICE ILLUSTRATOR

• Kate Beaton for The Princess and the Pony (Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic)
• Mike Curato for Little Elliot, Big Family (Henry Holt & Co., an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
• Greg Pizzoli for Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower (Viking Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Antoinette Portis for The Red Hat by David Teague (Disney-Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group)
• Taeeun Yoo for Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev (Paula Wiseman Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster)

About the Children’s Choice Book Awards (CCBA)

Launched in 2008 by the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader, the CCBA program was created to provide young readers with an opportunity to voice their opinions about the books being written for them and to help develop a reading list that will motivate children to read more and cultivate a love of reading. More at ccbookawards.com/about.php.

About Children’s Book Week (CBW)

Established in 1919, CBW is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Each year, official events – which give kids the opportunity to connect with their favorite authors and illustrators in person – are held from coast to coast. In 2016, official events will be held in all 50 states. Learn more at bookweekonline.com.

About Every Child a Reader (ECAR)

Every Child a Reader is a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. Every Child a Reader creates and supports programs that strive to make the reading and enjoyment of children’s books an essential part of America’s educational and social aims and enhance public perception of the importance of reading. ECAR’s programs include Children’s Book Week, a nationwide celebration of books and reading, and the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country; the Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by kids and teens of all ages; and the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature program, the country’s “Children’s Literature Laureate.” Please visit www.ecarfoundation.org.

About the Children’s Book Council (CBC)

The Children’s Book Council is the nonprofit trade association for children’s book publishers in North America. The CBC offers children’s publishers the opportunity to work together on issues of importance to the industry at large, including educational programming, literacy advocacy, and collaborations with other national organizations. Our members span the spectrum from large international houses to smaller independent presses. The CBC is proud to partner with other national organizations on co-sponsored reading lists, educational programming, and literacy initiatives. Please visitwww.cbcbooks.org for more information.