2012 CBCA Book of the Year Award Winners!

Today, the Children's Book Council of Australia announced their Book of the Year award winners for 2012.

I am super excited to say that the winner in the Older Readers category was Scot Gardner for
The Dead I Know!


I gave The Dead I Know 4/5 and said,
"I loved The Dead I Know. It was suspenseful, heart-breaking, touching and hopeful."
You can check out my full review here.

The honour books were A Straight Line to my Heart by Bill Condon (read my review here) and When We Were Two by Robert Newton.



To view the winners in the other categories, click here.

A Night With Our Stars 2012

Last week I went to the 9th Annual A Night With Our Stars held at Westbooks in Victoria Park. The event, organised by the WA branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia, showcases the work of West Australian authors and illustrators (Kids and YA books) that were published throughout the past year (2011). With over 20 authors/illustrators, each had 3-5mins to talk about their books and then the audience were able to mingle with Our Stars and get books signed.


Brigid Lowry and Deb Fitzpatrick


Zoe Thurner (author of Dress Rehearsal) and JB Thomas

It was great to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. I met the lovely JB Thomas, author of Mammon, and got to tell Deb Fitzpatrick just how much I loved her book 90 Packets of Instant Noodles (which I discovered at last years event).

Myself and Deb Fitzpatrick

A highlight for me was meeting Brigid Lowry whose 1997 book Guitar Highway Rose is one of my all-time favourites. I was so angry with myself because I completely forgot to bring my first edition copy to get signed. But there was no way I was going to miss out on getting one of my fave books signed, so I bought another copy =D


Brigid Lowry signing my book!

Being a YA blog (and of course reader), my interest was primarily for the YA authors that were speaking. There are however two illustrators that I want to mention.

James Foley illustrated The Last Viking (written by Norman Jorgensen) and allowed us to witness his talent first hand as he quickly drew a picture to be won on the night, while Norman was speaking. Publisher Fremantle Press states the story is "about a boy who outwits local bullies by channelling his inner Viking." The whole book is fantastic and is one I always highlight while I'm working.


Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck was written by Michelle Gillespie and is the story of sixteen year-old Grace, and Sam, an Aboriginal stock-man, who helped rescue the passengers and crew of the sinking SS Georgette. It is based on the true events that occurred off the south-west coast of WA in 1876. The vibrant illustrations by Sonia Martinez brings this story to life and completely captures you.


Overall it was another great night (I attended last year) and it was so great to see so much local talent on display. Bring on the 10th anniversary next year!

GIVE-AWAY!
I am hosting a special give-away of a signed copy of Mammon by JB Thomas over on the Facebook page. This is a Facebook only give-away so pop on over to the page and leave a comment to enter!

CBCA Winners 2011

The Children's Book Council of Australia announced the winners of their annual CBCA awards this morning. The winners and honour books are:

Older Readers Book of the Year 2011

Winner - The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett
Honour - Grafitti Moon by Cath Crowley
Honour - The Life of a Teenage Body-Snatcher by Doug MacLeod



Younger Readers Book of the Year 2011

Winner - The Red Wind by Isobelle Carmody
Honour - Just A Dog by Michael Gerard Bauer
Honour - Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot by Anna Branford, Illus. Sarah Davis

Early Childhood Book of the Year 2011

Winner - Maudie and Bear by Jan Ormerod, Illus. Freya Blackwood
Honour - The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies by Tom Niland Champion and Kilmeny Niland Illus. Deborah Niland
Honour - Look See, Look at Me by Leonie Norrington, Illus. Dee Huxley

Picture Book of the Year 2011

Joint Winner - Mirror by Jeannie Baker
Joint Winner - Hamlet by Nicki Greenberg
Honour - Why I Love Australia by Bronwyn Bancroft
Honour - My Uncle's Donkey by Tohby Riddle


Eve Pownall Book of the Year 2011

Winner - The Return of the Word Spy by Ursula Dubosarsky, Illus. Tohby Riddle
Honour - Drawn From the Heart: A Memoir by Ron Brooks
Honour - Our World: Bardi Jaawi: Life at Ardiyooloon by One Arm Point Remote Community School

Congratulations to all the winners and honour books!

CBCA 2011 Shortlist Announced!

The shortlist for the 2011 Children's Book Council of Australia Awards were announced this morning.

The nominations for Book of the Year for Older Readers are...

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett
About a Girl by Joanne Horniman
The Life of a Teenage Body Snatcher by Doug MacLeod
The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta
Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood


To view the shortlists for the other categories, click here.
To view the Notables for 2011, click here.

The awards will be announced and presented on Friday 19th August.

Congratulations to all the nominees and Notables. While I have only read three of the six nominees, I sincerely hope that Graffiti Moon takes the award.

A Night With Our Stars and Give-Away!

Last night, I went along to the CBCA's A Night With Our Stars, a showcase of West Australian authors and illustrators published in 2010. Along with my friend Julie, and Danni from The Book Nerd Club, we listened to just over twenty authors who each had three minutes to talk about their books. The speakers who were highlights for me were YA authors Shirley Marr, AJ Betts and Deb Fitzpatrick, as well as Elaine Forrestal, Sally Murphy, Meg McKinlay and Cristy Burne who write for younger readers.


Shirley Marr and Deb Fitzpatrick


AJ Betts

After the talks we were able to mingle with the authors and have books signed and I also got to catch up with some friends from my bookshops days (that makes me sound old!). I finally got to meet Shirley Marr and AJ Betts whose books, Fury and Wave Length, I reviewed last year and I got their books signed. Deb Fitzpatrick, author of 90 Packets of Instant Noodles, also signed a copy of her book for me which I am very much looking forward to reading. Unfortunately Kate McCaffrey, the author of Destroying Avalon, In Ecstasy and Beautiful Monster, wasn't able to make it which was unfortunate as I really wanted to meet her and have my books signed.


It was a wonderful evening and I got to meet some very lovely people. I was also lucky enough to have photos with both Shirley Marr and AJ Betts who were both SO nice. I still find it daunting introducing myself and meeting authors and I was so glad I didn't get star-struck and tongue tied this time. Danni put it perfectly saying "meeting authors is right up there with meeting rockstars". I idolise them both.


I would like to make a special mention of the venue for the evening, Westbooks. If you haven't already visited this fantastic store, you should. It has an amazing selection of children's and YA books with a small amount of adult titles as well. It's like the opposite of a regular book store, kids and teens have the majority here! I hadn't been there before but I will definitely be making a return visit.


GIVE-AWAY!
As a special treat, I got extra copies of Fury, 90 Packets and Wave Length all SIGNED as give-aways.

The give-away is open INTERNATIONALLY until 11th April 2011. All three authors are from Perth, Australia so would be perfect for the Aussie YA Reading Challenge.

There are three simple steps:
1. You must be a follower
2. Tell others about this give-away, either in a blog post or by placing the give-away button on your blog
3. Leave a comment under this post with the link to where you have 'spread the word'