WINNER
DEAR GEORGE CLOONEY: PLEASE MARRY MY MOM by Susin Nielsen
Tundra 2010 9780887769771 IL: 5+
Twelve-year-old Violet’s life is difficult enough with her father living a glamourous new life with his beautiful new wife and perfect twin babies, but now her mother is dating a man called Dudley Wiener! Convinced she knows what’s best for her family, Violet embarks on an outrageous plan that includes lying, sabotage and an unfortunate broken nose. Can Violet learn to embrace her new life before she alienates her family and friends?
HONOUR BOOKS
STOLEN CHILD by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Scholastic 2010 9780545986120 IL: 5+
In 1950, young Nadia comes to Canada with her mother, Marusia, to join her father, Ivan. They had left life behind in the Displaced Person’s camp to build a new life after World War II. While Nadia adjusts to living in Canada she starts to have flashbacks of a different kind of life. As Nadia begins to learn English, make new friends and start school, she tries to sort through her past in hopes of finding out who she really is.
HALF BROTHER by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins 2010 9781554688128 IL: 7+
Thirteen-year-old Ben has been an only child his entire life, that is until his parents bring home a baby chimpanzee named Zan. Ben is suddenly cast into the dual roles of big brother and sign-language instructor – read on to find out what adventures await Ben and his new “brother”!
NOMINEES
THE ADVENTURES OF JACK LIME by James Leck
Kids Can Press 2010 9781554533657 IL: 5+
Being a high school detective is never easy. Jack Lime lives in the gated suburb of Iona with his grandmother. Paid in favours instead of “dough,” high school detective Jack Lime is always willing to help a dame in distress. Whether it’s tracking down a stolen gerbil or trying to recover a stolen bike from some tough customers, Jack is always up for a challenge, even though it often gets him into very hot water. These three short mysteries will have readers laughing and cheering for a young detective who never gives up.
THE ARCHAEOLOJESTERS by Andreas Oertel
Lobster Press 2010 9781897550830 IL: 5+
What can twelve-year-old Cody to stop his best friends, Eric and Rachel, from moving away? When Eric and Rachel’s mother’s restaurant in Sultana, Manitoba can no longer be supported by the community she wants to move. The three friends soon come up with a plan to help put their small town on the world’s tourist map!
ARTIC THUNDER by Robert Feagan
Dundurn Press 2010 9781554887002 IL: 5+
Fourteen-year-old Mike Watson is sure his father’s RCMP transfer to Inuvik, spells the end of his chances to play championship lacrosse. His disappointment is short lived after making friends with some of the school’s hockey players and witnessing the athleticism of their traditional Arctic sports. Mike, with his father’s help, form the team Arctic Thunder. Can they win the tournament against Mike’s former team?
COME FALL by A.C.E. Bauer
Random House 2010 9780375858253 IL: 5+
Gifted with grace by a faerie queen and abandoned at birth, Salman Page, now fourteen, starts seventh grade accompanied by a strange ally – a crow. With his life disrupted by years of foster care and unknowingly a jealous faerie king, Salman reluctantly spends time with fellow students, Lu and Blos. Salman’s home and school bullies, Lu’s distracted pregnant mother and Blos’s social awkwardness only strengthen their new friendship that even a faerie realm can’t tear apart.
DUST CITY by Robert Paul Weston
Puffin 2010 9780670063963 IL: 7+
Young wolf, Henry Whelp, has more than the regular teen problems. His psychiatrist is killed before he can share information about Henry’s convicted murderer father, The Big Bad Wolf. Henry must discover the secret himself, and in the process unearth the dark connections between the disappearance of the fairies and the underworld of synthetic fairy dust.
THE EMPEROR’S CODE by Gordon Korman
Scholastic 2010 9780545080486 IL: 5+
Fourteen-year-old Amy Cahill and her 11 year-old brother, Dan, are still reeling from the shocking discovery of their family’s sinister past. With even the cherished memories of their parents in question and only each other to trust, they continue to their search for the 39 clues. The high-stakes search takes on new meaning when the siblings become separated at the centre of the busiest, most populated nation on earth.
GREASE TOWN by Ann Towell
Tundra 2010 9780887769832 IL: 5+
Twelve-year-old Titus Sullivan runs away from his overbearing Aunt Sophie to find adventure and freedom with his older brother Lemuel. They head to Oil Springs, Ontario to make a new life. Once there Titus meets slaves who have escaped to freedom in Canada through the Underground Railroad. Things quickly become complicated and Titus finds himself trying to figure out the hatred and confusion of life in the small town.
LURE by Deborah Kerbel
Dundurn 2010 9781554887545 IL: 7+
Since moving from Vancouver to the suburbs of Toronto, sixteen-year-old Max Green has felt invisible. No one has paid any attention to Max until an attractive girl named Caroline decides to befriend him. As their friendship begins to flourish Max discovers a local library rumoured to be haunted. With the help of a teenage ghost named John, Max begins to piece together the mystery of who John really is and why he continues to haunt the museum.
THE MCGILLICUDDY BOOK OF PERSONAL RECORDS
By Colleen Sydor
Red Deer Press 2010 9780889954342 IL: 5+
Set in Winnipeg, this book is for every young person who dreams of setting a new world record. Thirteen-year-old Lee McGillicuddy dreams of doing something extraordinary like the people whose quotes he lovingly memorizes. His chance arrives when his young friend Rhonda has a freak accident and Lee is suddenly faced with the challenge of his life.
THE PRESENT TENSE OF PRINNY MURPHY by Jill MacLean
Fitzhenry & Whiteside 2010 9781554551453 IL: 5+
Meet Prinny Murphy, a middle school student who is coping with a lot of stress at home and in school. Her father is distracted and absent, her mother is an alcoholic, her best friend, Travis, has a new “girlfriend”, and three bullies will not leave her alone. To add to her unhappiness, she still has trouble reading. But when a teacher introduces her to a special book, she gains important awareness about life, friends and family.
QUEEN OF HEARTS by Martha Brooks
Groundwood 2010 9780888998286 IL: 6+
In 1941, fifteen-year-old Marie-Claire Cote has tuberculosis. She is sent to a sanatorium in Southern Manitoba. This is a story about how tuberculosis patients were treated, learning to be strong through loss, and where friendship and love can be found in the most unlikely of places.
A TERRIBLE ROAR OF WATER by Penny Draper
Coteau Books 2010 9781550504149 IL: 5+
Twelve-year-old Murphy tells the true story of the tsunami that hit the Burin Peninsula on November 18th, 1929. His mother works in St. John’s following the death of his father so Murphy lives with his aunt, uncle and cousins. He has a burning desire to become a fisherman and make a home for his mother’s return. Old Antoine’s prediction of a huge wave coming helps Murphy act to save his family, friends and his community before it is too late.
TUMBLEWEED SKIES by Valerie Sherrard
Fitzhenry and Whiteside 2010 9781554551132 IL: 5+
On a lonely Saskatchewan prairie in 1954, ten-year-old Elizabeth Stewart is determined to be brave. Ellie’s father must travel for work all summer without her and she must live with her maternal Grandmother even though they’ve never met! Ellie tries to find the strength to be on her best behavior even though her heartless Grandmother Acklebee doesn’t want her and she has no where else to go.
WAYFARER by R.J. Anderson
Harper Teen 2010 9780061554773 IL: 5+
Fifteen-year-old Linden must leave the Oak and find other fairies who can share magic and save her community. Both Linden and her human friend timothy find that the quest makes them question everything that they thought they knew. They also learn that knowing who to trust is far more complicated than it seems!
WRITTEN IN BLOOD by John Wilson
Orca 2010 9871554692705 IL: 7+
It’s 1877 and Jim Doolan has only one possession from his missing father; a letter. Now sixteen years old, Jim rides out of Yale, BC on horseback, with the letter, on a perilous journey that will take him across Apache Warriors’ dessert territories into Northern Mexico’s most notorious ghost towns. All alone, Jim risks his life for the one thing he wants more than anything; the truth about his family.