Each year, Saskatchewan children and youth vote for the Willow Award recipients from finalists nominated in three award categories, the Shining Willow Award for books written for young readers, the Diamond Willow Award for books written for upper elementary readers, and the Snow Willow Award for books written for readers in grades 7 & up, as part of the Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Choice Awards. Winners will be announced at a virtual gala hosted by Wilfred Hunt School in Regina on May 26th.
MYA’S STRATEGY TO SAVE THE WORLD by Tanya Lloyd Kyi (Puffin Canada) is on the Diamond Willow list! Twelve-year-old Mya Parsons could save the world and organize her family, if only she had her own cell phone. A Dork Diaries for today’s socially conscious middle-grade readers.
Tanya Lloyd Kyi has worked as a typesetter, graphic designer and photo editor before pursuing writing full-time. She is the author of many non-fiction titles, including Shadow Warrior, recently nominated for the ALA’s Amelia Bloomer Project List and DNA Detective, shortlisted for the OLA Red Maple Award and the Red Cedar Award. Her published novels for young readers include Truth, My Time as Caz Hazard, Anywhere but Here, which was praised by Kirkus as having a main character whose “voice is convincingly filled with a combination of angst and nonchalance,” and The Prince of Pot. Tanya is represented by Amy Tompkins.
THE KING OF JAM SANDWICHES by Eric Walters (Orca Book Publishers) is on the Snow Willow list! Thirteen-year-old Robbie leads a double life. It’s just Robbie and his dad, but no one knows that his dad isn’t like most parents. Sometimes he wakes Robbie up in the middle of the night to talk about dying. Sometimes he just leaves without telling Robbie where he’s going. Once when Robbie was younger, he was gone for more than a week. Robbie was terrified of being left alone but even more scared of telling anyone in case he was put into foster care. No one can know. Until one day when Robbie has to show the tough new girl, Harmony, around school. Their first meeting ends horribly and she punches Robbie in the face. But eventually they come to realize that they have a lot more in common than they thought. Can Robbie’s new friend be trusted to keep his secret?
Eric Walters is the award-winning author of more than 100 novels and picture books. He is a tireless presenter, speaking to over 100,000 students per year in schools across the country. A Member of the Order of Canada, Eric lives in Guelph, Ontario. Eric is represented by Amy Tompkins.
To see the full list of honorees, please visit: https://willowawards.ca/