Crosshairs by Catherine Hernandez (HarperCollins Canada) has been shortlisted for the City of Toronto Book Awards! Established in 1974 by the Toronto City Council, the Awards honour authors of books of literary or artistic merit that are evocative of Toronto. Finalists will read from and discuss their books at this year’s virtual Word on the Street, September 22 at 7 pm and 8 pm and the winner of the 2021 grand prize will be named in a small private ceremony October 5 at City Hall.
To see the full list of nominees, please visit: https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/awards-tributes/awards/toronto-book-awards/toronto-book-awards-jury-finalists-winners/
About Crosshairs:
From the beloved author of Scarborough, comes a dystopian novel set in a frighteningly familiar near future. With massive floods leading to rampant homelessness and devastation, a government-sanctioned regime called the Boots seizes on its power to force communities of colour, the disabled, and the LGBTQ2S into labour camps in Toronto. In the shadows, a hero emerges. After his livelihood and the love of his life are taken away from him, Kay joins the Resistance, alongside Bahadur, a transmasculine refugee and Firuzeh, a headstrong social worker. Guiding them in the ways of combat is Beck, a rogue army offer, who helps them plan an uprising. A cautionary tale filled with fierce and vibrant characters, Crosshairs explores the universal desire to love and be loved as your true self.
Catherine Hernandez is a proud queer woman of colour, a radical mother, a theatre practitioner, an award-winning author and the artistic director of b current performing arts. She is of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese and Indian heritage, and she is married into the Navajo Nation. Her novel Scarborough, which is soon to be a motion picture, won the Jim Wong-Chu Award for the unpublished manuscript; was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award, the Evergreen Forest of Reading Award, the Edmund White Award and the Trillium Book Award; and was longlisted for Canada Reads. She has also written the plays Singkil and Kilt Pins, as well as the children’s book M Is for Mustache: A Pride ABC Book. Catherine is represented by Marilyn Biderman.