The annual Crystal Kite Award is a peer-given award that recognizes great books by SCBWI members. Fifteen 
awards are given out in regions around the world, and Canada is one of these. In total, 56 books by Canadian members have been nominated for the award, so the competition is fierce. I find it interesting that more than 30 members of SCBWI CanadaEast have books in the running while only 15 members of SCBWI are represented. Are there more members in the east? Is more publishing going on there? Are members in the west shy?
All current members of SCBWI Canada are eligible to vote for ONE book within our division only, not worldwide. And voting is in two rounds: voting April 1 – 14 will determine a short list; voting April 18 – 30 will select the winner. The prize is a crystal, engraved kite award, a silver sticker for their winning book, and an opportunity to present at a regional conference.
The competition really is fierce, with picture books beside chapter books beside YA novels. I have found THREE books by Calgary authors. If you want to vote for a local member but aren’t sure which book to choose, here they are, along with the first few lines of each.
The Change Your Name Store by Leanne Shirtliffe (picture book)
A smart feisty girl named Wilma Lee Wu liked climbing tall trees and chasing frogs too.
She loved puzzles and trains, even reading a book, tormenting her brother and attempting to cook.
But one tiny item she longed to throw out. “My name! It’s so boring, so blah,” she would pout.
Determined to fix the one thing she deplored, she set out in search of the Change Your Name Store.
Ospreys in Danger by Pamela McDowell- yup, that’s ME! (early chapter book)
“I love the smell of Mondays.” Cricket McKay tilted her nose up and closed her eyes. Her real name was Jenna, but everyone called her Cricket. It started back when she was five and collected hundreds of crickets on her grandpa’s farm, hoping to start a cricket zoo. She eventually released the crickets, but the nickname stuck.
“You’re crazy, Cricket. Monday’s don’t smell,” said her best friend, Shilo.
Cricket opened her eyes. “I’m crazy?” She watched Shilo tiptoe along the top of the stone fence beside the sidewalk. The fence wasn’t high, but it guarded the RCMP headquarters in the tiny village of Waterton.
16 Things I Thought Were True by Janet Gurtler (YA novel)
- 1. Working in an amusement park should be amusing.
After pausing for a deep breath, I force myself to walk into the room with my head held high and my shoulders pulled back.
I can totally do this, show people who I really am—not the girl they saw dancing on the video.
I’m focusing so hard on keeping my cool that I trip over a chair and it clatters to the ground. Everyone in the staff break room stops talking and stares. They’re all wearing the same Tinkerpark T-shirts but in different colors. Red, blue, yellow, or green, we’re all dressed as brightly as a package of Skittles.
