Each year LIANZA Children’s and Young Adults Book Awards picks the best that has been published in New Zealand or by a New Zealander.
Did you know, as part of the LIANZA book awards, you can earn Hell Pizza for reading? Pick up a pizza wheel from your local library and ask the librarian to tell you how it works.
Recently the award finalists have been announced for each category, and here they are:
Russell Clarke Award (for Illustration)
- Marmaduke Duck on the Wide Blue Seas by Juliette MacIver and Sarah Davis – Scholastic
- Jim’s Letters by Glyn Harper and Jenny Cooper – Penguin Random House
- Have you seen a monster? by Raymond McGrath – Penguin Random House
- So Many Wonderfuls by Tina Matthews – Walker Books
- Mrs Mo’s Monster by Paul Beavis – Gecko Press
LIANZA Young Adult Fiction Award
- I am Rebecca by Fleur Beale – Penguin Random House
- The Red Suitcase by Jill Harris – Makaro Press
- Singing Home the Whale by Mandy Hager – Penguin Random House
- Recon Team Angel: Vengeance by Brian Falkner – Walker Books
- Night Vision by Ella West – Allen and Unwin
Elsie Lock Award (for Non-Fiction)
- The Book of Hat by Harriet Rowland – Makaro Press
- A New Zealand Nature Journal by Sandra Morris – Walker Books
- Maori Art for Kids by Julie Noanoa and Norm Heke – Potton and Burton Publishing
- Mōtītī Blue and the Oil Spill: A Story from the Rena Disaster by Debbie McCauley – Mauao Publishing
- New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame: 25 Kiwi Champions by Maria Gill and Marco Ivancic – New Holland
Esther Glenn Award (for Junior Fiction)
- Monkey Boy by Donovan Bixley – Scholastic
- The Volume of Possible Endings (A Tale of Fontania) by Barbara Else – Gecko
- Conrad Cooper’s Last Stand by Leonie Agnew – Penguin
- Trouble in Time by Adele Broadbent – Scholastic
- Letterbox Cat by Paula Green – Scholastic
Te Kura Ponamu Award (Te Reo publications)
- Nga Kī by Sacha Cotter, Josh Morgan and Kawata Teepa – Huia
- Hui E! by various authors – Huia
- Tūtewehi by Fred Te Maro – Huia
- Kimihia by Te Mihinga Komene and Scott Pearson – Huia
- An early Te Reo Reading Book Series by Carolyn Collis – Summer Rose Books
The judges will pick one winner for each category. The winning titles will be announced on 15th June 2015.