Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards Shortlists Announced, including Cherie Dimaline's The Marrow Thieves

The shortlists for the 2018 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards include several high profile Canadian authors, including recent Kirkus Award winner Cherie Dimaline, whose The Marrow Thieves was also a Canada Reads pick, and Deborah Ellis, whose book The Breadwinner was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film.

The Schwartz Awards are the only Canadian literary award where student jurors work together to choose the winning books, giving young readers the opportunity to honour the books they love most. 

The 2018 winners will be decided by two student juries from Toronto’s Sprucecourt Public School. The winners will be announced during a school assembly on Wednesday, June 20. Each award includes a $6,000 prize purse for the winner. 

Children’s Picture Book Award 2018 Shortlist:

• Away by Emil Sher (Toronto, Ont.), illustrations by Qin Leng (Toronto, Ont.) published by Groundwood Books
• The Heart’s Song by Gilles Tibo (Montréal, Que.), illustrations by Irene Luxbacher (Toronto, Ont.) published by North Winds Press
• My Beautiful Birds by Suzanne Del Rizzo (Oakville, Ont.) published by Pajama Press
• Stolen Words by Melanie Florence (Toronto, Ont.), illustrations by Gabrielle Grimard (Montréal, Que.) published by Second Story Press
• Town Is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz (Toronto, Ont.),  illustrations by Sydney Smith (Toronto, Ont.) published by Groundwood Books

Young Adult / Middle Reader Award 2018 Shortlist:

• The Agony of Bun O’Keefe by Heather Smith (Waterloo, Ont.) published by Penguin Teen
• Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined by Danielle Younge-Ullman (Toronto, Ont.) published by Razorbill Canada
• Louis Undercover by Fanny Britt (Montréal, Que.), illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault (Montréal, Que.) published by Groundwood Books
• The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (Toronto, Ont.) published by Dancing Cat Books
• Sit by Deborah Ellis (Simcoe, Ont.) published by Groundwood Books

For more information, please visit the Ontario Arts Foundation website.