Hot off the presses! The 2014 Boston Globe/Horn Book Awards have been announced. Many thanks to Sam Bloom for the scoop.
Fiction honors: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein; Boxers+Saints by Gene Luen Yang
Fiction winner: Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
I get the feeling this is just the first of many awards coming for Grasshopper Jungle, a book that I’ve heard nothing but praise for (and a book that I gotta finally get my hands on).
Nonfiction honors: The Animal Book by Steve Jenkins; Josephine by Patricia Hruby Powell, illustrated by Christian Robinson
Nonfiction winner: Port Chicago 50 by Steve Sheinkin
One of the fun parts of this award is that the window of eligibility runs from June 1 to May 31, meaning that books I might have put in the (mentally) filed away 2013 folder pop up to do battle against 2014 titles. The Animal Book did that for me – great to see that excellent book get some more attention.
Picture Book honors: Knock Knock by Daniel Beaty, illustrated by Bryan Collier; Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan
Picture Book winner: Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown
Knock Knock deserves all the accolades it can get – I’m happy to see it here. And how about Mr. Tiger, eh? I love that it took top honors.
Any thoughts out there?
About Travis Jonker
Good to see Mr. Tiger on top and, of course, Shaun Tan’s Rules is another one of his amazing works coupling simple text with fantastic imagery. Kudos to all!
I imagine that the fiction winners were decided by coin flip. Each is so different and each is so amazing for such different reasons. Probably since both Yang and Wein deal with history, the judges decided to avoid insect wrath and go with Smith’s book. Seriously, each one of these books could have been the winner and Smith’s book is the best thing he has written (and possibly the book that students will still be reading 75 years from now). More awards coming to the grasshopper down the road.