Award of the Week – The Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People
The Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People is named for Geoffrey Bilson, an avid reader from a young age who went on to publish historical novels for children as well as several adult books. The award is presented annually in Canada by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Below are past winners starting with the most recent 2016 title.
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Uncertain Soldier By: Karen Bass Erich, a teenaged prisoner of war in a logging camp near Lethbridge, Alberta, and Max, who is bullied because his parents are German, become friends as Erich worries about sabotage at the camp, which is controlled by Nazi prisoners. Ages 11-18 |
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Dance of the Banished By: Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch Ali, an Alevi Kurd who has immigrated to Canada, is sent to an internment camp in northern Ontario as an enemy alien during World War I, while his fiancee, Zeynep, back in Anatolia, tries to protect her Armenian neighbors from massacre. Ages 12-15 |
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Graffiti Knight By: Karen Bass In post-war Leipzig, teen Wilm feels justified in spray painting messages at night on police buildings in order to voice his displeasure, until one night his actions go too far. Ages 12-18 |
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The Lynching of Louie Sam By: Elizabeth Stewart After Native American Louie Sam is suspected of killing someone, he is chased into Canada and lynched, but teenager George Gillies, a newcomer to Washington Territory, doesn’t think Louie was guilty and sets out to investigate. Ages 11-15 |
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The Hangman in the Mirror By: Kate Cayley After her poor parents die of smallpox in New France, sixteen-year-old Francois Laurent takes a job in the home of a wealthy fur trader, but her life takes a turn for the worse when she is caught stealing and sentenced to death by hanging. Ages 13-18 |
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The Glory Wind By: Valerie Sherrard Gracie and Luke immediately become friends when Gracie moves to a small town in Canada, but secrets about her mother’s past threaten their friendship. Ages 11-15 |
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Vanishing Girl By: Shane Peacock In broad daylight, a high society girl vanishes on a crowded street. Days pass, then weeks; the daring abduction remains an impenetrable mystery, without a ransom note, a single clue, or even public information. The moment young SherLCk reads about it, he knows that it’s the case that will make his name. Ages 10-14 |
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The Landing: a novel By: John Ibbitson After the Great Depression, Ben, who sneaks in violin practice between chores, gets a job fixing up an old cottage on nearby Pine Island where he is introduced to a world of wealth that makes him desperate to escape Cook’s Landing. Ages 12-18 |
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Elijah of Buxton By: Christopher Paul Curtis In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American south, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family’s freedom. Ages 9-14 |
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Kanada By: Eva Wiseman When fourteen-year-old Jutka and her Hungarian Jewish family are sent to Auschwitz during World War II, her only hope lies in dreaming about the free land of Canada, which is in harsh contrast to the “Kanada” found in the camp–a storehouse for the belongings of those who died. Ages 12-18 |