I figured I needed more coffee when I opened up Facebook one morning last week to find a friend congratulating me for making the CLA YA book of the year short list.  I was stunned.  But sure enough, The Art of Getting Stared At has been shortlisted for the Canadian Library Association’s YA Book of the Year along with 9 other terrific titles.

It’s a huge honour.  I’m sure you’ve heard that same line from other award nominees. You’ve probably thought, ‘yeah, riiiight. Can’t they think of something more original to say?’

Actually no. Because it is an honour and a thrill and it’s wonderful to think a book you worked hard on for many months will quite possibly reach more readers because of the publicity.

The Canadian Library Association has been recognizing the work of young adult authors since 1980. They also hand out awards in two other categories: to an outstanding illustrator of a children’s book, and to the author of an outstanding children’s book for readers 12 years and younger.

The winner of the YA Book of the Year, and the Honour Books, will be announced during the week of April 20th. The award itself will be presented at the CLA’s annual conference in Ottawa in early June.  Like I said, I’m in wonderful company. Here are the other nine nominated titles. There’s some great reading on this list:

The Death of Us, by Alice Kuipers (Harper Collins)  http://www.alicekuipers.com/

The Gospel Truth, by Caroline Pignat (Red Deer Press) http://www.carolinepignat.com/

Moon at Nine, by Deborah Ellis (Pajama Press) http://deborahellis.com/

Rabbit Ears, by Maggie DeVries (Harper Collins) http://www.maggiedevries.com/

This One Summer, by Mariko & Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood) http://jilliantamaki.com/books/this-one-summer/

Twisted, by Lisa Harrington (DCB) http://lisaharrington.ca/

Unspeakable, by Caroline Pignat (Penguin Random House) http://www.carolinepignat.com/

The Voice Inside My Head, by S.J. Laidlaw (Tundra) http://www.sjlaidlaw.com/

What We Hide, by Marthe Jocelyn (Tundra) http://www.marthejocelyn.com/