The winners of the Youth Booksellers Awards announced

After winning the Governor General’s Literary Award last November, children’s books Clover And Cancer ascending ostrich are again rewarded. The album written by Nadine Robert and illustrated by Qin Leng as well as the novel for teenagers by Julie Champagne are among the eight winners of the Prix des libraires du Québec, youth component, unveiled on Tuesday.

“I already felt very honored because the album had won the Governor General’s Award earlier. It’s really wonderful! “says Nadine Robert, author of Clover and president of the publishing house Like giants.

After two months of voting, four local books and four foreign books were chosen by all of the province’s booksellers. The prizes, accompanied by a $3,000 scholarship for the Quebec winners, were presented Tuesday at the Maison de la culture Maisonneuve during a ceremony hosted by actress and author Catherine Trudeau.

What were his sources of inspiration to create the story of Trèfle, a little girl living in a lush forest with her very large family? “In this case, I thought it would be interesting to talk about decision-making in children. Maybe they don’t have to make the same type of decision as us adults, but all the same, I see dilemmas, hesitations in children,” she explains, adding that she drew in his childhood memories and in his love of nature to write the story.

With her novel in which we follow the quest of a teenager who tries by all means to save her mother suffering from cancer, Julie Champagne has also achieved the feat of winning both the Governor General’s Literary Prize and that of the booksellers.

Other Quebec winners

In the comics category, the third volume of space factor charmed the jury. Bob’s intergalactic deliveries, which now come to life on ICI Télé and ICI Tou.tv, allow cartoonist Guillaume Perreault to win a Booksellers’ Prize for the second consecutive year. Last year, Match soup by Patrice Michaud, a book for which he signs the illustrations, had been rewarded.

As for titles intended for 6 to 11 year olds, the thriller Miville Hardware caught the eye.

This story of a murderous specter germinated in Alexandre Côté-Fournier’s head in a rather surprising way. “In the spring of 2020, I received a phone book. I found the object a bit outdated. I said to myself: “Who is it going to be used to call? Dead people?” It sparked the idea of ​​having a phone number that actually calls a ghost from a business that no longer exists,” says the author, who sees this award as “big recognition.”

The one who signs the illustrations of this thrilling novel, Geneviève Bigué, was surprised to also be nominated in the adult section of the Prix des libraires with her first comic strip, Sometimes the lakes burn. “You could say that 2022-2023 are my years so far. It is unexpected to have so much attention. […] I am very moved by all of this. It’s incredible ! “, she confides.

The winners of the adult section will be announced on May 11.