Kitchener author Erin Bow has won a Newbery Honor and a Schneider Family Book Award honour for her novel Simon Sort of Says.
The Newberys are presented by the American Library Association (ALA) for outstanding contribution to children’s literature. While one book wins the John Newbery Medal, a small handful of books receive a Newbery Honor, including Simon Sort of Says in 2024, which is also a highly regarded prize in the industry. This year’s John Newbery Medal winner is The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers.
The Schneider Family Book Award, also presented by the ALA, honours books that represent the disability experience. The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla was named the winner of the middle-grade category and Simon Sort of Says was one of the honour books named.
Simon Sort of Says is a middle-grade novel that follows Simon O’Keefe. Simon is a natural storyteller who has just moved with his family to the National Quiet Zone — a community where there is no internet so that radio astronomers can listen for signs of extraterrestrial life. Simon also happens to be the sole survivor of a school shooting and is set on writing a new story and life for himself. Simon Sort of Says is an uplifting book of perseverance and healing.
“I know, I know — when people hear about this book there’s a certain amount of you wrote a comedy about what?,” said Bow in a press statement. “But I think we underestimate how important ‘funny’ can be. Funny is anger turned upside down. Funny is despair turned inside out. Funny is powerlessness flipped right over. And the relentless churn of school shootings makes me angry, and desperate. But I’m not powerless, because I can write.”
Simon Sort of Says was also longlisted for the National Book Award in October and is currently nominated for the Red Maple Award.
Bow is an American-born physicist, poet and children’s author. Bow won the CBC Poetry Prize in 2001 for Poems for Carl Hruska and her novel Stand on the Sky won the Governor General’s Literary Award for young people’s literature — text.
The other Canadian recognized at the ALAs this year is Jessica Johns for Bad Cree. The novel received an Alex Award for the best 10 books for adults that appeal to children.
Bad Cree is a horror-infused novel that centres around a young woman named Mackenzie, who is haunted by terrifying nightmares and wracked with guilt about her sister Sabrina’s untimely death. The lines between her dreams and reality start to blur when she begins seeing a murder of crows following her around the city — and starts getting threatening text messages from someone claiming to be her dead sister.
Bad Cree will be championed by Dallas Soonias on Canada Reads 2024.
The complete list of winners of the 2024 ALA Awards can be found on their website.