Toronto, Ontario (December 5, 2012) The Sunburst Award Committee is pleased to announce that the winner of its 2012 young adult award is All Good Children by Catherine Austen (Orca Book Publishers).

About All Good Children, the Sunburst Jury said: “In a physically and morally crumbling United States, 15-year-old Max Connors finds his family, friends, and himself under threat by a semi-covert Homeland Security plan to vaccinate all school children to be “good” – or, as Max calls it: zombification. Max, who’s smart, artistic, and a troublemaker, is horrified to learn that their parents and teachers are complicit and uses desperate measures to escape with his little sister and best friend. The author includes knowing nods to 1984, Brave New World, Stepford Wives, Alien and other pop-cultural touchstones in this tension-filled, fast-paced, and surprisingly tender dystopian thriller that’s narrated by its teen protagonist with wit and vigour.”

The jurors for the 2012 award were Douglas Barbour, Zsuzsi Gartner, Daniel Justice, Lorna Toolis and Halli Villegas.

The other shortlisted works for the 2012 young adult award were:

• Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson (Lerner Publishing Group)
• The Summer of Permanent Wants by Jamieson Findlay (Doubleday Canada)
• The Dead Kid Detective Agency by Evan Munday (ECW Press)
• Blood Red Road: Dustlands: 1 by Moira Young (Doubleday Canada)

For additional information about the Sunburst Award, the nominees and jurors, as well as previous awards, eligibility and the selection process, please visit the website at www.sunburstaward.org.

For more information, please contact:

Rebecca Simkin, Secretary
The Sunburst Award
2 Farm Greenway
Toronto, ON M3A 3M2
secretary.sunburst@bell.net