The West Coast Book Prize Society handed out the 2014 BC Book Prizes on May 3 at the Renaissance Vancouver Harbourside Hotel. Children’s author Kit Pearson was presented with the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence. The winners of the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize and the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize are listed below.

Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize
Supported by Kidsbooks and Tourism Vancouver
Judges: Norma Charles, Pamela Porter, John Wilson

The New Normal
Written by Ashley Little
(Orca Book Publishers)
amar Robinson knows a lot about loss—more than any teenager should. Her younger sisters are dead, her parents are adrift in a sea of grief, and now Tamar is losing her hair. Nevertheless, she navigates her rocky life as best she can, not always with grace, but with her own brand of twisted humour. She joins the chess club with her friend Roy, earns a part in the school production of The Wizard of Oz, buys an awesome wig, lands a crappy job, gets invited to the prom (by three different guys!), and helps her parents re-enter the land of the living. What Tamar lacks in tact (and hair), she makes up for in sheer tenacity. Ashley Little completed a BFA in creative writing at the University of Victoria. She teaches yoga and writes fiction in Alberta’s badlands. The New Normal is her first novel for teens.

Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize
Supported by Kate Walker
Judges: Linda Bailey, Dr. Margo Filipenko, Alan Woo

How To
Written and illustrated by Julie Morstad
(Simply Read Books)
This imaginative ‘how to’ book explores whimsical ways of doing a host of different tasks, including ‘how to wonder,’ ‘how to see the breeze,’ and ‘how to be brave.’ With text and images by award-winning illustrator Julie Morstad, this book will be beloved by all ages. How to read this book? That is up to you! Julie Morstad divides her creative energy between drawing, illustration, animation, and design. Her work is exhibited at Atelier Gallery and she is the illustrator of the award-winning picture book, When You Were Small, and its sequels Where You Came From and When I Was Small published by Simply Read Books. Her picture book has received starred reviews from School Library Journal and Kirkus.

For a complete list of the award winners and finalists in all categories, please visit the BC Book Prizes website at www.bcbookprizes.ca.