The 2012 Crystal Kite Members Choice Award Winners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (15 exclamation points - one for each regional division winner!)

The SCBWI Crystal Kite Awards recognize great books from the 70 SCBWI regions around the world. Each regional chapter was assigned to one of 15 divisions and the membership in each division voted for their favorite book published by an SCBWI member that year. The Crystal Kite Awards are a regional complement of the annual SCBWI Golden Kite Award which are given in 4 categories for excellence in children’s literature. Both awards are unique as they are chosen by other writers and illustrators, making them the only peer-given awards in publishing for young readers.

Here are the winners of the 2012 Crystal Kite Member Choice Awards for SCBWI's 15 regional divisions (virtual drumroll...)

Africa: FINDING AUNT JOAN By Jenny Hatton and Joan Rankin (Jacana Media Ltd.)

Australia: THE LAST VIKING By Norman Jorgensen (Fremantle Press)

California/Hawaii: WON TON - A CAT TALE TOLD IN HAIKU By Lee Wardlaw illustrated by Eugene Yelchin (Henry Holt)

Florida/GA: CLEOPATRA'S MOON By Vicky Alvear Shecter (Arthur A. Levine Books)

Kansas/LA: BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY By Ruta Sepetys (Philomel Books)

Middle East/Asia: ORCHARDS By Holly Thompson (Delacorte Dell-Random House)

Minnesota/Iowa: BLUEFISH By Pat Schmatz (Candlewick Press)

Nevada: BLACK & WHITE: THE CONFRONTATION BETWEEN REVEREND FRED L. SHUTTLESWORTH AND EUGENE "BULL" CONNOR By Larry Brimner (Boyds Mills Press)

New England: PEARL By Jo Knowles (Henry Holt Books)

New York: THELONIOUS MOUSE By Orel Protopopescu (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc.)

PA/DE/NJ: THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF MIKE By Kathryn Erskine (Philomel Books)

Texas/OK: MINE! By Patrice Barton (Random House Children’s Books)

Americas: WITCHLANDERS By Lena Coakley (Atheneum)

UK/Europe: DARK PARTIES By Sara Grant (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Washington: THE FRIENDSHIP DOLL By Kirby Larson (Delacorte Dell)


Congratulations to all the winners!  We all have lots more books to add to our reading lists now!

For more information on the Crystal Kite Members Choice Awards, and to find out about entering your own book next year, go here.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee