An award-winning, nonprofit organization that celebrates the powerful impact books have on young people
10th annual awards are the only national books awards voted on only by children and teens
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY – March 3, 2017 – Every Child a Reader, a nonprofit literacy organization dedicated to inspiring a love of reading in children and teens across America, is proud to announce the finalists in four categories for the 10th Annual Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards.
Launched in 2008 by Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council, the awards provide young readers with an opportunity to voice their opinions about new books being written for them.
Voting for the awards will run online from Friday, March 3 to Sunday, May 7, 2017. Teachers, librarians, and booksellers can also collect group or classroom votes to enter online. Voting will be managed by DOGObooks.com, a leader in the children’s book field. Starting March 3, the online “voting booth” will feature jacket art and descriptions; a list of the finalists is available online now.
There are seven finalists in each of the three Children’s Choice Book Awards categories: K – 2nd grade, 3rd – 4th grades, and 5th– 6th grades, and seven finalists in the Teen Choice Book Award category.
The winning authors and illustrators will be announced on May 31st at a special ceremony at BookExpo featuring the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Gene Luen Yang, and newly-designed award stickers will be distributed to bookstores, libraries and schools across America.
The children’s award finalists were chosen in pre-voting by 36,000 children from different regions of the U.S., with supervision by the International Literacy Association. Teens nominated their favorite books of the year at TeenReads.com, and their top picks are the Teen Choice Book Award finalists.
The 28 finalists for the 2017 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards are rich in relevance, plotline and prose. The stories, by authors of diverse ethnicities, feature storylines ranging from a tale of a library dog to issues concerning deportation, survival in the face of a school shooting, and true love.
Voting for this year’s awards will end on the last day of Children’s Book Week, which will celebrate its 98th year with 500 library, school, and bookstore events across the country from May 1-7. Fifty copies of every winning book and all the the finalists will be donated to children in need across the country in June.
Shaina Birkhead, Programming and Strategic Partnerships Director for Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader, stated: “We love the fact that this is the only book awards chosen by kids and teens. They know the books they love and we are proud to work with so many teachers, librarians, and booksellers to help gather the votes. We have created a virtual ‘voting booth’ online, and we expect over a million votes again this year.”
About Every Child a Reader
Every Child a Reader is a 501(c)(3) literacy charity dedicated to inspiring a lifelong love of reading in children and teens across America. Every Child a Reader’s popular national programs include Children’s Book Week (May 1-7, 2017), the longest-running literacy initiative in the country; the Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only book awards chosen by children and teens; and the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature program, in partnership with the Library of Congress. Individual and corporate donations, grants, and Children’s Book Council support Every Child a Reader.
About Children’s Book Week
Launched in 1919, Children’s Book Week will celebrate its 98th anniversary in May 2017.
About the Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards
Launched in 2008, the Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards are the only national book awards voted on only by kids and teens. In 2017, the 10th annual awards voting will be open from March 3 to May 7.
About the Children’s Book Council (CBC)
Every Child a Reader works in partnership with the Children’s Book Council, the nonprofit trade association for children’s book publishers in North America. The CBC offers children’s publishers, from smaller independent presses to large international houses, the opportunity to work together on issues of importance to the industry at large, including educational programming, diversity in employment and books, literacy advocacy, and partnerships with other national organizations.
About DOGObooks.com
DOGObooks.com is the largest website for kids and teens to discover, rate and review books. With over 200,000 book review pages, DOGObooks empowers young readers to discover new books and share their favorites.
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Media Contact:
Audra Boltion
The Boltion Group Public Relations
646-331-9904
audra@thebgpr.com
