Jacob and I will be heading down to Alderney Landing tonight for the Atlantic Book Awards.  I’m not at all expecting that HARE will win the Ann Connor Brimer Award, not that it wouldn’t be nice, but I’m looking forward to meeting some of Atlantic Canada’s literary luminaries.  The evening starts with a reception for the nominees and guests, followed by a silent auction, with the actual awards ceremony starting at 7:00 pm.

In looking ahead to the evening, I’ve been thinking about the book and its journey so far.  I guess I didn’t know what to expect before the book was published, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the recognition it’s received so far, both in Canada and in the US.  In no particular order:

• starred Kirkus Review
• USBBY Honor List of Outstanding International Books 2011
• Sask. Young Readers Choice Awards nominee 2011 (SYRCA)
• Ann Connor Brimer Award shortlist
• National Silver Medal, IPPY, US Independent Publishers Award
• Skipping Stones Honor List
• Woozles Battle of the Books 2012 list  (both elementary and high school)
• on the shelves of hundreds of libraries in Canada, US, Australia and New Zealand
  

What all this means is that through HARE, Jacob’s story has already reached a wide audience (I’m hoping it will continue to for years to come) and I hope the publicity will in various ways support his work with Wadeng Wings of Hope.  Which was, after all, the impetus  behind the book’s creation!  Thanks to everybody who took the time to read the book and tell other people about it. Cheers!