2014 Crystal Kite Finalists Australia/New Zealand and "Other International"

By Susan J. Berger

 

At last. The sixth Crystal Kite Post covers the finalists and winners in the final two regions: Australia, New Zealand and Other International. Several of these has no first lines available.

I linked to the publisher when I could not find a US link.

 

Again: The annual Crystal Kite Award is a peer-given award to recognize great books from 15 SCBWI regional divisions around the world. It is a rather odd award in that there are no Categories. Therefore a picture books compete against chapter books and young adult novels.

Australia, New Zealand 

Ali Berber and the Forty Grains of Salt by Sheryl Gwyther  

Ali Berber is a young merchant, keen to impress the King of Alhambra with the amazing flavour his salt brings to food. The king is impressed – until Ali’s forty grains of salt disappear. Now, instead of being rewarded, Ali is in danger of being beheaded! Can he solve the mystery of the disappearing salt before it is too late?
This is an early reader only available in Australia/New Zealand from Pearson.

 

Big Red Kangaroo by Claire Saxby

Far inland, the sun floats on the waves of a bake-earth day. Big Red and his mob of kangaroos wait for night-time when they can search for food. Young male kangaroos wait too - ready to challenge Red and take his place as leader. 

This is in their True Nature Story series

Granny Grommet and Me by Dianne Wolfer, Illustrated by Karen Blair

My granny and her friends go to the beach, and I go too. When they hit the surf, they duck and dive and twist and turn. It looks like lots of fun. But I don t want to go in the water. There are strange things under the waves
This was based on real surfing Grannies. Go to Diane Wolfer’s Website to read about it.

 

 The Boy on the Page Written and Illustrated by Peter Carnavas

One quiet morning, a small boy landed on the page. At first, there was nothing else.
Then very slowly, a world began to appear.
New life emerged. Things started to grow…and so did the boy.

I would love to read this. I wish it was available in the US

The Wishbird Written and Illustrated by Gabrielle Wang
Prologue
In the ancient Banyan tree the Wishbird lay still and silent. His breath was thin, the thread between the Kind and himself growing ever weaker. Soon it would break and when that time came, both would die, and so would the city, for its heart would be lost forever.
But death did not worry the Wishbird. He had lived for a thousand years and more. And he would go on living, in another shape, another form –in the clouds in the earth, in the lakes and seas.
What did worry him was Oriole. Sweet Oriole.

 

 

Welcome Home Written and Illustrated by Christina Booth

Welcome Home is the story of a young boy and a whale as she swims into the river harbour seeking safety and a resolution to the violent past relationship between whales and man. This prosaic journey, accompanied with soft, sketchy watercolour imagoes, reveals how the past can impact our future. Can the boy make amends for the past? Can the whale forgive and return to what was once her ancestors' home

Welcome Home won the 2014 Environment Award for Children’s Literature. You can visit Christine at http://christinabooth.weebly.com/

 

 

Winner

Zac and Mia by AJ Betts

A newbie arrives next door. From this side if the was I hear the shuffle of feet, unsure of where to stand. I hear Nina going through the arrival instructions in that buoyant air hostesss way, as if theis “flight” will go smoothly, no need to pull the emergency exit lever. Just relax and enjoy the service. Nina has the kind of voice you believe.

I kept reading. It starts out in a cancer treatment center and Wow! I’m going to see if I can get hold of this.

Other International

Blossoms of Scarlet Illustrated by Marjorie van Heerden

Blossoms of Scarlet is an exciting love story from a new voice in teenage fiction. This fantasy is packed with action and emotion and will transport its readers on a dramatic trip into another world.

I took this from Marjorie’s website
“My gaze fell upon the family coat of arms on the carriage floor. It was dark purple, with snakes of the same colour winding around the edges. Unbidden, cold fear gripped me. What if this was to be the year that the Great Prophecy came true? I feared I would not be strong enough for the fight it would bring. But most of all, was afraid to have my people suffer under my reign.”

The Oracle has warned that the land of Orenda will be attacked by a powerful warrior, who is yet to be born. It is the duty of the beautiful young queen, Karalina, to lead the fight against this evil and vanquish the threat.

 

The Lost (And Found) Balloon Celeste Jenkins Illustrated by Maria Bogade

Molly O’Doon ties a note to her red balloon, lets it loose, and off it goes on a buoyant adventure. Who will answer Molly’s letter? Someone in a different state or a faraway country? Or maybe, a new friend much closer than she could ever imagine.  

The Lost (and Found) Balloon is the winner of the 5th annual Cheerios® New Author Contest. Selected from more than 8,000 entries by a team of editors, teachers, librarians, and General Mills staff, The Lost (and Found) Balloon will also appear in a bilingual (English/Spanish) mini-paperback edition in 1.5 million specially marked boxes of Cheerios.

Dragon Fire by Dina von Lowenkraft

Chapter 1
The Circle Tightens
The candle flickered in the subzero wind but Anna made no move to protect it. She stopped on the hill in front of Tromso's three-year high school and watched the water of the fjord shimmer below. Even though it was mid-afternoon there was no sun, just the luminous reflection of the moon.  The procession of students continues on without her, leaving only the fading sound of crunching snow in their wake.
This isn't a world I know. I read on and I do want to read this one.

Winner

Chick-o-Saurus Rex by Lenore Appelhans, Illustrated by Daniel Jennewein
The humorous story of a little chick who proves his mettle to the farm's big bullies when he discovers he has a very mighty lineage. Writing as Lenore Jennewein.
I couldn’t find a preview copy of this book, but I did find the author’s website and the book trailer.

I hope you found a book you want to pursue. If you haven't read them, here are the other 2014 Crystal Kite Posts:Crystal Kites Atlantic, Mid South and Southeast
California Hawaii and the West
Southwest and Midwest  New England, New York and Texas/Oklahoma  UK/Ireland, Middle East/India/Asia and Canada

Happy Reading

First Line/paragraphs from Crystal Kite Finalists Part 4

By Susan J. Berger

The annual Crystal Kite Award is a peer-given award to recognize great books from 15 SCBWI regional divisions around the world.

This post covers the finalists and winners in the Atlantic, Mid South and Southeast regions. It's interesting to note that most of the Crystal Kite finalist's books are available on Kindle. 
Some first lines weren't available online, but I was able to contact Timothy Young and Rhonda Hicks Rucker and they gave me their first lines.
I have no first lines for My Blue is Happy, but it felt wrong leaving out any of the finalists. I used the SCBWI Blurb in place of the first lines for that book. All links are to the SCBWI page. You can follow the page links to purchase sites.
Again: The Crystal Kite is a rather odd award in that there are no Categories. Therefore a picture book may be competing against a young adult novel.

 Atlantic (Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Washington DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland)

City Cat by Kate Banks, illustrated by Lauren Castillo

Wake up, City Cat. It’s dawn.

Watch the day put clothing on in city colors,

Brown black, rust and gray.

The pictures show a cat going through the landmarks of Europe. Looks like great fun.

I Hate Picture Books! Written and Illustrated by Timothy Young

I Hate Picture Books! I never want to read another Picture Book! So I’m getting rid of ALL of them . . . ‘cause all they do is get me in TROUBLE. 

I couldn’t find the first page, so I searched for Timothy Young on Facebook and he sent me a PDF of the book. I loved it so much that I wrote a review on Amazon and Goodreads. I love Timothy’s sense of humor and his illustrations.

Tea Party Rules by Ame Dyckman, Illustratrated by Keith Campbell

Cub was playing in the woods then he smelled something delicious. He followed his nose through the bushes and found . . .Cookies! And another bear.

The Monstore by Tara Lazar, Illustrated by James Burks

At the back of Frankensweet’s Candy Shoppe, under the last box of sour gumballs, there’s a trapdoor. Knock five times fast, hand over a bag of squirmy worms, and you can crawl inside THE MONSTORE.

Oh yes!  Want to read this one.  Thanks to Tara for sending me the first page.

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Margaret Medina

“Yaqui Delgado wants to kick your ass.”

A kid named Vanessa tells me this in the morning before school. She springs out with no warning and blocks my way, her textbook held at her chest like a shield. She’s tall like me and caramel. I’ve seen her in the lunchroom, I think. Or maybe in the halls. It’s hard to remember.

This one’s on my TBR list. It was also a 2014 Cybil nominee

  Winner

                                                             

Flame in the Mist by Kit Grindstaff

Prologue: The Sometime Long Ago Root of Revenge.

“Help me – help!” A weary voice from outside. A fist hammering on the door.

            The boy turned from the fire and the potion he was stirring. Who would call at this hour, before dawn had yet dusted the town rooves? He ran to the door and flung it open.

 The author put me in a far-gone time with that one phrase “before dawn had yet dusted the town rooves.” I kept reading the preview and it’s definitely on my TBR list.  

 Mid-South (Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana)

Gaby, Lost and Found by Angela Cervantes

Chapter 1
A Siamese cat crouched on a tree branch, peering down at Gaby with brilliant blue eyes. It cried out. The cat was stuck in the tree in front of her house and, as luck would have it, she had on the nicest sweater she owned. Gaby pulled the cardigan sweater tighter around her. This was her last good school sweater until who-knows-when her father would have enough money to buy her a new one. The poor cat cried again. Gaby looked back at her small yellow house. If her mother were here, that cat would already be out of the tree and purring – safe and sound in her mother’s arms.

I read on. Another TBR.  My reading list is expanding beyond my ability to keep up.

Ice Cream Soup by Ann Ingalls  (This is a level one reader)

Look at me.

Look at What I can make.

I can make and Ice Cream cake

Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos

When Baby Billy was born, his family noticed something odd: He had a mustache.

What does this mean?” his mother asked.

Well, it all depends,” the nurse said. “You’ll have to wait and see whether it’s a good-guy mustache or a bad-guy mustache.”

Yes! Must read.

My Blue Is Happy by Jessica Young

Follow one girl’s journey through her neighborhood as she explores what colors mean to different people. ls red angry, like a dragon’s burning breath? Or brave like a fire truck and a superhero cape? ls pink pretty or annoying? What about black and orange and green? ln her picture-book debut, author and art teacher Jessica Young challenges common assumptions about colors and celebrates individual perspective. Brazilian-born artist Catia Chien provides her own interpretation in this ode to colors—and the unique ways we experience them.

  

Swing Low, Sweet Harriet by Rhonda Hicks Rucker

Chapter 1: Rebel Rumors
South Carolina, 1863

Big Mama stood at the table, stirring cornbread batter. Ben tiptoed along the rear of the cabin, turned the handle of the back door, and opened it. Creeakk!! 
“Ben!”
“Yes’m.” He had forgotten to grease those hinges.
“You finished out in that barn?”
“Yes’m.”
“You sure?”
“Yes’m.”
“Where you going now?”
Here it comes. “Thought I’d go fishing for a spell.”
Big Mama quit stirring the batter for several seconds. She turned and looked at Ben. “Remember there’s cottonmouths and gators out there.”
“I remember.” Big Mama was always worried about the swamp creatures.
“Well you just mind yourself and be careful, you hear?”
“Yes’m.”
That was easier than he thought. Maybe she realized he was getting older, or maybe she just wanted some fish to cook. 
He dug out his line and pole from the shed and made his way to the Combahee River. There were still a couple of hours of daylight left, and he might get lucky.

 Thanks to Rhonda for sending the first page. Love her style. Another TBR

The 13th Sign by Kristin Tubb

Sagittarius: Your bubbly personality and effervescent style make you a shoo-in for “Most Likely to Be the Center of Attention at a Party. Straighten that tiara, flash those pearly whites and dance for your admirers, superstar.’”

Madame Beausoleil finished reading my horoscope form the ancient book in her lap. She raised her gaze to mine. Madame’s eyes were foggy with age, though she claimed her cloudy eyes helped her to “see.”

I am going to assume this teaser from the SCBWI Website was also part of her query letter. I would personally have asked for the ms.

What if there was a 13th zodiac sign? You’re no longer Sagittarius, but Ophiuchus, the healer, the 13th sign. Your personality has changed. So has your mom’s and your best friend’s. What about the rest of the world? What if you were the one who accidentally unlocked the 13th sign, causing this world-altering change, and infuriating the other 12 signs? 

Jalen did it, and now she must use every ounce of her strength and cunning to send the signs back where they belong. Lives, including her own, depend upon it.

Southeast (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama)

Anubis Speaks! by Vicky Alvear Shecter

Greetings, Mortal. Allow me to introduce myself.  I am Anubis – the Egyptian god of the “Mysteries of Embalming,” the “Guardian of the Veil of Death,” Opener of the Ways of the Dead,” and if you are “bad” . . .Your. Worst. Nightmare.

Olivia Twisted by Vivi Barnes

“Thus, a strain of gentle music, or the rippling of water in a silent place, or the odor of a flower, or the mention of a familiar word, will sometimes call up sudden dim remembrances of scenes that never were . . .”

-Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

LIV

I should be used to this by now – the emptiness that fills me when I become homeless for the stretch of a car ride. I’ve don’t this more times than I can count. But the truth is that it sucks. Every Time.

Wild Discoveries: Wacky New Animals by Heather Montgomery

Dear Explorer

Scientists have identified almost one million different animals creeping, peeking and sneaking across this earth! That number blows my mind. When I realized that there may be as many as six million new one waiting to be discovered – and that they are all a bit wacky –I couldn’t wait to write this book!

Winner

The Ballad of Jessie Pearl by Shannon Hitchcock

1 PUSH

Sometimes when the kerosene lamp casts shadows, I think I see Ma’s ghost. If she were still alive she’d say, Jessie Pearl, you keep on studying. Not everybody is cut out to be a farm wife. We’ll find a way to pay for teachers college. Leave your pa to me.

 I hope you find some of your own “must reads” here. Happy reading and writing, my friends.

You might also be interested in the other Regional 2014 Crystal Kites posts:

California Hawaii and the West

Southwest and Midwest 

New England, New York and Texas/Oklahoma 

First Line/paragraphs from Crystal Kite Finalists Part 3

by Susan J Berger

The annual Crystal Kite Award is a peer-given award to recognize great books from 15 SCBWI regional divisions around the world. This post covers the finalists and winners in New England, New York and Texas/Oklaholma. All links are to the SCBWI page. You can follow the page links to purchase sites.

Again . . The Crystal Kite is a rather odd award in that there are no Categories. Therefore a picture book may be competing against a young adult novel.

New England (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island) 

All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry
You didn’t come. I waited all evening in the willow tree with gnats buzzing in my face and sap sticking in my hair, watching for you to return from town.

Call Me Amy by Marcia Strykowski

Sharp ocean air raced around my bedroom before I slammed the window shut and headed downstairs.

My big sister Nancy called out to me. “Are you going for a walk by yourself again?” She swung her dark glossy ponytail over one straight shoulder.

            I nodded as I stooped to pull on my boots.

Dear Life, You Suck by Scott Blagden

The shrinkadinks think I have a screw loose. Ain’t playing with a full deck. Whacked-out wiring. Missing Marbles.

      

I love this voice. Dear Life You Suck  just joined my TBR list.

Living With Jackie Chan by Jo Knowles

Part One

SEPTEMBER

A true Karate man

 is one with a godlike capacity

 to think and feel for others;

irrespective of their rank or position

-Gitchen Funakoshi (1868-1957)

When Caleb, Dave and I pull up at my uncle’s apartment building, a wave of sickness rolls up my throat and threatened to spew across Caleb’s dashboard. I will back it down. Breathe. The car idles at the curb, waiting for me to get out. Caleb leans forward and peers up at the building as if it’s the first time he’s seen one taller than four stories. 

Monster Needs a Costume by Paul Czajak, Illustrated by Wendy Grieb
Monster needs a costume for his favorite time of year.
“It’s nearly Halloween,” he roared. “The day is almost here!”

When Rivers Burned by Linda Brennan, Illustrated by Lisa Greenleaf The story behind Earth Day
Once, in America citizens were sickened by smog; pesticides wiped out wildlife in towns, fields, and forests, and the rivers were dirty enough to burn.

When Rivers Burned had no preview on Amazon, nor is it available at the LAPL. But I want to read it! Its cover shows five awards. I contacted Linda and asked for the first line and she graciously sent it to me.

Winner:

The Story of Fish & Snail Written and Illustrated by Deborah Freedman
Every day . . . Snail sits in one special spot, waiting for Fish to come home with a story.

New York

Forest Has a Song by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
Invitation
Today I heard a pinecone fall.

I smell a spicy breeze.

I see Forest Wildly waving

Rows of friendly trees.

I’m here.

Come visit.

Please?

Frogged by Vivian Vande Velde

The Art of Being a Princess

The Foreward.

(Are you kidding? Nobody reads the foreword.)

“One should always strive,” Princess Imogene read in The Art of Being a Princess (third revised edition) “to be the sort of princess about whom it is said: ’She was as good as she was beautiful.’”

            “Ugh,” Princess Imogene said. She slammed the book shut – hating it already based on the first sentence.

  I put a hold on this one at the library. Must read.

Winner

Crankenstein! by Samantha Berger, Illustrated by Dan Santat
HAVE YOU SEEN CRANKENSTEIN?
OH, YOU WOULD TOTALLY KNOW IF YOU HAD.

 Texas, Oklahoma

Ball Written and Illustrated by Mary Sullivan

  Ball?

This hilarious one word book (repeated a lot) is an ode to a dog’s one track mind. A Theodore Geisel Honor book, Ball is a delight and proves that a word is worth a thousand pictures.

Happy Birthday, Bunny! by Liz Garton Scanlon
“What are these and what are those?”
“Fancy shoes and party clothes!”
Liz Garton Scanlon wrote All The World, one of my favorite picture books. The SCBWI bookstore did not have a "buy link" so I used Amazon.

Nugget & Fang by Tammi Sauer Illustrated by Michael Slack
1+1 = 2
Minnows = Shark lunch.
This is what Nugget is learning in minnow school. And this is why Fang is losing his best friend. Yes, Fang is a shark. He does have big sharp teeth. And he will convince Nugget that they can still be friends.
If he doesn’t, then . . .
2 - 1 = 1 lonely Fang
In the deep, deep ocean lived two best friends. Nugget and Fang. They did everything together.

The Dark Between by Sonia Gensler

When Kate Poole was twelve, her body had folded easily into the medium’s throne. Her limbs had been shorter, her joints more elastic. In those days she stayed cool and supple while waiting for the hymns to end.

Fascinated, I read the rest of the available preview on Amazon. I downloaded it from the LAPL.

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt

The First Night

1

From the rooftop of Information Headquarters Bingo and J’miah stood on their back paws and watched Little Mama and Daddy-O trundle away; their stripy gray and black silhouettes grew smaller and smaller in the deepening duck.

            Daddy-O called out, “Make us proud, boys!”

            That was followed by Little Mama. “Be sure to follow orders!”

Winner

Army Camels: Texas Ships of the Desert by Doris Fisher

"Raise the gangplank," ordered Captain Porter. "All the camels are loaded. It's

time to set sail for Texas. Camels, ho!"

I couldn't find the first line so I wrote to Doris Fisher and she kindly supplied it. This on is on my must read list.

I hope you find some of your own “must reads” here. Happy reading and writing, my friends.

You might also like First Lines From Crystal Kites - California/Hawaii and the West

And First Lines From the Crystal Kites - Southwest and Midwest