CCRCE’s TRCA Committee has shortlisted five books for the 2020 Teen Reader’s Choice Award. The award winner will be announced June ^9th.

The 2020 finalists are:

• The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe
• Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
• Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell; illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks
• Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier
• The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown

The 2020 TRCA Committee selected the finalists from a list of over seventy titles. After months spent reading and discussing these suggestions, a selection was made. The selected titles include a fictional field guide to American high school life as told by a black French Canadian; a mystery involving murder, neglect, and systemic racism; a smart full colour graphic novel set in a pumpkin patch; a fantastical historical novel filled with love and imagination; and a graphic novel that humanizes the Syrian refugee crisis. 

Ben Philippe author of The Field Guide to the North American Teenager

Ben Philippe was born in Haiti and raised in Montreal. He has a B.A. from Columbia University and an M.F.A. in Fiction & Screenwriting from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas. He currently teaches at Barnard College in Manhattan, New York.

Ben has written articles for various magazines including Vanity Fair and Playboy. His short stories have appeared in several magazines. The Field Guide to the North American Teenager, a Morris Award winner, is his debut novel. He can be found online at www.benphilippe.com.

Oh yes! Ben has a dog Blue of which he is very proud.

Tiffany D. Jackson author of Monday’s Not Coming

Tiffany D. Jackson, a Brooklyn native and lover of naps, cookie dough, and beaches, is a TV professional by day and novelist by night. Her second novel, Monday’s Not Coming, was named one of the Best YA Books of 2018 by School Library Journal, Barnes & Noble, Buzzfeed, BCCB, and Texas Library Association.  

Author of Allegedly, Monday’s Not Coming, and Let Me Hear a Rhyme, Jackson received her bachelor of arts in film from Howard University and her master of arts in media studies from the New School. You can visit her online at www.writeinbk.com.

Rainbow Rowell author of Pumpkinheads

Rainbow Rowell is the award-winning author of such books as Eleanor & Park, Carry On, and Wayward Son. She made her comics debut as the writer of Marvel’s monthly Runaways series. Pumpkinheads is her first graphic novel.

When she’s not writing, Rainbow is reading comic books and planning Disney World trips. She lives in Nebraska with her husband and two sons and can be found online at https://www.rainbowrowell.com/

Faith Erin Hicks illustrator of Pumpkinheads

Faith Erin Hicks is a Canadian writer and artist who worked in the animation industry for several years before transitioning into writing and drawing comics full time in 2008. Her graphic novels include Friends with Boys, Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong (with Prudence Shen), The Last of Us: American Dreams (with Neil Druckmann), and the Eisner Award-winning The Adventures of Superhero Girl.

Faith currently lives in Vancouver, BC with her partner, Tim, and their helpful cat. Be sure and check her out at http://www.faitherinhicks.com/.

Jonathan Auxier author of Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster

Jonathan Auxier is the award-winning author of Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, which was a BookPage Magazine Best Book of 2011 and Diamond Willow Award winner. This novel was successfully followed by The Night Gardener which was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award. His third book, Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard, received four starred reviews and was shortlisted for the Sunburst Fantasy Award in Canada. His latest novel, Sweep, named one of CBC Books’ Best Canadian Children’s & YA Books of 2018, received six starred reviews as well as the Governor General’s Award.

Jonathan, a Canadian-born writer, grew up near Vancouver and now lives in Pittsburgh with his family where he teaches creative writing and children’s literature. He can be found online at https://www.thescop.com/.

Don Brown author of The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees

Don Brown is the award-winning author and illustrator of numerous books including Drowned City. His latest book on the Syrian refugee crisis is a Sibert Honor Medalist, New York Public Library Best Of 2018, and a Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Excellence in Nonfiction Winner.

Don lives in New York with his family. Visit him online at https://www.booksbybrown.com/.

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Members of the 2020 TRCA Committee are: Eve Trainer, Jan Matthews, Matt Cole, Myrna Allen, and Susan Cochrane.