The finalists have been announced for the 2016 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award, administered by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) and sponsored by Sylvan Learning. Honouring excellence in teen/young adult fiction, the $5,000 prize is awarded annually to a Canadian author.

The CCBC is a national, not-for-profit organization founded in 1976 to encourage the reading, writing and illustrating of Canadian books for young readers.

“The Book Centre is elated about this new partnership with Sylvan Learning—with all the wonderful work they do to advance literacy in Canada, we are very excited to be working with them,” says Charlotte Teeple, Executive Director at the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.

The Amy Mathers Teen Book Award was established after a year-long fundraising effort by CCBC volunteer Amy Mathers. Mathers read and reviewed a Canadian teen book every day for a year in order to bring more visibility to Canadian authors and to raise funds for the new award. This exciting new partnership will allow the CCBC to present the award for more years to come.

“Our Sylvan centres work with students across this country every day, helping with reading and a variety of subjects to ensure personal success,” said Amy Przywara, Chief Marketing Officer for Sylvan Learning. “This award and partnership will showcase the importance of loving to read and honouring the writers bringing great books to our teens.” 

The Amy Mathers Teen Book Award will be presented in November. For information on this year’s finalists, please click here.