Sorrow's Knot wins the Hughes!

Most excellent news! Sorrow's Knot just won the Monica Hughes Award for best fantasy or science fiction novel for young people. I'm thrilled -- I've had my eye on this award since they announced it a couple of years ago. In this picture, I'm on stage looking stunned, and noticing for the first time that the huge auditorium has a balcony.

Winning this one makes my books two for two at the big Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards.

Here is my speech as I prepared it, minus the gibbering. (Always prepare a speech, folks. No matter how much of a dark horse you are.)

There are many people I want to thank – so so many people who helped me research and write and edit Sorrow’s Knot – that I think I will confine myself mostly to those in the room – the wonderful team at Scholastic, many in New York, but many here: Nikole, Denise, Maral, Diane. My wonderful team at home, including my husband James Bow, who you will see up here getting this award in 2016, mark my words.

But I do have to thank one person who’s not in the room – and that’s Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek. Because when I was a young adult – before young adult literature was a thing – I read about 200 Star Trek novels. One for each week of high school. Science fiction and fantasy – and more specifically Mr. Spock – they saved me. Like many young people who read SF, I learn to live in this world mostly by reading about other worlds.

As a writer of fantasy, my dearest hope is to pass that on.

From those 200 books, I learned that smart, scientific misfits were going to be okay in the end. In fact – this is totally true – they turn out to rock. So here’s to the misfits – especially the ones on this list. To Allan and his cursed Princess – to Eva and her deceased narrator – to Teri and her amnesiac criminal – to Meghan and her decidely un-timerous mice. When I got this list I went and read all your books, and they are all wonderful. I’m very honoured to be on this list with you.

Thank you Harper Collins for sponsoring this award. And to the family of Monica Huguhes – thank you. None of us in Canada would be writing this way without her. She kindled the light.

I got to meet the Hughes family, which made me cry.

See? BIG stage. It's a good thing I couldn't see my name in lights behind me, or I would have been speechless.