On May
15, 2012, I had the honour of hosting the Ontario Library Association's Red Maple and White Pine Awards at Harbourfront in Toronto.
Over 8000
enthusiastic readers were present for the day, which is part of the OLA’sForest of Reading program, involving a staggering QUARTER MILLION YOUNG READERS across Ontario!
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| The crowd at the Red Maple Awards. |
Last year, when my novel TheMonkeyface Chronicles won the 2011
White Pine Award, I don’t think I have ever felt more like a rock star in
my entire life.
This year’s rock stars,
as chosen by the readers themselves, were:
Kenneth Oppel -
Winner of the Red Maple Award (grades 7-8) for Half Brother
Neil Pasricha -
Winner of the White Pine Non-Fiction Award for The Book of Awesome
Kelley Armstrong -
Winner of the White Pine Fiction Award for The Gathering
During my
opening remarks to the huge audiences of teens and tweens, I had this to say
about their participation in choosing the winners of these awards:
“Two of the cornerstones of
any great civilization are literacy
and democracy. You have proven that you are literate by reading the great books that
were nominated for this year’s White Pine Awards, and you have participated in democracy by carefully considering each
nominated book, and voting for the books that you believed most deserved your
vote.
So, congratulations to YOU,
for being literate and democratic. The
future of our society is in the hands of those who are cultured, who are informed,
and who participate in democracy. And from where I stand right now, the future
looks bright indeed.”
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| Now I can officially say that I have been MC to Maestro Fresh Wes. |
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| Look kids! It's me and Survivorman! |
