From a field of 166 entries, the 28 finalists in the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are announced today. Across six main categories, these books offer the nation’s young readers a tasty smorgasbord of titles, packed with meaty themes and addictive plot lines.

There are six categories: Picture Book, Junior Fiction (the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award), Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction (the Elsie Locke Award), Illustration (the Russell Clark Award) and te reo Māori (the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award), with up to five finalists selected for each category, and from these a category winner is selected. 

The awards are judged by a panel of five. 

International bestselling author Lani Wendt Young has been named a finalist in the Young Adult Fiction category for her book Fire's Caress (Published by OneTree House), in this years New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults.