Depression-era tale
wins isle awardHawaii's schoolchildren have voted, and the winner's of this year's Nene Award for a children's book is ...
"Bud, Not Buddy," by Christopher Paul Curtis, the story of a 10-year-old boy in the Great Depression of the '30s whose self-invented -- and complicated -- list of rules called "To Have a Funner Life and Make a Better Liar out of Yourself" leads to love, a home and a real family. The novel also won the Newbery children's literature award.
As usual, last year's winner was awarded the prize at a Friday morning ceremony at the State Library and this year's winner announced, Chairwoman Candace Foster said.
"We're hoping that Mr. Curtis can come next year, but we've heard he may attend a literary conference at the University of Hawaii," Foster said.
Last year's winner was Louis Sachar, whose "Holes" also won the Newbery for children's literature. "I am thrilled that you have voted 'Holes' the winner of the Nene award," Sachar wrote in his acceptance letter. "It took me a year and a half to write the book, in which time I rewrote it more than five times. And nearly all the time I was writing it I was thinking, this won't work, it's too confusing, who wants to read about a kid who does nothing but dig holes all day? Still, I kept with it, day after day, digging my holes."
Unlike most literary awards, the Nenes are determined by the children of Hawaii in grades 4 through 6, based on the book they like the most. This year, more than 7,000 votes were cast in more than a hundred Hawaii schools and libraries.
The event also includes an essay and a poster contest. The 2002 essay winners are Jessica Hall of Sacred Hearts Academy, Elise Takebayashi of Kaneohe Elementary, Amelia Linsky of Kaneohe Elementary and Tanya Alconcel of Sacred Hearts Academy. Poster winners are Jani Lindly of Kaneohe Elementary and Sook Hoon Chang and Ellen Leung, both of Aina Haina Elementary.
The Nenes have been awarded every year since 1963 (except for 1967). The author with the most wins is Beverly Cleary.
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