The New Zealand Book Awards Trust takes great pleasure in presenting the 28 finalist books in the 2022 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, a unique celebration of the contribution children’s authors and illustrators make to building national identity and cultural heritage in Aotearoa. Finalists have been selected in seven 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), te reo Māori (the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award), and Best First Book (the NZSA Award). Seek out the shortlisted titles in bookstores and libraries countrywide and listen out for your favourite authors participating in our Books Alive virtual programme, then join us when we announce the winners at an awards ceremony in Wellington on 10 August.
