Phoenix Award (1985-2010)

from Collecting Children's Books by Peter D. Sieruta accessed 10/31/09

The Phoenix Award, is presented each year by the Children’s Literature Association, to “the most outstanding book for children published twenty years earlier which did not receive a major award at the time of publication.”
It’s a fascinating premise for a book award. It allows a committee to fix past slights, identify titles that have fallen into neglect and are now ripe for revival, or perhaps use twenty/twenty hindsight to select winners that have grown in stature in the years since publication. The award is international in scope, with several winners hailing from Great Britain and Australia. Personally, I think the guideline regarding a book not having received “a major award” is interpreted a bit liberally since Newbery Honor Books -- not winners, but still...they're pretty major -- are eligible. I'd prefer to see Newbery Honors uneligible as well.

Here is the list of previous winners:

2010 /. THE SHINING COMPANY / Rosemary Sutcliff
2009 / WEETZIE BAT / Francesca Lia Block
Honor Book: LUCIE BABBIDGE’S HOUSE / Sylvia Cassedy
2008 / EVA / Peter Dickinson
Honor Book: THE DEVIL’S ARITHMETIC / Jane Yolen
2007 / MEMORY / Margaret Mahy
Honor Book: WAITING FOR THE RAIN / Sheila Gordon
2006 / HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE / Diana Wynne Jones
Honor Book : THE TRICKSTER / Margaret Mahy
Honor Book : THE SHADOW IN THE NORTH / Philip Pullman
2005 / THE CATALOGUE OF THE UNIVERSE / Margaret Mahy
Honor Book : FIRE AND HEMLOCK / Diana Wynne Jones
2004 / WHITE PEAK FARM / Berlie Doherty
Honor Book : ANGEL SQUARE / Brian Doyle
2003 / THE LONG NIGHT WATCH / Ivan Southall
Honor Book : A SOLITARY BLUE / Cynthia Voigt
2002 / A FORMAL FEELING / Zibby Oneal
Honor Book : STORY FOR A BLACK NIGHT / Clayton Bess
2001 / THE SEVENTH RAVEN / Peter Dickinson
Honor Book : THE NIGHT JOURNEY / Kathryn Laskey
2000 / KEEPER OF THE ISIS LIGHT / Monica Hughes
Honor Book : THE FLEDGLING / Jane Langton
1999 / THROWING SHADOWS / E.L. Konigsburg
Honor Book : THE DISAPPEARANCE / Rosa Guy
Honor Book : WORDS BY HEART / Ouida Sebestyen
1998 / A CHANCE CHILD / Jill Paton Walsh
Honor Book : BEAUTY / Robin McKinley
Honor Book : THE DEVIL IN VIENNA / Doris Orgel
1997 / I AM THE CHEESE / Robert Cormier
1996 / THE STONE BOOK / Alan Garner
Honor Book : ABEL’S ISLAND / William Steig
1995 / DRAGONWINGS / Laurence Yep
Honor Book : TUCK EVERLASTING / Natalie Babbitt
1994 / OF NIGHTINGALES THAT WEEP / Katherine Paterson
Honor Book : MY BROTHER SAM IS DEAD / James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
Honor Book : LISTEN FOR THE FIG TREE / Sharon Bell Mathis
1993 / CARRIE’S WAR / Nina Bawden
Honor Book : A PROUD TASTE FOR SCARLET AND MINIVER / E.L. Konigsburg
1992 / A SOUND OF CHARIOTS / Mollie Hunter
1991 / A LONG WAY FROM VERONA / Jane Gardam
Honor Book : A GAME OF DARK / William Mayne
Honor Book : THE TOMBS OF ATUAN / Ursula LeGuin
1990 / ENCHANTRESS FROM THE STARS / Sylvia Louise Engdahl
Honor Book : RAVENSGILL / William Mayne
Honor Book : SING DOWN THE MOON / Scott O’Dell
1989 / THE NIGHT-WATCHMEN / Helen Cressell
Honor Book : BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME? / Milton Meltzer
Honor Book : PISTOL / ADRIENNE RICHARD
1988 / THE RIDER AND THE HORSE / Erik Christian Haugaard
1987 / SMITH / Leon Garfield
1986 / QUEENIE PEAVY / Robert Burch
1985 / THE MARK OF THE HORSE LORD / Rosemary Sutcliff