This is super amazing because:
- The books on the shortlist with Magic or Madness are absolutely fantastic.
- It means I’m in the very tiny club of Norton Award winners with the brilliant Holly Black who won the inaugural award last year for Valiant.
- I’ve won an award named in honour of one of the most important writers of young adult fantasy books. How cool is that?
- Now when I’m described as an award-winning author it’s true!
Here’s the speech that Eloise Flood who published and edited the trilogy (as well as Scott’s Peeps and Maureen’s Devilish, which were also up for the award) delivered on my behalf at the ceremony:
Wow. Really. Wow.
This is such an honour. I’m a huge fan of genre YA and in particular of every book on this year and last year’s Norton shortlist. I’m not kidding. These are some of the best books out there: genre or not, YA or not. I can’t believe I’m on this list. And I REALLY can’t believe I won. You guys did read the other books on the list, didn’t you?
I’m bummed that I can’t be here but thrilled that Eloise Flood, who discovered me, nurtured me, and made me as a YA author is accepting on my behalf. Thank you for everything, Eloise! And thank you Liesa Abrams, Andy Ball, Margaret Wright, Kristen Pettit and the whole Razorbill team. You’re all awesome.
Thanks to everyone who nominated and voted for this award. Genre YA1 is in the midst of a Golden Age. The books are better than ever before. More kids and teens are reading than ever before. And these readers are the future of our genre and the future of literature.
This is a truly amazing time. I’m so proud to be part of it. I bet Andre Norton would be thrilled as well to see what she has wrought.
- Actually I think all of YA is in the midst of a Golden Age, not just genre. This has been an amazing week. I’m bouncing! [↩]
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
congratulations!
utterly, utterly deserved.
!!
yay! congrats! \o/
Congratulations, Justine. 🙂
Mazel tov!!!!
It couldn’t have happened to a nicer person 🙂
The others rock too of cource, but you are the nicest.
Yay yay yay! I’m so happy for you, Justine. Rawk!
Congratulations!
W00t! Congratulations!
Mazel tov!
Woo hoo!
justine…that’s fabby!!
OMG! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
that will be in lowercase, but I promise you, it’s ALL CAPS BABY!
Thank you so much everyone. I’m still bouncing. I may never stop!
Jennifer: I fixed your caps for you. (And, no, I don’t say that to all the girls.)
Wooooooooooooooooooooo!
Congratulations, Justine!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
Rock!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
That is so cool.
🙂
Jo
Congratulations. It must be a wonderful feel ing to see something you worked so hard on receive such high recognition!
Go have an appletini or something!
Yay you!
Eric
Congratulations!
yes, huge congratulations!
It was the only one of this year’s awards that made me smile. smile, heck, to yell HUZZAH!
eek! congratulations, justine! that rocks. ^_^
WOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!
I’d say I told you so, but that would be obnoxious. ;^)
Congratulations! I’m glad you won it.
wow justine! rock! you totally deserve it. the magic or madness trilogy is wicked! (well the first two. i tried to get the third yesterday at borders but they didnt have it. 🙁 ill have to wait till they get it.) *does congratulatory happy dance* (>^^)>
aw the rest of my dancing things didnt show up. oh well. you can pretend.
hurray!!!! that’s awesome. 😀 morm rocks! you rock! congrats!!
That’s the best news I’ve heard all morning! Congratulations and salutations. There will be celebratory alcohol on me the next time I see you–and yes! We’ll make sure its a really good bottle, obviously. Only the best for you, award-winner!
Ha ha ha.
You deserve it, you know. So, tell the little voice in the back of your brain to shush!
FANTASTIC! That’s what you are.
D
Congratulations! I’ve read the first two books, and they absolutely rock! I will get the third one very soon…
J
Congratulations on receiving the Andre Norton Award! This is a wonderful trilogy – it was a joy to read. I bought these books after reading of them on boingboing.net. Intend to give them to a friend’s daughter, but when they attived I had to read first. One cannot wait between books – the stories are so compelling.
Thank you – from a loyal fan.
Congratulations!
Hurrah & congratulations!!!! What wonderful and happy news!
Congratulations! You deserve it. And I absolutely agree that the other finalists were also stellar. This is the award I was most watching this year and I am so excited that you won. I’m doing a program on YA SFF on Friday at the Utah Library Association so it will be cool I can talk about it there.
Superb and well deserved. I was so glad when the award was created, and am thrilled that it’s going to such excellent work. Happy happy happiness.
Congratulations, Justine!!! Wonderful news! YAY!
Congratulations!
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fantabulous! Congratulations to you! Now go do something special to celebrate yourself (you can’t go wrong with chocolate and new shoes!)
YYYYAAAAAAAYYYYY! go justine! and welcome back to the u.s.!
OMG! OMG!!!
Congratulations, Justine!!! I’m sooo excited for you!
This is so well deserved! YAY!!!
🙂
Congrats Jerstein! I just finished the 3rd book and I deem it worthy.
Your excitement really shines through. And you should be excited! That is absolutely wonderful.
Woo-hoo!!!
Congratulations, Doc!!!
I’m going with Congratulations, Mazel Tov & because I can Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi (cause no one else seems to have done it yet).
Time to do the school run – well done & deserved Justine.
In the words of Xander…. Woo & might I add a big HOO!!!
congratulations! i’ve just this minute finished reading ‘Magic Lessons’ and about to pick up the third of the trilogy. Brilliant, breathtaking, wonderful read. You deserve it.
We’re so happy for you, Justine. And what a graceful and utterly Justinean speech! Eloise did a great job of reading it for you, but it would have been been even better to have you reading it for yourself. You were missed.
Congratulations!
Well-deserved.
Now you just need to figure out a way to delicately (but constantly) remind your husband that _you_ are the Norton Award winner. Heh. Even if there’s no career competition in the marriage, there’s still got to be a rich vein of comedy to mine there.
Congratulations, Justine! 🙂
oh, justine, that is wonderful!! congratulations, over and over and over.
YAY JUSTINE!!!!!
now, off i go to tell everybody i know and anyone else who’ll listen all about this FANTASTIC AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR and her truly incredible books… again.
and i even made sure to get the big, excited caps in all the appropriate places, just for you. 🙂
~mary
oops. well I tried. just know that “yay justine” and “fantastic award-winning author” were in big scream/yell excited caps.
~mary
hip hip
hooray!
hip hip
hooray!
hip hip
hooray!
WOW!!! CONGRATS, JUSTINE!!!!
yaHOOOOOOOO!!!!! congrats, Justine, this is supremely fantastic news!!!!
xoxo
m
yay, Justine! Congrats! Woo hoo! Dance! Dance! Joy! Joy!
So well deserved!
xoxooxoxoxoxoxooxo
That’s wonderful recognition, Justine! Beats the Aurealis hollow, I reckon. Congratulations!
your trilogy is awesome–i read all three books in one week. congratulations!
Congrats! And I’ll echo all the above with the “well deserved.”
Congratulations! And very well deserved.
YAY! *\o/*
Go you!!
Belated congrats! It’s fantastic your book won – and not just because you’re Australian, either 🙂
wow, congrats!
go you! i loved the whole trilogy and i’ve been recommending it to everyone i know. now i can add award-winner to the sales pitch. rock on, sistah!
Oh my god, I just heard. Hooray! Congratulations.
w00t! Congratulations!
Congratulations! I’m not too surprised though. I just read the entire trilogy for the first time recently and each one of them deserves an award. Each one was so believable…I never laughed and said “yeah right”. I just wish there were more…
Congragulations. 🙂