The New Zealand Book Awards Trust takes great pleasure in presenting the 28 finalist books in the 2021 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. Seek out the shortlisted titles in bookstores and libraries countrywide and join us at the Awards ceremony at Tiakiwai Conference Centre at the National Library in Wellington on 11 August.