Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: c-r-stewart

GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers – 2019 CIBA Winners
Congratulations to the First Place Category Winners and the Grand Prize Winner of the GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers, a division of the CIBAs.

The CIBAs Search for the Best Middle-Grade Books

Chanticleer International Book Awards is celebrating the best books featuring stories of all shapes and sizes written to an audience between the ages of about eight to twelve. Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Historical, Adventure. We love them all.

The 2019 GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the GERTRUDE WARNER Grand Prize winner were announced at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference that was broadcast via ZOOM webinar the week of Sept 8 -13, 2020 from the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.

Peter Greene, author of The Jonathan Moore Adventures (and previous GOETHE CIBA Grand Prize Winner), announced the Gertrude Warner Book Award Winners.

This is the OFFICIAL 2019 LIST of the GERTRUDE WARNER BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the GERTRUDE WARNER Grand Prize Winner.

Congratulations to ALL!
- Amber L. Wyss – A Flash of Fire
- M.J. Evans – PINTO!
- Beth Stickley – Tarnation’s Gate
- Rey Clark – Legends of the Vale
- Laura M. Kemp – Burnt Feathers
- C.R. Stewart – Britfield and the Lost Crown
- Trayner Bane – Windhollow and the Axe Breaker (Windhollows, Book 3)
- Carolyn Watkins – The Knock…a collection of childhood memories
The GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards

2019 Grand Prize Winner is

The Valley of Death – Arken Freeth Series by Alex Paul

This is the badge for the 2018 Grand Prize Winner of the 2018 Gertrude Warner – Portals of Peril by Jules Luther

We are accepting submissions into the 2021 Gertrude Warner Book Awards until June 30, 2021.

The 2020 Gertrude Warner Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC 21 on April 17, 2021.

Don’t delay! Enter today!

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in October. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for your patience and understanding.

If you have any questions, please email info@ChantiReviews.com == we will try our best to reply in 3 or 4 business days.
September 21, 2020
CELEBRATING CHILDREN’S BOOKS with GERTRUDE WARNER Awards for Middle-Grade Readers – Action/Adventure, Coming of Age, Fantasy, Magic, School, Sci-fi
Here at Chanticleer, we love Children’s literature! There is just something about a truly well-told story that sparks the imagination of the young – and the young at heart.

So, as we celebrate Children’s Book Week – May 4 – 10, 2020, allow us to bring along a few friends and share with you some really good books.

Did you know that 2020 marks the 96th anniversary of the first edition of the first book The Boxcar Children by Gertrude C. Warner?

It’s true! We titled the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) division for middle-grade readers The Gertrude Warner Awards in honor of the author of the well-loved children’s The Boxcar Children Series.

I guess you could say, we’re fans. BIG fans!

We love Gertrude and so many others! Here’s a little list of some of Middle-Grade Children’s authors you probably already know:

Ron Dahl – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter series

Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians

R.J. Palacio – Wonder

Lemony Snicket – The Series of Unfortunate Events

Madeleine L’Engle – A Wrinkle in Time

Louis Sachar – Holes

Kelly Barnhill for The Girl Who Drank the Moon

Neil Gaiman – for so, so many books!

Lois Lowry – The Giver

Now – a very special treat! Please take the time to find out about some of our very own personal favorite Middle-Grade Children’s Authors:

The Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers – FINALISTS for 2019 – are
- Amber L. Wyss – Phoenix Rising
- M.J. Evans – PINTO!
- M.J. Evans – The Stone of Wisdom – Book 4 of the Centaur Chronicles
- Beth Stickley – Tarnation’s Gate
- Rey Clark – Legends of the Vale
- Laura M. Kemp – Burnt Feathers
- Alex Paul – The Valley of Death, Book 5, Arken Freeth and the Adventure of the Neanderthals
- Trayner Bane – Windhollow and the Axe Breaker (Windhollows, Book 3)
- Carolyn Watkins – The Knock…a collection of childhood memories
- Liana Gardner – 7th Grade Revolution
- Nancy McDonald – Boy from Berlin
- Wendy Leighton-Porter – The Shadow of the Tudor Rose
- Kit Bakke – Dancing on the Edge
- Mobi Warren – The Bee Maker
- C.R. Stewart – Britfield and the Lost Crown
- B.L. Smith – Bert Mintenko and the Serious Business
These titles are in the running for the First Place positions of the 2019 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers

– and one will be named GRAND Prize Winner!

The 2018 Gertrude Warner Book Awards Grand Prize went to Jules Luther – for the unpublished book, The Portals of Peril

2018 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers First in Category Winners
- Keelic and the Pathfinders of Midgarth by Alexander Edlund
- Guinevere: At the Dawn of Legend by Cheryl Carpinello
- The Portals of Peril by Jules Luther
- From the Shadows by KB Shaw
- Tallulah’s Flying Adventure by Gloria Two-Feathers
- Vampire Boy by Aric Cushing
- The Adventures of Rug Bug by Kay M. Bates
Paul Aertker took home the CIBA GRAND PRIZE 2017 Gertrude Warner Book Awards Grand Prize for

BRAINWASHED: CRIME TRAVELERS SPY SCHOOL SERIES

2017 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers First in Category Winners
- The Supernatural Pet Sitter by Diane Moat
- Bryce Bumps His Head by Robert D. Calkins
- Brainwashed: The Crime Travelers Series by Paul Aertker
- The Queen and Knights of Nor by Rebekah Stelzer/R.L.Stelzer
- Lucky Rocks by Murray Richter
- Flowerantha by Bek Castro
- The Strange Case of Mr. Beets by A Pharmacist on a Yak (Anand Vora)
The 2016 Gertrude Warner Book Awards Grand Prize was won by Alan Sproles & Lizanne Southgate for their work, The Train From Outer Space.

2016 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers First in Category Winners are:
- Life On Base: Quantico Cave by Tom & Nancy Wise
- The Train from Outer Space by Alan Sproles and Lizanne Southgate
- The Mystery of Hollow Inn by Tara Ellis
- Ethyr by M.P. Follin
- I, Mary by Mike Hartner
Are you interested in seeing how your Middle-Grade book stands up to the competition? Submit them to the Chanticleer International Book Awards and we will choose the best among the entries!

Click here for more information about The CIBAs!

The deadline to submit your book for the Gertrude Warner awards is May 31, 2019. Enter here!

The deadline for 2019 submissions has been extended to June 15, 2019. Grand Prize and First Place Winners for 2019 will be announced on September 5, 2020, at the CIBA Awards Banquet.

Any entries received on or after June 16, 2019, will be entered into the 2020 Gertrude Warner Book Awards.

As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your Middle-Grade Reader deserves! Enter today!

The GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.

All Finalists and First Place category winners will be recognized, the first-place winners will be whisked up on stage to receive their custom ribbon and wait to see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. It’s an exciting evening of dinner, networking, and celebrations!

Don’t delay! Enter today!
May 7, 2020
BRITFIELD and the LOST CROWN by C. R. Stewart – Action/Adventure, Coming of Age, Mystery/Caper

Tom and Sarah are best friends who reside in a dilapidated English orphanage housed in a 16th-century castle. Only this castle isn’t the kind that inspires romance or chivalry; Weatherly orphanage is run like a maximum-security prison where children are forced to work, creating goods that are sold in the local village.

Many orphans have tried to get beyond Weatherly’s gates and have failed. Mr. Speckle, a scurrilous caretaker, prowls the grounds, keeping constant surveillance, ensuring the children are working and staying in their place. But Tom is a daring lad, often going on “raids” to steal books from the private library of Weatherly’s owners for his friends to read. Mr. and Mrs. Grievous, a dreadful pair who frown upon any sort of learning, run the orphanage.

One day, Tom and Sarah resolve to get out of Weatherly – forever. Ahead of them, the path is long, twisting, and dangerous, filled with a whirlwind tour through the English countryside. Here, author Stewart sharpens his focus and showcases the beauty and mystery of Great Britain. Readers will discover the places that are dear to the author’s heart as Tom and Sarah travel far and wide, including places such as the Midlands, Canterbury, Windsor Castle London and many more. But trouble is always nipping at Tom and Sarah’s heels, and when the renowned Detective Gowerstone takes up the case, the pair are nearly captured. They only escape by commandeering a hot-air balloon!

As we follow them on their clandestine route, we begin to learn more about who Tom might be—and why some highly placed operatives would like to see him eliminated altogether. It all goes back 150 years to the disappearance of the mysterious Britfield dynasty and the ascendancy of Queen Victoria, leaving one to wonder, Did the wrong person get the crown?

Britfield and the Lost Crown delivers as a detailed and intriguing first-in-series read that is sure to capture the attention of the middle grade and young adult crowd and those who love the Y/A action and adventure genre. Readers journey through the English cities and countryside beautifully rendered in the narrative. The book also includes maps and intelligent background information about the setting and history with access to online illustrations and commentaries on castles, villages, and towns where our heroes visit. Overall, Britfield weaves plot, texture, storytelling, and fascinating characters into a winning combination and enriching experience for adventure fans.

April 1, 2019