from School Library Journal, excerpt

Children's book awards: The winners of the Crystal Kite Member Choice Awards for 2012 have been announced by the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI). Honoring excellence in children's books, each regional chapter of the SCBWI is assigned one of 15 divisions and the author and artist members working in the children's book field in each division vote for their favorite book published by a member of the organization. The winners are: Africa: Finding Aunt Joan by Jenny Hatton and Joan Rankin (Jacana Media); California/Hawaii: Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw, illus. by Eugene Yelchin (Holt); Southeast: Cleopatra's Moon by Vickey Alvear Shecter (Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Bks.); Mid-South: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (Philomel); Mid-East/India/Asia: Orchards by Holly Thompson (Delacorte); Midwest: Bluefish by Pat Schmatz (Candlewick); Southwest: Black and White: The Confrontation Between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene "Bull" Connor by Larry Brimner (Boyds Mill); New York: Pearl by Jo Knowles (Holt); Atlantic: The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine (Philomel); Texas/OK: Mine! by Patrice Barton (Random); Americas: Witchlanders by Lena Coakley (S & S/Atheneum); UK/Europe: Dark Parties by Sara Grant (Little, Brown); West: The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson (Delacorte).