Golden Duck Awards

The Golden Duck Awards, which are designed to encourage science fiction literature for children, are presented every year at Worldcon. There are several awards given each year, most carrying a small cash stipend. Super-Con-Duck-Tivity, the parent organization that presents the Golden Duck Awards, is a non-profit organization under 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Super-Con-Duck-Tivity holds an annual general interest science fiction convention called DucKon as a fundraiser.

Picture Book

Given for books written for very young children.

Eleanor Cameron Award for Middle Grades

Given for books written for grades 2 to 6.

Hal Clement Award for Young Adult

Given for books written for grades 6 to 12.

Special Awards

Given to acknowledge a book, author, illustrator or publisher not fitting in one of the other catagories. This award is created on an as-needed basis.

Current Award Winners

Picture Book:

We're Off To Look For Aliens by Colin McNaughton (Author/Illustrator).

When an author gets his book in the mail, he's nervous to have his family read it. And no wonder! It stars a guy who takes off in a rocket ship and meets a ghastly array of alien creatures - some smelly, some with eyes in their belly - and one lovely alien who steals his heart. Madcap rhymes and zany illustrations will tickle kids' funny bones, while a book within a book drives home a final twist.

Eleanor Cameron Award for Middle Grades:

Lighter Than Air by Henry Melton.

It could be the best prank in the history of Munising High School's unofficial Prank Day. Working for a next door neighbor inventor had left Jon Kish with unlimited quantities of lighter-than-air foam, perfect for building...say a full-sized flying saucer! High school honor demands it. Plus with the family stress of his mother's surgery, he needed something to keep his mind occupied. But little sister Cherry had her own schemes in play, and events more serious than high school pranks or mother's cancer were about to focus the world's attention on this little northern town.

Hal Clement Award for Young Adult:

Tie:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death before - and survived.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.

Marcus, a.k.a. "w1n5t0n", is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works - and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, Marcus and his friends skip school only to find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, they are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they're mercilessly interrogated. Released days later, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.