• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7
• Reading age: 8 to 12

Winner of the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize

Jessica knew that the family meeting Dad had called for that evening probably wouldn't be good news. Family meetings usually meant Mum talking a lot and then the whole family getting involved in some project that left everything in a mess until they gradually forgot about it.

But at school that day, Jessica forgot about the meeting. A teacher announced a new class project: They were to choose partners, pick an animal to study and present a paper. Jessica's partner would be her best friend, Margaret. And so it was Margaret whom Jessica called with the tremendous news from the family meeting: Mum was pregnant. Margaret was nearly as excited as Jessica, and very quickly the two of them decided that instead of studying the duck-billed platypus for the school project, they would study babies. But all their reading, discussions and research did not prepare Jessica or her family for the drastic changes baby Lucie would bring to their lives.

Sarah Ellis is one of Canada's most-loved children's writers. A former librarian, she is a highly sought-after children's book reviewer, literary jury member and speaker who lectures internationally on Canadian children's books. She is the winner of the Governor General's Award (Pick-Up Sticks), the Mr. Christie's Award (Out of the Blue and The Several Lives of Orphan Jack) and the Sheila A. Egoff Award (The Baby Project, Back of Beyond and Odd Man Out). Further accolades for Odd Man Out include the prestigious TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award Master List, ALA Notable Book for Older Readers, Maine State Library Cream of the Crop List and OLA Best Bets - Top 10 Fiction for Children. Sarah Ellis has also won the Vicky Metcalf Award for a Body of Work. Sarah is on the faculty of Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Sarah Ellis' profile page

• Winner, Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize

[The Baby Project] sails far above the adolescent tragedy sub-genre. It is primarily a book of joy - wise and delightfully funny in equal parts.

Globe and Mail

This is a sometimes fun and funny book, a sometimes sad and moving one. It is smart, lively and unwilling to sidestep the hurtful or awkward or mean in how realitives get alone - and don't.

San Francisco Chronicle

This book is one of the most appealing and moving family stories to come along in ages.

Horn Book