At this reading festival, kids pick the winners and authors are rock stars
Wesley King, a Canadian young-adult author, was in fifth grade when he first voted in a little children’s book festival in Ontario. He cast his ballot for “Silverwing,” about the adventures of a young bat. The book hooked him on reading, and its author became something of an early idol for him.
Two decades later, Mr. King’s first book, “The Vindico,” was nominated in that same festival. And he found himself competing with “Silverwing” author Kenneth Oppel. But more important to Mr. King was the full circle that was suddenly so
