Charis Cotter’s latest novel, The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall (Tundra Books), has won the 2026 Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award for Children’s Literature. This is the third time one of her books has won this award: The Ghost Road in 2020, and Footsteps in Bay de Verde in 2022. This award is given biannually by a jury who review submissions for the last two calendar years. Picture books, YA and middle-grade books are all in the mix. This year the NL Children’s Literature Award and the Adult Fiction Award were celebrated together at the refurbished and historic Colonial Building in St. John’s, after readings from all six finalists the night before at Bannerman Brewery. Charis lives in at the end of a road in Western Bay, Newfoundland, where she has placed the award on the windowsill to inspire her when she gets stuck writing. Which happens a lot!