2024
Grand Prize
Eric R. Roxas for Monina’s Many Moles
Honorable Mention
Kim Alexis D. Santiago for What Mona Likes, What Lolo Likes
Carmela Esguerra-Jose for Beybi Namin si Lola
Patricia Marie Grace S. Gomez for The Balayong Table
Alleona Marie B. Antido for Tiny Little Box of Isla
Genaro R. Gojo Cruz for May mga Nawawala sa Loob ng Aming Bahay
At school, Monina greets everyone with “Good Morning!”, “Kamusta?”, “Hello!”, “Hi!” and “Happy Tuesday, mga kaibigan!”
“Who’s that girl?” one of the school kids asks.
“Is that Shy Girl Monina?” another says. “But where’s her hooded jacket?”
“And are those moles all over her body?” a third one adds. “Wow, they’re beautiful!”
—Monina’s Many Moles
The Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) awards this year’s PBBY-Salanga Grand Prize to Eric R. Roxas for his entry, Monina’s Many Moles, a fun and witty tale about a girl gaining confidence in herself thanks to a gift bestowed by the magical “Mole Fairy.”
Roxas is a picture book and middle grade author writing under the name Benjamin Orion. He won the 2021 #RevPit writing contest for his fantasy middle grade novel, Sampaguita and the Goddess of Lost Things, and was awarded a three-month developmental edit and mentorship under US Literary Agent Hannah VanVels Ausbury. Earlier this year, he was chosen by We Need Diverse Books as one of their 2023 mentees with his contemporary LGBTQIA+ middle grade novel, The Rainbow Diary of a Gravestone Maker’s Son, and was paired with internationally-published author Nicole Melleby. He is also a member of the #FiltheShelves writing community and is represented by Regina Bernard-Carreno at the Ladderbird Literary Agency. This is Roxas’s first PBBY-Salanga Prize.
PBBY also recognized five Honorable Mention winners:
What Mona Likes, What Lolo Likes by Kim Alexis D. Santiago
Beybi Namin si Lola by Carmela Esguerra-Jose
The Balayong Table by Patricia Marie Grace S. Gomez
Tiny Little Box of Isla by Alleona Marie B. Antido
May mga Nawawala sa Loob ng Aming Bahay by Genaro R. Gojo Cruz
The winners will be awarded at the 41st National Children’s Book Day celebration on July 16, 2024.
For inquiries about the contest, contact the PBBY Secretariat at secretariat@pbby.org.ph.
