# Monique Polak

Monique Polak (born May 20, 1960) is a writer from Montreal, Quebec. She has won the Janet Savage Blachford Prize, formally known as the Quebec Writer's Foundation Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature, three times: What World is Left (2009), Hate Mail (2014), and Room for One More (2020).

## Personal life and education

Polak was born May 20, 1960, in Montreal to Maximilien, a criminal court judge, and Celina, a homemaker, Polak. Celina survived the Holocaust, as did her two brothers and both parents. Maximilien survived the Holocaust because he was a painter in Holland and was forced to do propaganda art for the Nazis. Polak also has a sister named Carolyn.
She married Chaim Melamed December 16, 1979, and the couple have a daughter named Alicia. They divorced in 1985. She married Michael Shenker, a journalist, on June 2, 1996.
Polak received a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from McGill University in 1981, and a Master of Arts in English literature from Concordia University.
Polak is Jewish.

## Career

In 1987, Polak began teaching in English and humanities at Marianopolis College, where she has worked since.
She is also a freelance journalist. Her articles appear regularly in The Montreal Gazette and other Postmedia newspapers across the country. Several of her feature stories have also been published in Maclean's Magazine.
In 2015, Polak was named the inaugural CBC/QWF Montreal writer-in-residence.

## Awards and honours

Awards for Polak's writing :
| Year | Title | Award | Result |
| 2007 | All In | Arthur Ellis Award | Winner |
| 2008 | What World Is Left | Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth | Selection |
| 2009 | What World is Left | QWF Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature | Winner |
| 2010 | The Middle of Everywhere | Janet Savage Blachford Prize | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Pyro | Janet Savage Blachford Prize | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Hate Mail | Janet Savage Blachford Prize | Winner |
| 2014 | Straight Punch | Janet Savage Blachford Prize | Shortlist |
| 2019 | I Am a Feminist: Claiming the F-Word in Turbulent Times | Janet Savage Blachford Prize | Shortlist |
| 2019 | Planet Grief | Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Room for One More | Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Room for One More | Janet Savage Blachford Prize | Winner |

## Publications
### Novels

* Flip Turn (James Lorimer, 2004)
* No More Pranks (Orca, 2004)
* On the Game (James Lorimer, 2005)
* Home Invasion (Orca, 2005)
* All In (James Lorimer, 2006)
* Finding Elmo (Orca, 2007)
* Scarred (James Lorimer, 2007)
* 121 Express (Orca, 2008)
* What World Is Left (Orca, 2008)
* The Middle of Everywhere (Orca, 2009)
* Junkyard Dog (Orca, 2009)
* Miracleville (Orca, 2011)
* Pyro (Orca, 2012)
* So Much It Hurts (Orca, 2013)
* Straight Punch (Orca, 2014)
* Hate Mail (Orca, 2014)
* Learning the Ropes (Orca, 2015)
* Forensics Squad Unleashed (Orca, 2016)
* Leggings Revolt (Orca 2016)
* Bullies Rule Orca, 2017)
* Princess Angelica, Camp Catastrophe, illustrated by Jane Heinrichs (Orca, 2018)
* Planet Grief (Orca, 2018)
* Princess Angelica, Part-Time Lion Trainer, illustrated by Jane Heinrichs (Orca, 2019)
* The Taste of Rain (Orca, 2019)
* Room for One More (Kar-Ben, 2019)
* Princess Angelica, Junior Reporter, illustrated by Jane Heinrich (Orca, 2020)
* For the Record (Owlkids, 2022)
* Open Science: Knowledge For Everyone (Orca, 2023)

### Nonfiction

* Passover: Festival of Freedom (Orca, 2016)
* I Am a Feminist: Claiming the F-Word in Turbulent Times (Orca, 2019)
* Why Humans Work: How Jobs Shape Our Lives and Our World, illustrated by Suharu Ogawa (Orca, 2022)
* Passover Family (Orca, 2018)
* The Brass Charm, illustrated by Marie Lafrance (Scholastic, 2022)