Here’s your chance to nominate your favourite female author and see her crowned Queen of Teen! The Book People are running a competition to find the best female writer as voted for by young female readers. So who’s your favourite? Could it be Michelle Paver with her thrilling Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, Caroline Lawrence for her Roman Mysteries adventures or Sally Gardner for her beautiful historical novels? Get on over to the Queen of Teen site and let them know in 200 words why you think you’re favourite author should be nominated. Nominations close on July 10th and by entering you automatically get placed into a prize draw to win a special ticket to the ultra glamorous coronation party in September!
Congratulations to Francesca Simon, who has won Children’s Book of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards for her book Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman. The Galaxy British Book Awards are voted for by the public.
Four Orion titles have made it onto the long list for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie medal 2008. The titles nominated are: Gatty’s Tale by Kevin Crossley-Holland; Soul Eater by Michelle Paver; Blood Red, Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick and Dolphin Song by Lauren St John. The shortlist will be announced in January.
Find out more about the CILIP Carnegie Medal
Marcus Sedgwick was today named as the winner of the Booktrust Teenage Prize 2007 for his gothic novel My Swordhand is Singing, published by Orion. The prize was established by Booktrust in 2003 to recognise and celebrate contemporary fiction written for teenagers.
Marcus Sedgwick was delighted to win this prestigious award and said at the award cememony, “I am thrilled and surprised to win. It is such an important award which had a very strong shortlist this year.”
Anthony McGowan, judge and winner of Booktrust Teenage Prize 2006:“The 2007 Booktrust Prize turned up some stunning novels. But one novel stood out for its utterly gripping narrative, its brilliantly created atmosphere of terror and suspense, and the subtle poetry of its language. Marcus Sedgwick’s My Swordhand is Singing hooks the reader from the opening sentence, and, like the Gypsy music at its core, resonates still in the imagination long after the last note is sounded.”
(L - R) from back row next to Marcus and Anthony: Matthew Sawyer, Angela Wilkinson, Sam Audet, Zita Abila, Isabelle Ellis-Cockcroft, Katherine Flach, Francesca Grape
The cartoon episode of Horrid Henry Gets Rich Quick has made the nominations list in the Best Children’s Programmes section for the prestigious Prix Danube International Television awards. The ceremony takes place in Bratislava in September and we will let you know if everyone’s favourite naughty boy scoops the prize.
View Horrid Henry books, tapes, CDs and downloads
It was another Orion success in Calderdale this week as Breathe by Cliff McNish was announced the winner of the Calderdale Teenage Book Award for 2007. Cliff received the award in front of an audience of over 100 students and librarians from 10 schools throughout the area, in a ceremony at Halifax Central Library.
Also on the shortlist was My Swordhand is Singing by Orion author Marcus Sedgwick, as well as Damage by Sue Mayfield, Firestarter by Katherine Fford and The Curse of the Toads by Rebecca Lisle.
Audio interview (and transcript) with Cliff McNish Interview with Marcus Sedgwick
Orion organized a surprise drinks party for Sally Gardner to celebrate her reaching sales of 1,000,000. She was told she was coming in for an interview with a foreign journalist for a website, but on entering the board room, was greeted by the Orion team and champagne. Lisa Milton, Managing Director of Orion, gave a speech congratulating Sally on her success and Fiona Kennedy, Orion Children’s Publisher, presented her with a bouquet of flowers in red, white and blue to represent the tricolour flag of France as Sally’s forthcoming book, The Red Necklace (October) is set in the French Revolution. Sally said, "I had no idea this was happening and was completely bowled over by it. The fact that this amazing sales fig has been reached is mainly down to the tireless work and support I have had from the Sales team and everyone at Orion. It truly is a joint effort."
Interview with Sally Gardner
Huge congratulations to Lauren St John whose debut children’s novel, The White Giraffe, won the Calderdale Children’s Book of the Year this week.
The award has been running for 7 years and is voted for by children from 10 schools in the Calderdale area, there were three other novels on the shortlist. The White Giraffe was inspired by Lauren’s own childhood growing up in Zimbabwe, where she lived on the family farm and animal reserve, even owning her own pet giraffe!
Interview with Lauren St John
A list of the top 160 books for teenage boys has just been published aimed at getting more boys to enjoy reading. It has been put together by librarians who really know their stuff as the list is full of a wonderful mixture of thrillers, spooky stories, fantasy and lots more to get your teeth into. Every secondary school in England has the chance to choose 20 books from the list for free along with posters and postcards to promote their libraries.
There are no Dickens or JK Rowlings in the list but four Orion books make this prestigious list – all in the Top 80! Here is a taster of each of the 4 books to whet your appetites.
No 54: List of top 160 books for teenage boys
Setting of a Cruel Sun by Alan Gibbons is the dazzling sequel to Rise Of The Blood Moon but it stands alone, with its twists, turns and surprises for characters and readers alike.
The Helat rebels have broken the power of the demon lord and challenged the rule of their masters, the Sol-ket. But the Darkwing is merely in retreat, biding his time, and the Sol-ket will fight to their last breath to keep control of their golden cities. The power of the slaves is mounting as they rise to fulfil once-forbidden prophecies. When the Darkwing returns for his final onslaught, is anyone, soldier or slave, equipped to defeat him – especially as the cruel sun sets, beckoning a devastatingly relentless winter?
This is page-turning and unpredictable from start to finish.
Read an interview with Alan Gibbons
No 57: List of top 160 books for teenage boys
Breathe the chilling new stand-alone ghost story from master of suspense and acclaimed author of The Doomspell Trilogy, Cliff McNish.
Jack has always had an affinity with people from the past whose spirits remain in this world. When he and his mother move to an isolated house following his father’s death, Jack immediately senses the presence of the previous owner. But he soon becomes aware that other spirits are also reaching out to claim him …
At the heart of the house is the Ghost Mother, long dead but tortured by the death of her daughter, for which she feels responsible. The Ghost Mother has already imprisoned the spirits of four dead children and has stopped them traveling to the afterlife. She draws her strength by leeching their souls. Is it her intention that Jack should meet the same fate? Or has she other plans for the house’s latest resident?
Jack’s encounter with the ghosts leads him to the terrifying Nightmare Passage – a kind of purgatory to which spirits are violently, viciously condemned. His very survival now depends on the strength of his own powers, his understanding of the Ghost Mother’s guilt, his contact with her dead daughter, and the resolution of his own grief.
With breathless action sequences and an unexpected twist at the end, Breathe will keep you gripped to the very last page!
No 67: List of top 160 books for teenage boys
Soul Eater by Michelle Paver is the 3rd installment in the highly acclaimed Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness series set in Prehistoric times and featuring orphaned boy, Torak and his trusty companion, Wolf. The titles before it are Wolf Brother and Sprit Walker.
Wolf has been captured by an unknown enemy and Torak and Renn brave the frozen wilderness of the Far North as they try to find him. As they fight for survival amidst howling blizzards and the menace of the great white bear their friendship is tested to breaking point and Torak is forced to get closer to his enemies than ever before. It ends with Torak discovering a chilling secret of his own.
Michelle tries to experience first hand what Torak is going through and came face to face with wild polar bears researching this book as well as visiting Transylvania, Finland, Greenland and Northern Canada where she spent time learning the traditional skills of the Inuit People.
No 78: List of top 160 books for teenage boys
In this gripping book, My Swordhand is Singing, Marcus Sedgwick writes with his trademark gothic style and tells a heart-rending story of loss and redemption, inspired by ancient vampire folklore.
In a cold forgotten corner of Eastern Europe, in a land of one hundred thousand silver birch trees and softly falling snow, the Shadow Queen spreads fear and evil.
Set in the remote and forbidding forests of the 17th Century, in the bitter cold of an unrelenting winter Tomas and his son, Peter, arrive in Chust and, despite the inhospitability of the villagers, settle there as woodcutters. Peter doesn’t understand his taciturn, alcoholic father or why they’ve spent a lifetime moving from place to place, why he carries around a long, battered box and why Peter is forbidden to know of its mysterious contents.
Unbeknownst to Peter, Chust is a dying community, where the dead come back to wreak revenge on the living. As a band of gypsies arrive in the village and a series of terrifying events unfolds, Peter becomes drawn into a deadly quest, one which reveals to him his father’s warrior hero past. As the snow continues to fall, father and son must face the soul-less enemy and their terrifying destiny.
What are you waiting for? Now is a great time to get hooked on books!
To celebrate next week’s launch of Caroline Lawrence’s Roman Mysteries series on BBC1 (Tuesday 8th May 4.30, also see below), Blue Peter dedicated a show to Roman life and Caroline had a cameo role as Zoe’s slave!
Read all about it on Epistolae Flaviae, Flavia’s (aka Caroline Lawrence) blog.
Michelle Paver’s Soul Eater has been shortlisted for the Red House Children’s Book Award 2007. It is the only major children’s book prize prize voted for by children. The award is co-ordinated by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups and has three categories. Soul Eater has been shortlisted in the ‘Books for Older Readers’ category along with Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by Micheal Morpurgo and Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie.
Young readers up and down the country can now cast their votes, either by post or online at www.redhousechildrensbookaward.co.uk by 12 May 2007. The winner will be announced at a special ceremony at the Hay Festival of Literature in June.
Marcus Sedgwick has won the 2006 North East Teenage Book Award for his World War I novel The Foreshadowing. Pupils from schools throughout the region voted for the award and the winner was announced at a packed ceremony held on Friday night at The Centre for Life in Newcastle city centre. Other authors on the shortlist included Orion’s Ann Halam, Kevin Brooks, Graham Marks, Julia Jarman and Sue Mayfield..
Alan Gibbons was presented with the Salford High School Librarian Special Award at the Salford Children’s Book Awards on 26 January. The award ceremony took place in Lowry Centre, Salford Quays. Alan was presented with a framed Lowry print by Linda Parker, from St Patrick’s R C High School in recognition of all the hard work he has done in Salford schools over the last four years and to thank him for his commitment to the Awards. Alan has been shortlisted for the award each year since its inauguration four years ago and was delighted to be honoured with this Special Award.
Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver is the winner of the Southern Schools Book Award 2006. The award was voted for by pupils from 30 schools throughout Sussex, and the winner was announced at a ceremony at Roedean School in Brighton, attended by 300 of the young readers. Michelle said “I had a fantastic time on Friday night, and that wasn’t just because Wolf Brother won! The whole event was beautifully organised and it was fantastic to meet so many keen readers. I particularly appreciated the drum roll they gave us in the run-up to the results and I’ll never forget the cheer when Wolf Brother was announced the winner!”