Press Release: Prizes and Awards
A Well-travelled Shortlist For Booktrust Teenage Prize 2010
Posted at 12:01AM Tuesday 07 Sep 2010
Global adventures abound in this year's Booktrust Teenage Prize shortlist which takes in ancient Greece, a disease-ridden London, Malaga, New York, the Arctic Circle and post-independence Zimbabwe as teenage protagonists struggle in search of their identity, and sometimes for their very survival. A mother and daughter writing partnership, Young James Bond author, previous Booktrust Teenage Prize winner, deep-sea diver, descendant of an international cricketer, and former editor of Ellegirl UK are all in the running to take the £2,500 winning cheque and a trophy at a ceremony in London on 1 November 2010. The Booktrust Teenage Prize 2010 shortlist is: The Enemy by Charlie Higson (Puffin) The Enemy is a chilling post apocolyptic tale from TV actor, comedian and author of the bestselling Young Bond series. It is modern-day London, but something terrible has happened. A mystery illness has infected everyone over the age of fourteen. Those afflicted either die or become so crazed by disease they are little more than wild animals. Gangs of kids are left to fend for themselves, dodging the zombie adults who remain and trying not to tear one another apart in the process. Halo by Zizou Corder (Puffin) A story of one girl's heroic voyage to discover her true identity in ancient Greece. Washed ashore as a baby in ancient Greece, Halo is discovered by a family of centaurs. Although her true identity remains a mystery, she is loved as one of their own. But when Halo is dragged away by fishermen, her wild adventure begins. Halo soon realises that if she is to survive then she must live in disguise – as a boy. Nobody's Girl by Sarra Manning (Hodder Children's Books) A novel about teenage love, loss and identity from the former editor of Ellegirl UK. Plain, frumpy, dull as mud – that's Bea. So when super-cool Ruby and her posse want to hang with her, it has to be a practical joke. But an invitation to a girly holiday in Malaga with Ruby and co. seems like the real deal. Even better, Bea can get away from her annoying mum. Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace (Andersen Press) A compelling and thought-provoking novel about race, bullying and the need to belong. Zimbabwe, 1980s. The war is over, independence has been won and Robert Mugabe has come to power offering hope, land and freedom to black Africans. It is the end of the Old Way and the start of a promising new era. For Robert Jacklin, it's all new: new continent, new country, new school. And very quickly he learns that for some of his classmates, the sound of guns is still loud, and their battles rage on. Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick (Orion) From the winning author of the 2007 Booktrust Teenage Prize, this novel makes the reader look again at that weapon that has become so familiar to us all. 1910. A cabin north of the Arctic Circle. Fifteen-year-old Sig Andersson is alone. Alone, except for the corpse of his father, who died earlier that day after falling through a weak spot on the ice-covered lake. His sister, Anna, and step-mother, Nadya, have gone to the local town for help. Then comes a knock at the door. It's a man, the flash of a revolver's butt at his hip, and a mean glare in his eyes. Unhooking the Moon by Gregory Hughes (Quercus) Two orphaned siblings set out on a poignant and gripping road-trip adventure. Meet the Rat: A dancing, football-playing gangster-baiting ten-year-old. When she foresaw her father's death, she picked up her football and decided to head for New York. Meet her older brother Bob: Protector of the Rat, but more often her follower, he is determined to find their uncle in America and discover a new life for them both. Tony Bradman - Chair of Judges, comments: 'By the time my fellow judges and I had come up with a shortlist for this year's Booktrust Teenage Prize I was in no doubt that contemporary teenagers are pretty spoiled for choice when it comes to reading. The standard of entries was incredibly high, and whittling that down to just six was a tough but fantastically enjoyable job. What's particularly exciting about it is the sheer variety of approaches. I can't think of another literary prize that could so easily include in its shortlist both a story about children trying to survive against a horde of rampaging adults, and a portrait of Mugabe's Zimbabwe. Taken together, these six books are a real tribute to the standard and ambition of writing and publishing for teenagers today.' The judging panel for the Booktrust Teenage Prize 2010 shortlist comprised the following judges: chartered librarian Barbara Band, author Tony Bradman (Chair), journalist Barbara Ellen, 2009 young judge Claudia Freemantle and author Mary Hoffman. Four winners from a short-story writing competition join them to choose the winning book from the shortlist. They are: Chelsea Jane Brown (fifteen) from Birmingham; Poppy Freeman-Cuerden (thirteen) from Coventry; Hannah Jenkins (fourteen) from Leeds; Theo Lezerri (thirteen) from Exeter. The Booktrust Teenage Prize was launched in 2003 to recognise and celebrate the best contemporary writing for teenagers. Booktrust manages the prize with the support of writers, publishers, teachers, parents and libraries. Publishers may enter works of fiction, including novels, short stories collections and graphic novels, and non-fiction and poetry. The Reading Agency is promoting the Booktrust Teenage Prize in libraries across the UK primarily through coordination with public and school library services. The 2009 Prize was won by Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book. Previous winners also include Mark Haddon for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003) and Anthony McGowan for Henry Tumour (2006). The Booktrust website www.booktrust.org.uk has a teenage section which promotes the prize and books for teenagers, including a list of six books that this year's judges felt deserved special recognition, as well as carrying comments and reviews from young people. For interviews, images and further information: Alice Ingall: 020 8875 4827 or alice.ingall@booktrust.org.uk Notes to Editors ***Interviews are available with all authors and judges*** Shortlist author biographies Zizou Corder is the not-so-secret identity of Louisa Young and her now seventeen year old daughter Isabel Adomakoh Young, who have been writing together since Isabel was seven. They have previously written four books including the critically acclaimed LIONBOY trilogy.. They wander the world in a gilded balloon, and have 17 pet ducks and eight miniature grand pianos, as well as the lizard and the dead tortoise. Charlie Higson is an author, comedian, actor and former singer in the band The Higsons. In the 1990s he became well known for his writing and performing in the hugely popular television sketch show, The Fast Show. In 2005, he wrote Silverfin, the first in a series of novels focusing on the young James Bond's schooldays at Eton. Charlie has three children who give him this advice about his books.: 'Kill more people! More action, less talk!' Gregory Hughes was born and lives in Liverpool. After being expelled from Jesuit school, he went to a home for wayward boys, where he spent some very happy times. After some madcap years in his youth, he went to University to study computers. He has worked as everything from a dishwasher to a deep sea diver, and has worked in many countries including Norway, Canada and America. Unhooking the Moon is his first novel. Sarra Manning started her teen career spending five years working on the legendary but now sadly defunct UK teen magazine, J17, first as a writer and then as Entertainment Editor. She then joined the launch team and became editor of teen fashion bible Ellegirl UK. Sarra now writes for many newspapers and magazines including ELLE, Grazia,and The Guardian.. Her best-selling teen novels, which include Guitar Girl, Let's Get Lost and The Diary Of A Crush trilogy, have been translated into numerous languages and in 2008, she was shortlisted for the Book People's Queen of Teen award. In 2009, her first adult novel, Unsticky, was published by Headline Review. Sarra lives in North London. Marcus Sedgwick has worked as a bookseller and inside children's publishing, becoming a writer for children in 1994. His first novel, Floodland (2000), winner of the 2000 Branford Boase Book Award, tells the tale of Zoe, who lives on her own on an island once part of England. My Swordhand is Singing (2006), was shortlisted for several book awards and was winner of the 2007 Booktrust Teenage Prize. Blood Red, Snow White (2007), was shortlisted for the 2007 Costa Children's Book Award.Marcus Sedgwick is also drummer in the Brighton-based band, Garrett. He lives in West Sussex. Jason Wallace is related to JRR Tolkein and a descendent of one of the first international England cricketers, and also of the world-renowned Victorian circus owner "Lord" George Sanger. He was born in Cheltenham in but moved to London after his parents split up. Aged 12 his life was turned upside down when his mother remarried and the family emigrated to Zimbabwe. And he did actually meet Robert Mugabe when he visited his school. Jason is currently a web designer, living in South West London. Writing is his hobby. About Booktrust Booktrust is an independent charity dedicated to encouraging people of all ages and cultures to engage with books. The written word underpins all our activity and enables us to fulfil our vision of inspiring a lifelong love of books for all. Booktrust is responsible for a number of successful national reading promotions, sponsored book prizes and creative reading projects aimed at encouraging readers to discover and enjoy books. These include the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Children's Laureate, the Booktrust early Years Awards and Bookstart, the national programme that works through locally based organisations to give a free pack of books to young children, with guidance materials for parents and carers. Booktrust has developed two further free book programmes in the UK: Booktime, run in association with Pearson, gives a free book to every reception-aged pupil, and Booked Up, which gives a free book, from a choice of nineteen, to every Year Seven pupil. See www.booktrust.org.uk About The Reading Agency The Reading Agency is an independent charity working to inspire more people to read more. Much of The Reading Agency's work is with public libraries, but it also teams up with prisons, publishers, unions, businesses, broadcasters, and others. The Reading Agency's national programmes include: the Summer Reading Challenge which gets over 750,000 children reading each summer; Reading Partners which is revolutionising how libraries and publishers work together; the Six Book Challenge, aimed at adults with low level literacy; and groupthing.org – a website where young people can get creative around reading, writing and words. The Reading Agency is funded by the Arts Council and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. See www.readingagency.org.uk
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