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Top UK book award winners
Blog Article
The Costa Book Awards is one of the UK's most prestigious and popular literary prizes and recognises some of the most enjoyable books of the year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. The winners were announced on 4 January. We take a look at the children’s books that made the grade.
2011 WINNER
Blood Red RoadSaba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back. Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, lots of action, and an epic love story. Moira Young is one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction. The book is recommended for older teenagers.
By Moira Young, Published by Simon and Schuster (R175)
2011 SHORT LIST
FlipFourteen-year-old Alex Gray wakes up one morning to discover he's not in his own bedroom. More surprising is that he doesn't recognise his hands, or his legs... When he looks in the mirror he gets the shock of his life! How is it possible that Alex has become another boy – a boy who everyone calls Philip? And how have six whole months passed overnight? This is a riveting psychological thriller by a brilliant new voice in children's books. The book is recommended for teenagers from the age of 12. The book is also currently on the long list for the Carnegie Medal, as well as being named as a Red House Children’s Book Awards Pick of the Year title.
By Martyn Bedford, Published by Walker Books (R177)
The Unforgotten CoatThis is a stunning magical story of a summer of friendship with darker undertones of the plight of refugees. Two refugee brothers from Mongolia are determined to fit in with their Liverpool schoolmates, but bring so much of Mongolia to Bootle that their new friend and guide, Julie, is hard-pressed to know truth from fantasy as she recollects a wonderful friendship that was abruptly ended when Chingis and his family were forced to return to Mongolia. Told with the humour, warmth and brilliance of detail, which characterizes Frank Cottrell Boyce's writing, this magical and compelling story is enriched by stunning and atmospheric Polaroid photos. The book is recommended for children from the age of nine.
By Frank Cottrell Boyce, Published by Walker Books (R118)
Small Change for StuartStuart Horten – 10 years old and small for his age – moves to the dreary town of Beeton, far away from all his friends. And then he meets his new next-door neighbours, the unbearable Kingley triplets, and things get even worse.But in Beeton begins the strangest adventure of Stuart's life as he is swept up in a quest to find his great-uncle's lost workshop – a workshop stuffed with trickery and magic. There are clues to follow and puzzles to solve, but what starts as fun ends up as danger, and Stuart begins to realize that he can't finish the task by himself. Children from nine to 11 should enjoy this book.
By Lissa Evans, Published by Doubleday (R152)
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