Culture & Creative IndustriesNews

Organisers of the Awesome Book Awards today announce the shortlisted titles for the 2022 prize, which recognises the very best works of fiction for young readers aged between 7 and 10.

 

On the shortlist are:

 

Rumaysa: A Fairytale, by Radiya Hafiza (Pan Macmillan)

Elsetime by Eve McDonnell (Everything with Words)

The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips (Egmont)

The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

The Boy who made Everyone Laugh by Helen Rutter (Scholastic)

 

To be eligible for the 2022 award the entrants had to be debut novels, suitable for able readers in the listed age group, appealing to both boys and girls and available in paperback from May 2020.

 

The winner will be announced on 5th May 2022 via an online event hosted on the Awesome Book Awards website.  Thomas Taylor, winner of the 2021 Awesome Book Award for his debut children’s novel, Malamander, will announce the winner and the event will include readings by shortlisted authors.

 

Schools across the UK are invited to register to take part in the 2022 Awesome Books Awards at https://www.awesomebookawards.com, by reading the books on the shortlist and voting for their favourite.

 

Former Children’s Laureate, Lauren Child, author of the popular Charlie & Lola and Clarice Bean series, said: “The Awesome Book Awards are wonderful because it is the children themselves who are voting for their favourite books. Being a writer is a privilege, but even better is knowing that people are reading and enjoying what you are writing.”

The Awesome Book Awards were introduced six years ago by Cranleigh Schools, since which time more than 12,000 young people have voted for their winner.  Previous winners include Thomas Taylor, Ross Welford, Peter Bunzl, Tamsin Winter and Aaron Baron.

To read more about the Awesome Book Awards visit:

www.awesomebookawards.com