CILIP Carnegie 2014 shortlist

We've been following the CILIP Carnegie 2014 awards since the 76 nominated books were announced last year.  Today, the shortlist has been announced and we've picked 7 of the 8 shortlisted books! These 8 books have been selected from the longlist of 20 (which was whittled down from an original nominations list of 76) by a panel of librarian judges.

The 2014 Carnegie Shortlist
(links are included for reviews and author interviews)

1. All the Truth That's in Me - Julie Berry (Templar, 14+)

2. The Bunker Diary - Kevin Brooks (Puffin, 14+)

3. The Child's Elephant - Rachel Campbell-Johnston (David Fickling Books, 11+)

4. Ghost Hawk - Susan Cooper (Bodley Head, 11+)

5. Blood Family - Anne Fine (Doubleday, 14+)

6. Rooftoppers - Katherine Rundell (Faber & Faber, 11+)

7. Liar & Spy - Rebecca Stead (Andersen Press, 9+)

8. The Wall - William Sutcliffe (Bloomsbury, 11+)


There's a good mix from eight different publishing imprints with a variety of content and age range appeal (note, the age gudiance has been suggested by the judging panel although I'd say Rooftoppers will have appeal to some readers younger than 11). Kudos to the judges for including some of the 'older' titles, which just goes to show that the judging criteria aren't being muddied by age considerations.

We're disappointed that Annabel Pitcher's Ketchup Clouds is not on here and the surprise inclusion for me is Blood Family. Media headlines are speculating about Anne Fine becoming the first triple time winner but I don't think the novel is a strong enough contender on this shortlist. Little M is delighted that The Child's Elephant is on here, possibly her favourite book from last year. I haven't finished it yet so there's still a little shortlist reading for me to do! My personal favourite is still Julie Berry's All the Truth That's in Me but Rooftoppers perhaps has the hallmarks of a children's classic and would be a gorgeous winner.

Congratulations to all who have been nominated and onwards to our shadowing fun and games!!


Our favourites from the longlist:

Seven of the eight shortlisted books featured in our predictions. Because of the new longlisting stage that was introduced this year, we found that our 'predictions' had pretty much been made by the time the longlist was announced. So between Little M and I, we read just 13 of the 20 longlisted books. This Selection was based on a consideration of our personal reading tastes, the judging criteria and the opening pages. Our 8 favourites were first posted alongside the predictions of school librarians and a book blogger at A Case For Books last week.

We Sat Down's 8 favourites from the Longlist

PS. What with this year's shortlist, my Carnegie predictions last year, and recently judging for the Hot Key Young Writers Prize, I'm starting to feel that I'm currently in the wrong job. I sense a calling........

If you'd like to see a fun view of the 76 nominated books, take a look at our Carnegie Advent calendar.