Branford Boase Award 2014 shortlist
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| Jacqueline Wilson at the 2013 Branford Boase & Henrietta Branford Award ceremony |
Seven debut novels appear on this year’s 15th Branford Boase Award shortlist. The award is given to both author and editor for
outstanding debut children’s novels aimed at readers aged seven and up.
Julia Eccleshare, chair of the judging panel, said: ‘This
year’s shortlist is exceptionally diverse, here are seven very different books.
But, not only are they all very well written, they all feel exceptionally fresh
and original: these are stories we haven’t read before, and that is very
exciting.’
The shortlist is colourfully diverse both in content and in ‘genre’, and
includes novels for young and old from seven different publishers. Expect to
find surprise and invention for younger readers as well as teen romance,
dystopian quests, humour and adventure.
The seven shortlisted books are:
The seven shortlisted books are:
Winter Damage by Natasha Carthew, edited by Rebecca McNally
(Bloomsbury)
Infinite Sky by C.J. Flood, edited by Venetia Gosling (Simon
and Schuster)
Wild Boy by Rob Lloyd Jones edited by Mara Bergman (Walker)
Red Ink by Julie Mayhew, edited by Emily Thomas (Hot Key)
Alex the Dog and the Unopenable Door by Montgomery Ross,
edited by Rebecca Lee & Susila Baybars (Faber)
The Poison Boy by Fletcher Moss, edited by Imogen Cooper and
Barry Cunningham (Chicken House)
Geek Girl by Holly Smale, edited by Lizzie Clifford
(HarperCollins)
As last year, I can’t make any early predictions as I’ve
shamefacedly read few from this list (links in the list above take you to reviews
of the books we’ve read). From opening pages and chapters, Natasha Carthew's writing is sublime. Accolades and popular support already abound for Geek Girl and Infinite Sky, and I've heard many shaking pompoms for Wild Boy. For comprehensive and refreshing review coverage of
the Branford Boase longlist 2014, take a look at And Then I Read a Book.
This year’s judges are Wendy Cooling (children’s books
consultant and Bookstart founder), Tamara Macfarlane (author and owner of Tales
on Moon Lane bookshop), Alec Williams (former librarian now storyteller and
consultant), Dave Shelton, author of A Boy and A Bear in a Boat and winner of last year’s Branford Boase Award, and chaired by Julia Eccleshare (children’s books
editor of The Guardian). This year’s judges selected the shortlist from a
longlist drawn from over 60 novels.
Previous shortlisted and winning writers include Marcus
Sedgwick, Meg Rosoff, Philip Reeve, Cathy Cassidy, Kevin Brooks, William
Nicholson, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Mal Peet, Bali Rai, Annabel Pitcher and Dave Shelton.
The winner of the 2014 Branford Boase Award will be
announced on Thursday 10th July at a ceremony in London. The ceremony is also attended by the six winners of the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition, open to writers under 19.Links to authors in this post take you to We Sat Down reviews and interviews.
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