Virago Modern Classics Children’s 1st Anniversary

Virago Modern Classics celebrates its first anniversary of publishing children’s books this month and adds two more titles to its list. Virago’s editor, Donna Coonan, also speaks to us about children and classic books.

Virago “is the outstanding international publisher of books by women” and aims to put “women centre stage”. So says Virago's website. That, and it's classics list which focuses on rediscoveries and redefinitions pretty much sums up why my heart does a whooping flippety flop every time I see the apple of its logo on a book’s spine.

Oh, those covers!

I’m sincerely delighted that they’ve added children’s literature to the Virago Modern Classics (VMC) list. The first I knew of it was from the 'Emily' trilogy by LM Montgomery that they published last November. Anyone who’s a childhood fan of Anne of Green Gables will know that these are winners and the cover illustrations by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini are an extra excuse to buy these editions.  Plus, one of our teen book group reviewers attests that Emily of New Moon is excellent and are there any more?!! (Yes, there are  - two!). Here’s a link to a review from one of the Classics Club’s readers.

Published today are two more titles from Rumer Godden. An Episode of Sparrows and The Dark Horse. I’ve read the opening pages and therein lies the promise of something richly deep and slightly different for today’s readers, both children and adults alike. Godden’s ballet novels, Thursday’s Children and Listen to the Nightingale, launched the VMC list last year.

I asked Donna Coonan, the VMC editor, a couple of questions about the children’s list.

WSD: What do you think makes a children's classic for today's readers?

Donna Coonan: Children are discerning readers and if a book is written in a didactic manner or seems patronising in any way, they will see it a mile off. You can’t write down to a child, just as you can’t speak down to them. Rumer was a writer who could write as eloquently and as feelingly for children as she could for adults, and her characters are always beautifully realised, and you care deeply for them. Her children are never two dimensional, but fully formed and recognisable. There is humour and there is heartbreak, and she doesn’t shirk away from difficult subjects. Rumer relished the challenge of writing for children and said that her children’s books were just as important as her books for adults: after every novel she wrote a children’s book ‘because of the discipline, and the smaller the child, the greater the discipline’. It is the quality of her writing that shines through, and they speak as much to children today as they did to her first readers. They may be set in a different time, but the stories are universal. That is the mark of a classic.

WSD: What are your visions for the VMC children's list; what will distinguish it from other modern children's classics lists? 

Donna Coonan: The reason that the Virago Modern Classics list exists is to bring back into print wonderful books that have been neglected or overlooked but will be enjoyable to readers today, and we are expanding this ethos for another generation by publishing classics for children. So many of our books – from Rosamond Lehmann’s Invitation to the Waltz to Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca – were discovered by our readers as teenagers that it seems logical to move into publishing for a wider age range.

****

For LM Montgomery fans, there is more good news for June: Jane of Lintern Hill and Rilla of Ingleside will be published.

 

Now, where’s my apple…….(currently reading Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn before its BBC televising next Monday).


 

WoMentoring Project for aspiring women writers launches today

A new scheme offering free peer mentoring to aspiring women writers launches today.  The WoMentoring Project aims to offer insight, knowledge and support to women writers at the beginning of their careers. Mentoring is voluntarily offered from a pool of over 60 women working in publishing as authors, editors, literary agents and illustrators.

The WoMentoring Project is managed by novelist Kerry Hudson. Without a budget, the entire project is currently dependent on volunteered time and skills. Individual mentors will determine what they can offer with their mentee, and mentorships are likely to differ. Organisers of the project said that, “In an industry where male writers are still reviewed and paid more than their female counterparts in the UK, we want to balance the playing field. Likewise, we want to give female voices that would otherwise find it hard to be heard, a greater opportunity of reaching their true potential.”

WoMentoring Project mentor, Shelley Harris (author of Jubilee), said that “mentoring can mean the difference between getting published and getting lost in the crowd. It can help a good writer become a brilliant one. But till now, opportunities for low-income writers to be mentored were few and far between. This initiative redresses the balance; I’m utterly delighted to be part of the project”.

Alison Hennessy, Senior Editor at Harvill Secker, said she knows from her own authors “how isolating an experience writing can often be, especially when you’re just starting out, and so I really wanted to be involved. I hope that knowing that there is someone on your side in those early days will give writers courage and confidence in their work”.

Francesca Main, Editorial Director at Picador, said her career “has been immeasurably enriched by working with inspiring women writers, yet the world of publishing would have been inaccessible to me without the time and support I was given when first starting out.  The WoMentoring Project is a wonderful, necessary thing and I’m very proud to be taking part in it”.

Mentors also include authors Peggy Riley (Amity &Sorrow), Julie Mayhew (Red Ink), Keris Stainton (Emma Hearts LA)  previously reviewed and interviewed by We Sat Down; and children’s literary agent, Louise Lamont (agent for Red Ink).

Applicant writers (mentees) should submit a 1000 word writing sample and a 500 word statement about why they would benefit from free mentoring. All applications must be made for a specific mentor. Mentees can only apply for one mentor at a time. 

http://womentoringproject.co.uk/

 

 

 

Hot Key Young Writers Prize 2013 winner, Abigail Slater

Alaskan-based Abigail Slater is the Young Adult section winner of the Hot Key Prize Young Writers Prize 2013, announced earlier today at the London Book Fair. Abigail has won a year’s mentoring with Hot Key Books’ publisher, Emily Thomas. Being a judge on this year’s prize panel, I read Abigail’s winning manuscript, The Lucky Bones, which is essentially about Sarah, a teenage girl who is battling a gang and seeking justice for a massacre that decimated her community and their land. Of course, we sat down for a chat and asked Abigail a bit more about herself (and left all the American spellings as is!). 

WSD: You’re interested in female superheroes. Which females have inspired you?

Abigail Slater: A lot of the females who have inspired me on a personal level are right here in my community. Katie John, an indigenous rights activist here in Alaska, has always managed to worm her way into my heart when it comes to fantastic ladies. As far as female superheroes go, I have to say that Batgirl and Wonder Woman had a lot to do with my desire to create a superhero of my own. They're strong and cool, and I've always wanted to add to the list of strong, cool women.

WSD: Your descent is Unangax, Irish, and Norwegian. Does this influence your writing?

Abigail Slater: I think being raised in several very different cultures has allowed me to pull from each for inspiration. Heritage is such an important thing for all human beings no matter where we are in the world, so I do have a tendency to draw from my own, especially when I'm working on a science fiction or fantasy story.

As far as my Unangax heritage goes, it is the one I am closest to because I was raised in my homeland. The Unangax are originally from the Aleutian Islands here in Alaska, and parts of our history (including the Aleutian Island Evacuations and the boarding schools) served as inspiration for Sarah's story in The Lucky Bones.  

Here is a link to a website that explains the Aleutian Island Evacuations way better than I ever could: http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/ANCR/Aleut/CulturalChange/chap.6-11.html . It's a long article, but if you scroll way down to the bottom and skim Chapter X, you'll have the inspirational context for my novel.

Abigail (right) with her sister, ReBecca, at an ice sculpture exhibit in downtown Anchorage

WSD: What is the most interesting thing about Anchorage (Alaska), where you live?

Abigail Slater: I'm torn on this one, because Alaska is a very weird place. I'd say it's a tie, because that's the cheater's way of not having to choose.

The first most interesting thing about where I live is that once you leave the main city of Anchorage, you can drive and drive and drive and never get anywhere substantial. In other words, you could drive from sun up to sun down and still be in the middle of nowhere.

The second most interesting thing is being able to see moose all over the place here, especially in the summer when they come into neighborhoods and start eating people's trees and garbage. It's not a sight that I've ever gotten anywhere else!

Moose at the side of the road. Photo credit: Eric van Thiel, A friend of Abigail's.

Cuteness! Bears playing around. Photo credit: Eric van Thiel

WSD: Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska?

Abigail Slater: I have! Strangely enough, it's not as popular here as it is in other places. My father made it once a few years ago and it was very good, but I've never seen it on a menu before. We must be behind the times.

WSD: What are your favourite novels?

Abigail Slater: My favorite novels are definitely anything written by Libba Bray, whose wonderful books I've only recently discovered, and the books of Sarah Dessen (Just Listen is my favorite). Both of these authors write in very clear, distinct voices for their characters, and you can tell that they are having fun with their stories. That is the kind of author I aspire to be.

WSD: Is there anything else that you're bursting to say?

Abigail Slater: I just want to say that I'm grateful to Hot Key Books and all of the judges who volunteered their time to pick a winner. I never thought I'd make it this far, not even in my wildest dreams, and I owe it completely to you guys and to my amazing Native community here in Alaska, who have all supported me through the writing process. Quyana, and thank you all!

Best wishes to everyone over on your side of the world!

WSD: You’re welcome and congratulations. I’m looking forward to seeing where your mentoring prize takes you.

View from Point Woronzof in Anchorage.

Dead Ends - Erin Lange

Dead Ends by Erin Lange

 

Review by M

 

Dead Ends is a story that is as much about bullying, friendship and family as it is an unusual teen road trip adventure with plot threads and themes aplenty.

An unusual and forced relationship is at the heart of the story. Dane (the violent bully with a single mum who frames winning Lottery cards), is wisely chosen by Billy D (the new kid on the block who also has Down syndrome) to be his protector in school. As Billy D holds all the cards, a heartwarming (and frequently comic) friendship develops as he reels Dane in on a journey to find both their dads.

The novel cleverly intertwines an exploration of different relationships (and power). The obvious relationship is that of bully and bullied but teenage friendship and being a good and ‘real’ parent are also prominent. Both Billy D and Dane live with their mothers but their fathers are curiously absent. Another character, however, has two fathers who are gay - and neither one is her biological father.

While Dane is a bully and a very violent one, the novel’s tone is fiercely warm. Lange manages to paint Dane as a sympathetic and believable character - but she doesn’t let him entirely off the hook. She paints a very interesting view of bullying.

While friendship and family are at this novel’s heart, Dead Ends will also likely appeal to clue-finding road trip fans. These elements add charm and action but neither of them dominate the novel. What could have become a ludicrous storyline actually works out to be enjoyable, believable, and quite moving.

Publication details: 6 January 2014, Faber and Faber, London, hardback

This copy: uncorrected proof from the publisher

We've reached the terrible twos!

Recently, the We Sat Down blog passed its second year anniversary. We were quiet about it online but have been very reflective about it offline. Much like toddling children and their parents, Little M and I are at a crossroads (or a more complex) junction with We Sat Down.

Many of you will know that this blog is a personal reading journey for us. The original aim was to find content appropriate fiction for Little M and to have fun with it. She had outgrown reading suggestions from my childhood and (for various reasons) librarians and booksellers weren't filling that gap. And somehow, I thought jumping from 'Harry Potter' or 'The Famous Five' to The Testament of Jessie Lamb, or The End of Mr Y, was a jump too far. So we went looking.

We Sat Down took us in directions we never would have anticipated nor dreamed. It has been fantastic. We've found a whole new world in children's (and teen/young adult) literature that would mostly have passed us by. We've had long, complicated and exciting chats about so many things (including age and content guidance on books, which for us were helpful, but we appreciate that it can cause obstacles for others). We've met authors, publishers, other readers; we've interviewed people we never thought we'd even meet; we've been invited to award ceremonies, publishing parties and laureate announcements; M has judged and Little M has reported; we've set up a real world book club which Little M organises now; and we've shadowed the Carnegie medal. Each and every one of those things has been a highlight and we'd like to thank everyone - especially the publishers and authors who have made this happen.

But, we're finding that we don't have time to do as much of this anymore. Because of this, Little M has decided not to accept further review copies. I am accepting some (on a very limited basis so, publishers, please contact us before sending anything) but I'm putting much of my spare time into my own writing (newly turfed) and other publishing related projects (all of which have been sparked by the enthusiastic and inspiring children's publishing industry into which we've been welcomed).

So, expect to see some changes from us. But, this is not a goodbye nor a hiatus. It's another book related journey. And once again, we're really not too sure yet where it's going! As Katherine Rundell's Rooftoppers suggests, never ignore a possible. We're following our possibles.

William Sutcliffe chat

We sat down for a chat...with William Sutcliffe

On the one hand, The Wall is an action-packed coming-of-age teenage adventure and on the otherhand it is possibly the most resolutely political of all the novels on this year's Carnegie shortlist. A modern fable, it tells an important and thought-provoking tale with interest and with grace. Its author, William Sutcliffe, tells us about the background to The Wall.

WSD: The Wall offers a very honest and painful consideration of what 'doing the right thing' means. What inspired you to write this modern fable?

Will Sutcliffe: The Wall in the West Bank has troubled me for a long time, and for years I have been searching for a way to write about it. Then it struck me that one of the common tropes of children’s literature is the character who escapes from his or her mundane, ordinary world through some kind of portal into a parallel, fantastical universe. I began to think that religious fundamentalists, such as the religious nationalist settlers in the West Bank, raise their children with utterly fantastical beliefs. In telling the story of a settler child who crosses from one side of the wall to the other, I realised that I could turn this idea upside down, with a narrative about a child raised in a world of fantasy who discovers a portal to reality.

The goal from the start was to write a book, like Animal Farm, that would work for younger readers as a metaphorical narrative set in a fictional universe, but for adult readers as political fiction about a real situation. The other thing I hope that it has in common with the Orwell novel is that even if you read it without any concept of the real place that has inspired the story, it remains a moral narrative about how your sense of right and wrong can come under extreme pressure when you find yourself in an unjust society.

(WSD: Yes, I think it easily achieves both of these ambitions)

WSD: Could you say a little about your research on/in the West Bank for this novel (and perhaps why you've selected Playgrounds for Palestine to receive 15% of your royalties)?

William Sutcliffe: I took two separate research trips. The first one was as part of the Palestine Literary Festival, visiting all the main Palestinian towns in the West Bank and participating in events, talks and seminars with local writers. I later took a second trip, in which I stayed with three settler families in different settlements in the West Bank. The two itineraries overlapped but never intersected due to tunnels and segregated roads. The geography of the West Bank is like nowhere else. These trips weren’t particularly extended, but they were intense, and I had excellent guides with me who taught me an enormous amount.

Both trips were deeply troubling in very different ways, and taught me an enormous amount that I could never have learned from home-based research. However much you have read on the subject, seeing what a 46-year-long military occupation looks like is shocking and depressing.

I have moved a few things around through time and place, but I have gone out of my way to make the physical setting entirely accurate. The book may read like a fantasy dystopia, but in many ways, it is reportage.

After visiting the West Bank, I knew I had to give some of my royalties back to the place that inspired the book. I would have felt deeply uncomfortable if anyone had been able to accuse me of profiting from the suffering of others. Since the political reality at the heart of the book is to do with the theft of land, Playgrounds for Palestine seemed like the perfect charity to support. They build playgrounds in the West Bank, Gaza and in Palestinian refugee camps – so what they are essentially doing is providing the gift of space to children. This felt like a perfect counterbalance to a story about and for young people, about the theft of space.

WSD: While Joshua's story is probably unusual, the battle he experiences with his family is much more familiar territory for many teenagers. Would the story have changed significantly if his parents had behaved differently?

William Sutcliffe: The situation that Joshua faces is extreme and unusual, though I think it reflects something at the heart of all teenage experience. It is in our teenage years that we come to realise that we have to define ourselves as individuals, not just as part of a family unit. This involves thinking for yourself about your parents’ beliefs and maybe deciding that you have different beliefs – possibly about some deeply important issues. This, I think, is why the teenage years are so intense. Joshua’s realisation that his developing moral ideas are at odds with those of his parents is something that I hope young readers will find easy to identify with – although hopefully they won’t experience anything quite so terrifying!

******

You can read M's review of  The Wall  here.

Susan Cooper chat

We sat down for a chat...with Susan Cooper

Among this year’s Carnegie shortlisted books, Ghost Hawk perhaps has the standout character duo of them all and was one of my favourite books of last year. Its acclaimed author,  Susan Cooper, answers my questions about the novel (and her last answer brought a tear or two to my eye).

WSD: A lot has been made of the historical aspects of Ghost Hawk yet you view it as a fantasy. Can you say a little bit about mixing history and fantasy in fiction?

Susan Cooper: Ghost Hawk is basically a historical novel, but since one of its major characters is a ghost I suppose it has to be called a fantasy. A mongrel fantasy, perhaps.  I love dancing about in time - the "Dark Is Rising" books did it a lot - though it's hard work because you have to make sure your historical details are absolutely accurate. You can weave magic into the past, but you can't change the things that happened; that would be cheating.


WSD: In your Author's Note for Ghost Hawk, you hint at a vast admiration for Ursula le Guin. Can you say a bit about what le Guin means to you?

Susan Cooper: Well, she's a wonderful writer - especially "Earthsea" and those amazing dragons. We're quite different as writers -  like Alan Garner and Philip Pulllman I'm rooted in England's layers of time, whereas Ursula, like most American fantasists, invents totally separate worlds. But we're old friends.


WSD: You built a house on Little Hawk's island and this inspired your novel. Can you describe living on this island?

Susan Cooper: The saltmarsh is all round me, green in spring and golden in autumn, and at high tides the sea is all round me instead. Living here, you're haunted by the fact that the place has looked much like this since the last Ice Age, and that for thousands of years it was the hunting-ground of American Indians. Then the English settlers came 400 years ago, which is yesterday, and took it all.   I still wonder what really happened, every time I look out of the window. Look, here's what I see at sunrise.

Susan Cooper's sunrise - and what a sunrise it is!!

WSD: The relationship between Little Hawk and John is so vivid and is a real stand out feature, for me, of Ghost Hawk. What inspired or helped you to achieve this characterisation?

Susan Cooper: You've just made my week; that relationship is what the book was about from the beginning. The two of them just came into my head, as I sat there staring at the saltmarsh.  "Two boys", says my notebook, "because girls weren't free to act, then."     I wanted to tell the story of those two young minds, faced with the madness of the situation where a Thanksgiving dinner between friendly Indians and newly-arrived whites turns within sixty years to mutual slaughter; two friends, one on each side, trying to make a difference.  And failing - but it's always the trying that counts, and that will save us all in the end.  If we're lucky.

*****

You can read M's review of Ghost Hawk here.

Kevin Brooks chat

We sat down for a chat...with Kevin Brooks

Kevin Brooks is the author of what might be the most controversial novel on this year’s Carnegie shortlist, The Bunker Diary. It’s about a teenager called Linus who is kidnapped and the novel is his diary. The novel is unflinching in its portrayal of tough issues and, partly because it doesn’t provide clear cut answers, it is also mind expanding for the reader. I’m delighted that Kevin Brooks has taken the time to consider my wanderings. For any librarians who’re wondering how they’re going to shadow The Bunker Diary with younger students, his answers may offer some inspiration.

Photo credit: Puffin

WSD: My reading of The Bunker Diary offered up a meta-fictional interpretation, suggesting that Linus is in a mental health institution (some readers suggest that is me in denial!). Other reviews have asked whether the novel might be an allegory. Other readers take the story quite literally. How do you view the novel - and is this different to how you viewed it while you were writing it?

Kevin Brooks: One of the many wonderful things about stories is that they can mean whatever the reader wants them to mean. In fact, for me, that's what actually makes them stories – they become part of the reader, part of their hearts and minds, and that in turn makes them into something much more than whatever they mean to the author. Your interpretation of the book, for example, is something that's honestly never occurred to me, but I love it, and now that I'm aware of it, it's become part of my understanding of the book.

As to how I view the novel ... well, without meaning to be mysterious or secretive or anything, I think other people's views are much more important than mine.

Norman Mailer called writing "the spooky art", and I've always taken that to mean that quite often authors aren't consciously aware of exactly what they're writing about or where it comes from. Personally I like to think it comes from those special places inside me that make me what I am, but which I don't necessarily understand on a rational level – and that's perfectly fine with me! 

Photo Credit: Puffin

WSD: Does the kidnapping setting of Liverpool Street station have any broader significance?

Kevin Brooks: Only in that I used to commute to work in London from Essex for many years before I was a published author, and Liverpool Street was my station.

WSD: You studied psychology and philosophy at university. Did these have any direct influences on The Bunker Diary concept or its characters?

Kevin Brooks: As well as my academic studies I've also had a lifelong fascination and love for psychology and philosophy, especially philosophy, and it's been a massive influence on all my books, not just The Bunker Diary. Philosophy, for me, is all about questions that don’t have any clear-cut answers; and that's also, for me, what life – and, as such, writing – is all about. It's not the answers themselves that matter so much as the journey you take in looking for them. 

WSD: Do you own any pets?

Kevin Brooks: Three dogs – Minnie, Midge, and Daffy – four rabbits, and five sheep.

(WSD: Oh my goodness! I wonder what breed of dog they are??!!!! J)

WSD: Is there anything you would like to say, and particularly in relation to The Bunker Diary?

Kevin Brooks: I'd like to quote from a book called The Aristos by John Fowles (whose novel The Collector is one of my all-time favourites and was one of the reasons I wanted to write The Bunker Diary. In The Aristos, Fowles wrote:

"We are in the best possible situation because everywhere, below the surface, we do not know: we shall never know why; we shall never know tomorrow; we shall never know a god or if there is a god; we shall never even know ourselves. This mysterious wall round our world and our perception of it is not there to frustrate us but to train us back to the now, to life, to our time being."

*****

 To read my meta-fictional interpretation of The Bunker Diary, here’s my review.

Rebecca Stead chat

We sat down for a chat...with Rebecca Stead

Rebecca Stead is the award-winning author of the incredible When You Reach Me and the recently Carnegie shortlisted, Liar & Spy. Her novels are playful, thoughtful, charming and completely magical in some very unusual ways. We’ve asked her a few questions, inspired by reading Liar & Spy.

WSD: Have you ever been a member of a spy club?

Rebecca Stead: Yes, the kids upstairs and I had a spy club. It involved lurking in the elevator, and occasionally getting yelled at.

WSD: What are your favourite games?

Rebecca Stead: Word games (jotto, boggle, bananagrams) and card games, when I can remember the rules.

WSD: What is your favourite food? Do you enjoy cooking?

Rebecca Stead: I do like cooking. Lately I'm into shrimp. But I most love to eat bread, pasta, rice, cereal . . . pretty much any member of the starch family. Plus anything dairy. Right now we have a very delicious soda bread on the kitchen counter (though I didn't make it).

WSD: Your novels create a great sense of place and make New York sound.....umami! Are there any real life places, which inspired elements of your novels, that you would urge readers to visit?

Rebecca Stead: Thank you! And yes, I urge everyone to visit DiFara's pizza on Avenue J in Brooklyn. It's very special, but the line gets long, so arrive early and hungry.

WSD: If you opened a fortune cookie, what would you hope it said?

Rebecca Stead: Peace is possible.

*******

You can read M's reviews of  Liar & Spy and When You Reach Me.

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.