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Well, after the Forward Prize for poetry (to Don Patterson), and the Booker (to Hilary Mantel) and the Nobel (to Herta Müller), all announced in the last 24 hours, it's only fair that we get at least one big children's book prize announcement tonight too. And so we do. The winner of the 2009 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize has just been named a few moments ago, and I'm absolutely delighted to say that the book the judges have chosen is Exposure by Mal Peet.
A great choice. Chosen from a strong shortlist - alongside it were Terry Pratchett's Nation, Morris Gleitzman's Then and Siobhan Dowd's Solace of the Road - Mal's re-working of the Othello story is a terrific teen book - pacy, clever, impeccably written. (I know I've mentioned in an earlier post how much I loved it...)
I should mention one quibble only - I'm currently reading Marcus Sedgwick's longlisted Revolver and rather baffled that it didn't make the shortlist... But of the ones I've read those that did are all certainly fine books, I think, and Exposure is a very worthy winner. Huge congratulations to Mal![Exposure is included in the forthcoming U Teen B G, enthusiastically recommended by Patrick Ness, one of the Guardian judges and last year's winner.]
There are good graphic novels, and there are great ones. As soon as I finished this one, I re-read it. Several times. Alan Moore, who doesn’t usually write reviews, called it “wonderfully imaginative and stylish”. Originally published in instalments in the award winning anthology Sturgeon, Salem Brownstone will surprise and delight in equal measure. But what is it? Supernatural Thriller? Gothic Noir? Gritty Romance? John Harris Dunning and Nikhil Singh’s witty narrative contains elements of all of these.
Salem never really knew his father, but is all too happy to pocket the keys to the family mansion when his father dies an untimely death. He is looking forward to drinking away the inheritance. But along with the keys come a part in a crucial battle with beings beyond this world, intent on destroying it. A good thing that Dr Kinoshita’s Circus of Unearthly Delights is parked across the way, and the gorgeous (and frighteningly flexible) Cassandra is on hand to help, although she seems to know more than she lets on. Who is one-eyed Lola Q? What has happened to Lorelei, the singer who has disappeared under mysterious circumstances? What do the terrifying Shadow Boys want with his father’s scrying ball? Each answer only seems to raise even larger questions.
We journey with the witty, wisecracking Salem into a darkly gothic otherworld where nothing and no-one is what they seem, as he discovers just how much he mattered to his father, and decides that just maybe he should matter to himself. The beautiful drawings of Nikhil Singh recall Dorian Grey channelling Aubrey Beardsley, and reward repeated reading with compelling details; every character is sharply drawn and suggestive, and the narrative and drawing style move between several different worlds with fluid ease. As the stakes mount ever higher, and everything seems to be falling apart, I was willing Salem and his newfound associates on. The ending is delightful and unexpected, leaving open the possibility that there is more to come. I certainly hope so.Recommended by Ariel Kahn
"On the morning of his fourteenth birthday, Pepper had been awake for fully two minutes before realising it was the day he must die. His heart cannoned like a billiard ball off some soft green wall of his innards. This had to be the day everyone had been waiting for – and he was terrified he would disappoint them, make a poor showing, let people down."Thus begins Geraldine McCaughrean’s latest book, The Death Defying Pepper Roux, and with an opening paragraph like that how could you not want to read on?
When Pepper is born his Aunt announces that she has had a visit from Saint Constance in a dream. The saint’s message is clear (she has very good diction): Pepper will be dead by the time he is fourteen. And so Pepper grows up being taught the words of the funeral service, having to go to confession every other day and having to stay at home (there’s no point in wasting a good education on him if he won’t live to use it).
Then, on the day of his fourteenth birthday, life takes a surprising turn and Pepper finds himself leaping from one adventure to the next, with barely time to take a breath.
This is a terrific book and I defy anyone to read it and guess what’s coming next. Geraldine McCaughrean has a style all of her own and she is mistress of the magical power of similes to enrich a story.
My advice? Suspend your disbelief and join Pepper for the journey of a lifetime!Recommended by Laura Hutchings
I want a dragon! I want one! And trust me, you will too. Each of the people in this glowingly beautiful book has a dragon of his or her own. And each dragon is different, depending on their person and depending on the world in which they live. There are dragons for skyscapes and seascapes, dragons from cityscapes and fairytale-princess landscapes, there are dragons in worlds of fire and worlds of ice. Though only 14 pictures – including front and back endpapers – and under 180 words long (slightly shorter, in other words, than this paragraph), I nonetheless spent a good half-hour on my first reading of this book, marvelling with slow relish at Jackie Morris’s colours and the vividness of her rich imagination, exploring the perspectives and the scales (in a proportional, as well as a dragon-skinned sense), alighting on delightful details, looking into her wonderful creatures’ reptile eyes. Tell Me a Dragon shows you what picture books can be at their most elegant and lyrical – if you can’t get a dragon of your own, well, this magical book may be the next best thing.
Recommended by Daniel Hahn
If feels like such a long time since we announced our longlist back in July, but now, at last...I'm delighted to report that our shortlist for the Booktrust Teenage Prize was announced today.The six books we've chosen are:A good, good selection, strong and interesting. I'm very pleased with it indeed. Very good, bold books all. Varying greatly, each from the other, but every one very engaging, every one very thought-provoking; sometimes moving, often very ambitious, with six quite different writing voices and six quite different moods. Any one of them is well worth a read - or read all of them!I'm planning to re-read them all before we have our next (and final) judging meeting in November, and I'm looking forward to the treat...Meantime let me know any thoughts - do you agree with our choices? What are you pleased to see recognised? What's your favourite teen book of the year that we inexplicably overlooked? Very keen to hear any feedback...
In a famous scene in Peter Pan, Wendy wakes to find Peter crying in the nursery because his shadow has broken off, and she sews it back to his feet. Now move the plot to the 21st century, add some years to Peter and Wendy and make them teenaged brother and sister, throw in large amounts of angst and supernatural horror and you have the excellent new novel from B.R. Collins.Although A Trick of the Dark is inspired by Peter Pan and is scattered throughout with references to J.M. Barrie’s classic tale (which are, by the way, fun to spot), this novel is unlikely to be read to small children before bedtime. The relationship between the popular and charming Zach and his adoring younger sister Annis is fraught, especially when they are forced to spend the summer vacation in a secluded French farm with two parents on the brink of a very acrimonious divorce. Zach has been involved with some pretty nasty stuff back home and now hangs out sulking and foul-mouthed where he shouldn’t be – a derelict barn on the verge of collapse. And collapse it does – on top of Zach, right in front of Annis’ horrified eyes. Surely Zach couldn’t survive this crash? How is it possible that he gets up unscathed? And who exactly is that dark boy-shaped shadow which chases him, leaving death in his wake? Alternating between Zach’s diary entries and Annis’ relation of events, A Trick of the Dark leads the reader down a creepy, bone-chilling path to an unsettling resolution.Recommended by Noga ApplebaumNext?- B.R. Collins’ first novel The Traitor’s Game, about friendship and betrayal, laced with a dose of fantasy, has won the Branford Boase Award and is well worth reading.
- Peter Pan in Scarlet, the recent sequel to Peter Pan, beautifully written by Geraldine McCaughrean, also picks up on the dark side of this story, as it follows the now grown Lost Boys and Wendy on their mission to stop a leak which blurs the boundaries between Wonderland and our world. Not for young kids.
- In A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin the wish to impress school mates makes young wizard Sparrowhawk release a deadly shadow which he now must chase to the end of the earth - oh, and kill a dragon too.
Apologies for the past fortnight's silence - circumstances beyond our control...Book of the Week no. 29 will be posted very shortly. It's probably time for a general catching-up-on-news post, so will do that soon too...
D.
A great choice. Chosen from a strong shortlist - alongside it were Terry Pratchett's Nation, Morris Gleitzman's Then and Siobhan Dowd's Solace of the Road - Mal's re-working of the Othello story is a terrific teen book - pacy, clever, impeccably written. (I know I've mentioned in an earlier post how much I loved it...)
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