Cranleigh announces shortlist for Awesome Book Awards

Cranleigh Schools are pleased to announce the shortlist for this year’s Awesome Book Awards. The prize was introduced four years ago as a recognition of the very best works of fiction for young readers aged between 7 and 10.

To be eligible for the 2020 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 2018.

The shortlist for this year comprises: The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson; Boy Under Water by Adam Baron, The Train to Impossible Places by P.G. Bell, A Darkness of Dragons by S.A. Patrick; and The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf. Each author will read extracts from their works at the gala awards evening on 30th April 2020.

Schools across London and the South East are invited to register to take part in the 2020 Awesome Books Awards at www.awesomebookawards.com, by reading the books on the shortlist and voting for their favourite. Hundreds of pupils will get the opportunity to attend the awards evening.

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."

Hundreds of young readers from across London and the South East gathered together for a celebration of children’s fiction in the third Awesome Book Awards prize-giving earlier this year. Tamsin Winter won the top prize for her first children’s novel Being Miss Nobody. Tamsin was presented with her prize and trophy by 2018 Awesome Book Awards winner, Peter Bunzl.

Cranleigh Prep Pupil, Amelie L., who voted for the winner and introduced her on stage, said: "Being Miss Nobody is a brave and topical book for our generation. It’s a book we can all learn from and one that stays with you after you have finished reading it. I loved it!"

To read more about the Awesome Book Awards visit: www.awesomebookawards.com