I've had small groups of the kids I work with involved in this local book award a couple of times before, and we're just about to start the whole process again. It's for students in Year 7 and Y8 at school (so ages 11-13), and schools from across the north east of England can take part.
There are five books on this year's shortlist:
Abela by Berlie Doherty
Reaver's Ransom by Emily Diamand
Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestly
Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls
Young Samurai - the Way of the Warrior by Chris Bradford
I'd already read Ways to Live Forever before the shortlist came out, and I'm really pleased to see it there. It's the story of Sam, who loves facts and lists, who enjoys spending time with his friend Felix, and who also has leukemia. Sam is dying, but it's certainly not a maudlin book. Sad in parts, but also uplifting, funny and heartwarming without being overly emotional. It's a first novel for Sally Nicholls, and on the strength of it I'm looking forward to her next one.
This weekend I took Abela home to read. It follows the lives of two girls with very different lives. Abela is an AIDS orphan living in Tanzania, Rosa lives in Sheffield with her much-loved mum. Abela needs a family, Rosa and her mum are hoping to adopt, but it's not until the very last couple of pages that all the loose ends are tied up. Abela's story is heartbreaking, but mostly rings very true. It is a tale of AIDs, beareavement, human trafficking and bravery. My only criticism is that there are a couple of 'coincidental' reappearances of minor characters that seem very unlikely. That's only a very slight quibble though. It's a beautiful book and I devoured it in one sitting!
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(Query: which one of these two covers would you go for? The hardback and paperback versions of Abela are very different. I can't quite decide which will appeal to kids the most. I think they'll find the one on the left a bit off-putting and dull, but I wonder if the one on the right will put off the boys. Female protagonists do not necessarily a girls book make!)
