National Poetry Day will take place on Thursday 4 October 2018. This year’s theme is Poetry for a Change.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
— Robert Frost, ‘The Road Not Taken’
Angie Thomas’The Hate U Give has been named as the winner of the older fiction category and won the Waterstones Children’s Prize 2018.
It’s our absolute pleasure to announce Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give as the winner of our Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2018. Voted by our booksellers, our annual prize for children’s writing and illustration is very much an award decided by readers for readers, seeking out the mega-stars of the future.
Written in the turbulent wake of police violence in North America, The Hate U Give revolves around Starr Carter, a teenager whose life is split between the affluent school she attends and the much poorer suburb that is her home. Her best friend’s fatal shooting by a police officer abruptly brings those two worlds together, compelling Starr to defend her friend’s memory and force the media to understand the truth behind the tragedy. Wearing a serious message with wit, life and charm, The Hate U Give is an immediate 21st century classic: a book for all.
Professor Stephen Hawking, who died on March 14th, changed the way we understand the universe and leaves a legacy of theory ranging from black holes to the quantum effect on time. This article is from the University of Melbourne.
With stunning black and white illustration and deceptively simple text, author and illustrator Debi Gliori examines how depression affects one’s whole outlook upon life, and shows that there can be an escape – it may not be easy to find, but it is there. Drawn from Debi’s own experiences and with a moving testimony at the end of the book explaining how depression has affected her and how she continues to cope, Debi hopes that by sharing her own experience she can help others who suffer from depression, and to find that subtle shift that will show the way out.
‘I have used dragons to represent depression. This is partly because of their legendary ability to turn a once fertile realm into a blackened, smoking ruin and partly because popular mythology shows them as monstrous opponents with a tendency to pick fights with smaller creatures. I’m not particularly brave or resourceful, and after so many years battling my beasts, I have to admit to a certain weariness, but I will arm-wrestle dragons for eternity if it means that I can help anyone going through a similar struggle.’
Shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2018
The CILIP Carnegie Medal 2018 shortlist was announced this morning. The eight shortlisted titles are:
Carnegie Shortlist 2018
Find out more at www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk
The shortlist for the 2018 YA Book Prize has been announced (alphabetical by surname):
Ever since tragedy struck her family, Petula has learned to see danger everywhere – whether it’s crossing the road or eating a poached egg. Petula’s determined not to let her guard down, even if this means allowing herself to be ruled by anxiety and grief, and losing her best friend.
Then Jacob walks into her therapy group. Strikingly tall and confident, he’s survived a different kind of disaster and still come out smiling. At first Petula is repelled by his optimism, yet even she can’t deny their chemistry together.
But optimism is blind – and so is love. What will happen if Petula gives in to both?
From the author of We Are All Made of Molecules and Word Nerd