The UK Literacy Association book award is unique in that it is judged by teachers.
The shortlist in the 7-11 age category is:
- The White Fox by Jackie Morris
- Lesser Spotted Animals by Martin Brown
- Yours Sincerely, Giraffe by Megumi Iwasa
- Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird
- Me and Mister P by Maria Farrer
- The Street Beneath My Feet by Charlotte Gullian
The shortlist in the 12-16 age category is:
- Encounters by Jason Wallace
- Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan
- Alpha: Abidjan to Gare du Nord by Bessora
- Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick
- Frogkisser! by Garth Nix
- Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean
The winners will be announced on July 6th.
Previous winners have included The Reluctant Journal of Henry K Larsen by Susin Nielsen (2017), The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge (2016), Every Day by David Levithan (2015), Now is the Time for Running by Michael Williams (2014), Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (2013), A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (2012), Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace (2011), The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Chris Riddell (2010), and Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd (2009)
Sarah Crossan won the 7-11 age category in 2013 with her debut verse novel The Weight of Water, and Morris Gleitzman won the 3-11 age category in 2010 with Then, the sequel to Once.
Brian Selznick was Highly Commended in the 12-16 age category in 2017 for The Marvels, and also in the 3-11 age category in 2009 for The Invention of Hugo Cabret.