Today I'm struck dumb with gratitude by the news that my debut novel, Beetle Boy, has been selected for the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist.
It was in my school library and then my local library in Hemel Hempstead, that I discovered who I was and what kind of person I wanted to be. It was librarians who helped me navigate the multitudinous shelves and pressed Alan Garner, Ursula Le Guin, Susan Cooper and Mervyn Peake into my hands. These books of high adventure and difficult choices helped me discover my own moral compass, and my visits to their worlds fired up my imagination. Libraries are a haven, a school, a parent and one of my most trusted friends. I am honoured beyond description to be on the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist. Thank-you to librarians everywhere. I owe you everything.
Here is the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist (alphabetical by surname):
Aubrey and the Terrible Yoot by Horatio Clare (Firefly Press)
Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Pan Macmillan)
Unbecoming by Jenny Downham (David Fickling Books)
The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon (Orion Children’s Books)
How Not to Disappear by Clare Furniss (Simon & Schuster)
The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock (Faber & Faber)
Whisper to Me by Nick Lake (Bloomsbury)
Beetle Boy by M.G. Leonard (Chicken House)
The Stars at Oktober Bend by Glenda Millard (Old Barn Books)
Pax by Sara Pennypacker (HarperCollins)
Railhead by Philip Reeve (Oxford University Press)
Beck by Mal Peet with Meg Rosoff (Walker Books)
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt (Andersen Press)
The Marvels by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (Puffin)
Island by Nicky Singer (Caboodle Books)
Dreaming the Bear by Mimi Thebo (Oxford University Press)
Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford (HarperCollins)
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk (Corgi)
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner (Andersen Press)
For more information, here's the full press release.