Carnegie Prize - the winners ...!

Mrs Cummings

Finally! St Paul’s choice for best book has actually won a prize! BookSoc met over lunch on Wednesday to watch the livestream of the awards. To our absolute delight our choice for the Shadower’s Award was won by 

Ruta Sepety’s I must betray you. We all enjoyed this book and think it’s a worthy winner. We would have liked to see it win the main prize, but a prize voted by children from all around the country is definitely something an author values.

The Yoto Carnegie Medal itself was won by Manon Steffan Ros’ The Blue Book of Nebo.

This is the first time in the Carnegie Medal’s nearly 90-year history that the prize has been awarded to a book in translation. Told through the dual narrative of a mother and son in post-apocalyptic Nebo, this 'compelling, conceivable' story explores Welsh identity and culture, and offers a beautiful appreciation of language. The original Welsh publication, Llyfr Glas Nebo, won multiple awards, including the 2019 Wales Book of the Year.

Manon Steffan Ros said, 'I used to see the word Carnegie on the covers of my favourite books as a child, and the fact that The Blue Book of Nebo now has that honour bestowed upon it means more than I can say – and to be the first book in translation to win the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing is a source of great delight. One of the greatest privileges of my life has been the fact that I was raised through the medium of the Welsh language, and having access to two languages has brought me so much joy and opportunity. There’s a huge, lively, thriving Welsh language cultural scene that I’m honoured to be a part of. Each language offers a unique and enriching perspective on the world, and so literature in translation has the potential to enhance our lives greatly. Your favourite book might not yet be translated into a language that you understand.'

There’s an interview with her here.

Although we thought I Must Betray You should have won, The Blue Book of Nebo took equal second place in our voting, alongside the unrewarded The Eternal life of Clara Hart. These books generated a lot (really, a lot!) of discussion and aroused strong feelings for and against. We have plenty of copies in the school libraries so do read them and see what you think.

Thanks to Armaan, Bolang, Louis, Luke, Soren, Theodore, Tiger, Viggo for some great conversations

BookSoc Carnegie Shadower's Medal voting

Mrs Cummings

This week BookSoc met and voted for the Shadower’s Award. This involved a lot of impassioned discussion, a fair amount of agreeing to disagree, but we got there in the end. In time-honoured St Paul’s style, we voted for the book we think should win (the Shadower’s Award) and for the book we think will win. The last had us looking up the judges’ biographies and trying to second-guess their interests and biases.

The Shadower’s Award – St Paul’s vote goes to… 

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys.  This moving novel tells the story of the Christian who is forced to choose between betraying his family and risking everything during the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Aimed at an older reader this book really highlights the hardships of the dictatorship. You can read our review of it here.

 
The scores were…

• I Must Betray You  49
• The Eternal Return of Klara Hart 38
• The Blue Book of Nebo 38
• The Light in Everything 23
• When Shadows Fall 15

The book we think will win was much closer with The Light in Everything and I Must Betray You getting the same score. 

After a run-off between the two books, The Light in Everything just nudged ahead (by 2 votes).  

The Light in Everything is a book about blended families and about learning to trust again. Aimed at a younger reader it is nonetheless a good read for all ages.

 
The announcement of both the Shadower’s Award and the Carnegie Medal for Writing is on the 21st June. We’ll be hoping the right book wins!