Carnegie Medal and Book of the Week

Our first post of the term looks at the Yoto Carnegie shadowing scheme, and features some book recommendations from 5B.

The Yoto Carnegie Medal is an annual prize awarded for writing aimed at children and young people. Yoto Carnegie invite schools to set up their own group of Carnegie 'Shadowers', who shadow the judging process, reading, discussing and reviewing the books on the list, and voting for their favourite to win the Shadower's Prize.  

The 2024 Yoto Carnegie shortlist was published in March and last week, the SPS group of Shadowers, made up of SPS 4th and 5th formers and SPJ U3rds, held their first meeting. Mrs Wilkinson reports on how it went.

'The Carnegie Shadowing group met for our first session over a Hot Chocolate and a Kitkat. We were discussing Nathanael Lessor’s funny yet poignant debut novel Steady for This.

 

Wannabe rapper Shaun (aka MC Growls) is ready to drop his best bars and smash the competition at Raptology, but he has many obstacles to overcome before he gets there. Facing humiliation, missing his best friend and even eviction, we see how Growls gets help and just keeps going.

While there are laugh out loud moments in this book, the group were not sure that they found the characters particularly convincing. With amusing wordplay and a hilarious livestream that goes embarrassingly wrong for best friends, we felt this book was aimed at a younger age group. We’d recommend it to 10 year olds for a funny, light read.'

At the next meeting, the Shadowers will be discussing Saffiyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan: copies in the library if you'd like to borrow it and read along with them.  

Meanwhile, today's books of the week are recommended by 5B. First, a mighty FOUR recommendations from Kaysan Lakha.

Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro 

Five interconnected stories about love, loss, music and fame: I thought this book was amazing, and would recommend it to young adult/teenage readers. 

There is ample opportunity to connect with each of the characters and when each story ended, it left you with a sense of completion, even though the characters' lives will go. The stories were all interconnected so it was interesting to see how the characters perceived each other differently. 

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai

Wholesome stories about people looking to rediscover food that meant something to them throughout their lives. We learn about each of them and can relate in some way or another to everyone.

It's my favourite book of all time. Absolutely sensational. I liked how each story, despite some of them including death, always felt happy and complete. All the stories were so moving and portrayed different parts of life. It was amazing to see how Nagare, the chef learns about his customers' lives, and helps them through their struggles through his food. Could this book be improved in any way? Nope, best ever: I'd recommend it to children, adults, everyone basically. I even recommended it to my mum.  

What you are looking for is in the library by Michiko Aoyama

Interconnected yet separate short stories about people seeking a change in their life but needing guidance on how to do it.

My second favourite  book of all time. I loved learning about each character's life and how they viewed it, with the contrast of their potential. The librarian, who seemingly knows everything and recommends books to people before they even know what they are looking for, appears to be quiet but is full of personality. I particularly liked that all the stories were interconnected because even after one story ended, the next, although totally different, gave a sense of familiarity when a character the reader has already met is mentioned. I would recommend it to everyone.  

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro

Set in the 1930's, this novel focusses on a classic detective protagonist, Christopher Banks. Analytical and daring, he is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his parents, and sets out to solve the case.  

I loved this novel although it did take me a while to read it because I had to re-read a couple of pages every once in a while to understand what was going on. I liked that we frequently delved into Banks' memories, which gave us a unique understanding of how his mind works, and how his experiences have shaped his outlook on the world. I would recommend this book to adults and older readers.  

And a couple of non-fiction recommendations:

Sir Alastair Cooke: the autobiography 

Recommended by Krishan Sornalingam

The autobiography of Alastair Cooke, ex England cricket captain, shows how he struggled with mental health during his career but how he eventually became a historical figure in the sport and was knighted after he retired. 

I liked this book as watching sport on TV can be very deceptive: it is interesting to find out about the life behind the scenes for a high end athlete and the struggles they have unrelated to their sports achievements.  The book documents his story well, right from his journey as a kid to his life now after retirement.  My favourite moment was when he made his debut for England as his sense of pride was palpable, although it would have been interesting to include more views from other people (teammates, family, friends etc.). I would recommend this book to teenagers who like cricket and any older family members who would have watched Cooke at the time when he was still playing.  

Escape from Kabul by Levinson Wood and Geraint Jones

Recommended by Harry Chong

Escape from Kabul gives an overview of the pullout from Afghanistan and a brief history of the conflict. It gives personal stories of the 'WhatsApp war' and how people helped their friends escape from the new Afghanistan before and after the airlift. The book is aimed at people who want a more in depth look at how people had been abandoned by their governments and left to fend for themselves. 

I enjoyed the book as it gave me a different perspective on the pullout of the war, not from the point of view of a news organisation or a government but from people in the military and at home who just wanted to help their friends escape. Soldiers might have not even known who they were saving but were doing it anyway. The book also gives the authors' opinions on how the pullout of Afghanistan was achieved as well as simply explaining how people escaped. I found it interesting how it gave an overview of what caused the war and how it had progressed to such a stage where they need to leave. I would have liked it to include more on the progress of the war, however that would have made the book significantly longer. People who enjoy military history may enjoy this book, as it is a different type of war, and it was unprecedented for such a military pullout to happen.