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Book Awards

Secondary Book Award 2025 Shortlist Announced!!!

We are thrilled to unveil the eagerly anticipated shortlist for the Secondary Book Award 2025, curated by the Warwickshire Schools Library Service in collaboration with a dedicated team of secondary school librarians from across the county. This year’s selection features six exceptional titles that promise to inspire and engage students during the spring term, where they will delve into these captivating stories through book discussions and exciting competitions. Students and authors are invited to join us in person at the final award ceremony in April 2025, where we will celebrate the power and joy of reading for pleasure.

For more information about our book awards, please email: schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

Students have voted for their Teen Book Award Shortlist!

The excitement is building as we announce the shortlist for the Teen Book Award, carefully curated by students during September's dynamic speed shortlisting events at schools across the county! After thoughtful discussions and enthusiastic debates, students have selected four incredible titles that they will dive into reading. Students will cast their votes in early December to determine the ultimate winner or the Teen Book Award 2024. The celebration of literature and creativity doesn't stop there; we'll culminate the event with an engaging online award ceremony celebrating all the nominated books and their talented authors. Stay tuned for more updates as we count down to this thrilling celebration of young readers and their voices!

For more information about our book awards, please email schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

Teen Book Award Longlist 2024 revealed!

We are delighted to reveal the longlist, chosen with the help of our wonderful secondary school librarians. This award takes place in the autumn term and students will take part in exciting 'Speed shortlisting' events at their school where THEY will decide the final books for the shortlist. The shortlist will be revealed early October and students will have 2 months to read the final 4 books. They will vote for their favourite and the winner will be revealed at our online award ceremony in December.

Congratulations to the longlisted authors...

Seven Million Sunflowers by Malcolm Duffy
Northern Soul by Phil Earle
Runner Hawk by Michael Egan
If My Words Had Wings by Danielle Jawando
Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis
Play by Luke Palmer
We Don’t Swim Here by Vincent Tarado
Postcards From Valhalla by Danny Weston
Feast of Ashes by Victoria Williamson

We love running our book awards and helping to engage and inspire young readers. If you would like to know more or take part, please email: schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

'Finn Jones Was Here' by Simon James Green wins the Warwickshire Junior Book Award 2024

Primary school pupils from across the county enjoyed a great reading celebration which saw a book of their choosing crowned winner of the Warwickshire Junior Book Award 2024.

Year 5 and 6 pupils gave their stamp of approval to award-winning author Simon James Green and his book “Finn Jones Was Here” in the annual award hosted by Warwickshire Schools Library Service (WSLS).

Green, who has penned over twelve books for both children and young adults, said he was delighted to win such a special award:

“It means such a lot to win awards like these that are voted for by the readers themselves and to be here today to meet them has been fantastic.”

The initiative is delivered in primary schools during the summer term to boost reading for pleasure, with students encouraged to read and select their favourite book from four shortlisted titles, chosen by specialist librarians from Warwickshire Schools Library Service.

The shortlisted books chosen for pupils to read this year were: Finn Jones Was Here by Simon James Green, The Swifts by Beth Lincoln, The Storm Swimmer by Clare Weze, and Safiyyah's War by Hiba Noor Khan.

This year’s initiative culminated with the final award ceremony at Kings High School, Warwick, that saw three of the authors attend in person, including New York Times best-selling author Beth Lincoln, Simon James Green, and Clare Weze, as well as Ayub Khan, Head of Communities, Libraries, Heritage and Registration services at Warwickshire County Council.

Cllr Yousef Dahmash, Portfolio Holder for Customer and Transformation, said:

"The Warwickshire Junior Book Award is a great initiative to encourage primary school students across the county to discover the many benefits of reading. Reading for pleasure is known to enhance well-being and empathy and is closely linked with an increase in academic success.

“I would like to thank our Schools Library Service and the authors for their participation in this event. These child-friendly book awards are increasingly popular among Warwickshire schools, and our staff are available to help any schools that would like to get involved and use literature to enhance the educational experience of their students.”

Warwickshire Schools Library Service organised and hosted the Junior Book Award 2024 and are grateful to have received support from Warwickshire Libraries Reading and Learning team, the shortlisted authors and publishers and Warwick Books. Thank you also to Kings High School for enabling us to use your wonderful venue.

If your school would like to take part in the Junior Book Award next year, please email WSLS at schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

Warwickshire Junior Book Award 2024: Shortlist Revealed!

We are very excited to announce the shortlist for the 2024 Warwickshire Junior Book Award. These are some of the best books published over the last year. The annual award takes place during the summer term and is aimed at years 5/6 and is open to all schools across Warwickshire and neighbouring regions. Pupils read the shortlisted books and vote for their favourite at the end of June. We invite all pupils and authors to our final book award ceremony in July 2024. This is a wonderful way to promote a love of reading and inspire and engage young readers. The shortlist this year is:

Finn Jones Was Here by Simon James Green
Safiyyah's War by Hiba Noor Khan
The Swifts by Beth Lincoln
The Storm Swimmer by Clare Weze

For more information or to take part, please email schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

Winner of Warwickshire Secondary Book Award 2024 announced!

We had a wonderful time celebrating all of the shortlisted books at our Final Award Ceremony on Wednesday 20th March 2024. We were delighted to be joined by hundreds of students from across Warwickshire and 3 of the shortlisted authors; Anthony McGowan, SF Said and Nathanael Lessore. It was lovely to hear the inspiration behind their books, their experiences as writers and many amusing tales. Students were also able to hear their questions kindly answered via videos from authors Lily Bailey and Alex Bell. We were also joined by May Vaughan, Warwickshire Young Poet Laureate who performed a selection of her own poems ending with a lovely reminder that we are all good at something and to follow our passions whatever they are.

The winning book, voted for by students, was 'When I See Blue' by Lily Bailey. The book shares a touching and honest fictional story about obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and explores the power of friendship as 12-year-old character Ben learns how to live with OCD and find ways to manage his condition.

Photo: Authors SF Said, Nathanael Lessore and Anthony McGowan with the SLS Team.

Thank you to all the schools that took part and to the all the authors for their support. Thank you to Kings High School for hosting our event and to Warwick Books for selling books to students.

If you would like more information about our book awards or the other ways Warwickshire Schools Library Service support reading for pleasure and learning, please email schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

Secondary Book Award 2024!

We are delighted to announce the shortlist for our Secondary Book Award 2024. Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and thanks to all the team and secondary school librarians who helped pick the shortlist. The students are certainly in for a treat!

The Door Of No Return by Kwame Alexander
When I See Blue by Lily Bailey
The Lighthouse by Alex Bell
Steady For This by Nathanael Lessore
Dogs Of The Deadlands by Anthony McGowan
Tyger by SF Said

Students read the six shortlisted books and vote for their favourite in mid-March 2024.The winner is decided purely by student votes, which makes it really special. We will be hosting a final award ceremony on 20th March 2024, where all students taking part and authors are invited to attend. We are looking forward to it already...

For more information, please email schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

Teen Book Award Shortlist 2023!

We are delighted to announce that the students have voted for their 2023 Teen Book Award shortlist. Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and thank you to all the fabulous longlisted authors too for their support.

The 2023 shortlist is:

Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

With Fire In Their Blood by Kat Delacorte

Tag, You're Dead by Kathryn Foxfield

HappyHead by Josh Silver

For more information, email: schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

Warwickshire Teen Book Award (WTBA) 2023 Longlist

We are delighted to announce our nominations for the WTBA 2023. Alongside a group of experienced and impassioned secondary school librarians, we read and reviewed a wide variety of books to create this year's longlist. In September, the pupils read and select their favourite books and we announce the winner in December 2023.

The nominations are:

Good for Nothing by Mariam Ansar
Promise Boys by Nick Brooks
The Girl Who Broke the Sea by A. Connors
With Fire in Their Blood by Kat Delacorte
Crossing the Line by Tia Fisher
Tag, You're Dead by Kathryn Foxfield
How Far We've Come by Joyce Efia Harmer
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
Steady for This by Nathanael Lessore
Happy Head by Josh Silver

If you would like to get involved, please email us at schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

Warwickshire Junior Book Award (WJBA) 2023 Winner

Warwickshire Schools Library Service are delighted to announce the 2023 Junior Book Award Winner for primary pupils in Years 5 and 6 (#WJBA2023). Our experienced team carefully selected the shortlist which is handed over to pupils who then read four of the most exciting books published during 2022 and then vote for their favourite towards the end of June 2023.

From the shortlist of 'The Whisperling' by Hayley Hoskins, 'Grandpa Frank's Great Big Bucket List' by Jenny Pearson, 'The Unmorrow Curse' by Jasmine Richards and 'Ajay and the Mumbai Sun' by Varsha Shah, this year's winner is:

The Unmorrow Curse by Jasmine Richards
Many CONGRATULATIONS go to Jasmine Richards and illustrators Pypah Santos and Jill Tytherleigh, along with the team at UCLan Publishing.

This award takes place every year and is open to all schools to take part.

The WJBA supports the curriculum (and Ofsted initiatives) in the following areas:
• Promotes reading for pleasure and encourages book chat
• Encourages literacy across the curriculum due to the subject nature of the books
• Provides an opportunity for pupils to have an independent choice of reading material
• Introduces pupils to a new range of authors and texts, supporting their wider reading opportunities

Benefits of taking part:
• Reading and voting on four top reads (pupils really do decide the winner!)
• Open discussions, often pupil led
• Teachers/librarians as co-readers (a wonderful opportunity for modelling!)
• Teacher toolkit to help pupils make the most of taking part
• Exciting competitions to enter
• WJBA shortlist posters and bookmarks for your school/pupils.
• Invitation to our Final Awards Ceremony at The Bridge House Theatre, Warwick.

If you would like more information about how to take part, please email schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

Warwickshire Teen Book Award (WTBA) 2022 Winner

The students took part in speed shortlisting events during September and voted for their favourite books. During an award ceremony in December, our winner was announced .....

Many congratulations to

'The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne' by Jonathan Stroud

To find out more about the shortlisted authors, click on the links below:

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

The Upper World by Femi Fadugba

The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne by Jonathan Stroud

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor

For more information, please contact: schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

Warwickshire Secondary Book Award (WSBA) 2023 Winner

During an award ceremony in March, our Secondary Book Award winner was announced .....

Many congratulations to:

'Dread Wood' by Jennifer Killick

Congratulations to all of the authors involved and with thanks to all the schools, their staff and pupils, for supporting our Award.

For more information, please contact: schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

If you would like more information about our book awards or other ways we support schools with reading for pleasure and learning then please get in touch. Email: schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

WJBA Previous Winners

We are very proud of our three Warwickshire Book Awards, which we run annually. Our trained and experienced library team carefully select the shortlisted books. Pupils/students read these books and vote for their favourite. The winner is decided solely by them, and we think this makes our Awards special! Schools from across Warwickshire take part and are invited to the Final Award Ceremony for two of the Awards (WJBA and WSBA), where we invite the shortlisted authors to attend. This is always a lovely event and a fantastic celebration of reading that we hope inspires young people across Warwickshire.

The Awards are aimed at the following year groups: