Branford Boase 2019 shortlist announced

May 16th 2019

The shortlist for the 2019 Branford Boase Award has been announced. This annual award is given to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children. Uniquely, it also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.

It is twenty years since the Branford Boase Award was founded to commemorate author Henrietta Branford and influential Walker Books editor Wendy Boase and it is now recognised as one of the most important awards in children’s books with an impressive record in identifying outstanding authors at the start of their careers. Over its 20-year existence, winners and shortlisted authors include Siobhan Dowd, Meg Rosoff, Mal Peet, Philip Reeve, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Frances Hardinge, Patrick Ness and Marcus Sedgwick.

The shortlisted titles for the 2019 Branford Boase Award are:

• The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson, edited by Rebecca Hill and Becky Walker (Usborne) *shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal*
• The Train to Impossible Places by P.G. Bell, edited by Rebecca Hill and Becky Walker (Usborne)
• Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon, edited by Sarah Stewart (Usborne)
• The Goose Road by Rowena House, edited by Mara Bergman (Walker Books)
• I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan, edited by Lucy Pearse (Macmillan) *shortlisted for the YA Book Award*
• Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen, edited by Sarah Stewart and Kendra Levin (Usborne) *shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award*
• The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Raúf, edited by Lena McCauley (Orion Children’s Books) *winner of the Blue Peter Book Award*

The winner of the 2019 Branford Boase Award will be announced on Thursday 27^th June 2019 at a ceremony in London.

To order any of the shortlisted titles, click here.