2010 CILIP Carnegie Medal shortlist bucks the vampire trend. Eight compelling survival stories bring reality to the fore.

Announced this morning, this year’s CILIP Carnegie Medal Shortlist puts eight page- turning novels about survival in the spotlight. Their stories deal with some of life’s most challenging issues in an intelligent and highly accessible way, offering heroes and heroines that young readers can relate to and a life affirming sense of hope.

The shortlisted books pull no punches in dealing with themes from natural disaster and global warming to economic turmoil, political immorality, racism, terrorism and devastating war. But in showing how moral dilemmas can be resolved and the right choices made, they demonstrate the value of integrity and generate a sense of hope through rich and entertaining story-telling of outstanding quality.

Laurie Halse Anderson Chains Bloomsbury (11+)
Neil Gaiman The Graveyard Book Bloomsbury (9+)
Helen Grant The Vanishing of Katerina Linden Penguin (14+)
Julie Hearn Rowan the Strange OUP (12+)
Patrick Ness The Ask and the Answer Walker (14+)
Terry Pratchett Nation Doubleday (11+)
Philip Reeve Fever Crumb Scholastic (9+)
Marcus Sedgwick Revolver Orion (12+)

“It’s interesting that the eight titles that really stood out for us buck the current trend for escapism and the paranormal in young adult fiction,” comments Margaret Pemberton, Chair of this year’s CILIP Carnegie Judging Panel. “Their writers have been brave with their choice of subject matter and have confronted some very real issues, but the quality of the writing carries each and every story. Whether the setting is a graveyard, another planet, a fantasy version of our own planet, the suburbs of a German town, a mental asylum or deep in the history of slavery, each offers a vivid and compelling narrative, whether for children of 9 and over, or for young adults.”

This year’s shortlist also marks the first time for 30 years that a title has appeared on both the CILIP Carnegie and CILIP Kate Greenaway shortlists, in the shape of Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Graveyard Book’, illustrated by Chris Riddell.

Now in its seventy third year, the CILIP Carnegie Medal is the UK’s oldest and most prestigious award for children’s writing: the prize writers describe as ‘the one they want to win’. Although there is no cash reward, its prestige is rooted in the unique judging process which pools the professional expertise of librarians from across the country, who nominate titles for the long list.

Twelve librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group then meet to discuss the long list and agree on up to eight outstanding titles for the shortlist. Members of the panel combine an in-depth knowledge of books with daily experience of working and reading with young people.

Both the Carnegie Medal and its sister award, the Kate Greenaway Medal are awarded annually by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. The 2010 winners will be announced at a ceremony at BAFTA in central London on Thursday 24th June.

Notes for Editors

1. THE CILIP CARNEGIE & KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS SHADOWING SCHEME Over 3,600 reading groups in schools and public libraries have registered to take part in the shadowing scheme for the awards, involving nearly 90,000 children and young people. For further information visit www.ckg.org.uk/shadowing

2. CILIP: THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS This is the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers. It forms a community of around 36,000 people engaged in library and information work, of whom around 21,000 are CILIP Members and around 15,000 are regular customers of CILIP Enterprises. For more information about CILIP, please go to www.cilip.org.uk

3. YLG: THE YOUTH LIBRARIES GROUP The Youth Libraries Group (YLG) is a Special Interest Group of CILIP. It works in a “pressure group” role, independently and with other professional organisations, to preserve and influence the provision of quality literature and library services for children and young people, both in public libraries and school library services.