The Independent Bookseller Award shortlists have been announced, and we have TWO books nominated in the Children’s category!
The Secret Hen House Theatre, by Helen Peters, and Dear Scarlett, by Fleur Hitchcock, are both shortlisted for the award – the overall winner will be decided by a panel of authors, broadcasters and booksellers, and announced in June.
Here’s what Helen has to say:
“I am honoured and delighted to be shortlisted for this award. I am incredibly grateful that independent booksellers around the country have been hand-selling The Secret Hen House Theatre to their customers and I am so happy that my book is having success through independent book shops, which have always been my favourite kind of shop in the world.”
You can read the first chapter of The Secret Hen House Theatre here:
And here’s what Fleur has to say:
“As a reader, I value the input of the bookseller as much as I valued the input of my very best teachers. For me, the bookseller is there to guide through familiar choices into new territory, often thrilling and unexpected. Without this special person’s knowledge, I wouldn’t know what I was looking at. I might easily dismiss a book because I didn’t like the cover – conversely, I might buy one because I did like the cover and abandon it unread after 20 pages. Because after time, the booksellers shape the bookshops and respond to individual customer’s needs, before long, they tend to develop their own special and delicious characters. In my round of my local indies, I find different flavours, like restaurants all sell food, bookshops all sell books, but they can be so different. And that’s what is ultimately important. Independent Bookshops breed choice, variation, and knowledge. They strain away from global homogenization, making the world a better place. I desperately need them, they feed my soul.”
You can also see Fleur talking about writing Dear Scarlett below:
And here’s chapter one:
The full shortlist for the Children’s category is as follows:
Wonder – R J Palacio
The Sacrifice – Charlie Higson
Gangsta Granny – David Walliams
White Dolphin – Gill Lewis
Oh No, George! – Chris Haughton
Dear Scarlett – Fleur Hitchcock
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever – Jeff Kinney
Maggot Moon – Sally Gardner
WARP: The Reluctant Assassin – Eoin Colfer
The Secret Hen House Theatre – Helen Peters
Matilda’s Cat – Emily Gravett
Socks – Nick Sharratt & Elizabeth Lindsay
And you can read The Bookseller’s coverage of the awards here.
Congratulations to Helen and Fleur!
