The longlist for the Branford Boase Award 2019 has just been announced. The award, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, celebrates the most promising new children’s authors and their editors. It was established in memory of author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase, one of the founders of Walker Books.
Siobhan Dowd, Meg Rosoff, Mal Peet, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Patrick Ness, Frances Hardinge and Philip Reeve are some of the authors who have been shortlisted or who have won the award during the past 20 years. Congratulations to all those longlisted this year.
The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson, edited by Rebecca Hill and Becky Walker (Usborne)
Boy Underwater by Adam Baron, edited by Nick Lake and Sarah Hughes (HarperCollins)
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 Fandom by Anna Day, edited by Kesia Lupo (Chicken House)
Me Mam. Me Dad. Me by Malcolm Duffy, edited by Fiona Kennedy (Head of Zeus)
Twister by Juliette Forrest edited by Lauren Fortune (Scholastic)
Flight by Vanessa Harbour, edited by Janet Thomas (Firefly)
Brightstorm by Vashti Hardy, edited by Linas Alsenas (Scholastic)
The Goose Road by Rowena House, edited by Mara Bergman (Walker Books)
Pages & Co: Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James, edited by Rachel Denwood and Sarah Hughes (HarperCollins)
The Mystery of the Colour Thief by Ewa Jozefkowicz, edited by Fiona Kennedy (Head of Zeus)
I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan, edited by Lucy Pearse (Macmillan)
Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen, edited by Sarah Stewart (Usborne)
The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Raúf, edited by Lena McCauley (Orion Children’s Books)
On a Scale of One to Ten by Ceylan Scott edited by Rachel Leyshon (Chicken House)
Outwalkers by Fiona Shaw, edited by Bella Pearson and Anthony Hinton (David Fickling Books)
Sunflowers in February by Phyllida Shrimpton, edited Emma Matthewson (Hot Key)
Run Riot by Nikesh Shukla, edited by Emma Goldhawk (Hodder Children’s Books)
The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle by Victoria Williamson, edited by Jennie Skinner and Sally Polson (Floris Books)