Tuesday triumphs

Here in the House of Onion, we are bunkered down, doing ALL THE THINGS, making ALL THE BOOKS,* meeting ALL THE DEADLINES.**

We have barely had time to down tools and peer above the parapet.

But, lo, thanks to the magic of the internets, good news has helpfully made itself known to us - and good news is for sharing.

So, without further adieu, we give you this very good news.

The winner of the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Young Adult Fiction is Penni Russon  for Only Ever Always.

Colour us highly delighted. Congratulations, Penni. 

 So many HURRAHS!

Herewith the Judges Report:

Mysterious, complex and challenging, Only Ever Always is a beautifully written story of parallel lives where Claire in the now, and Clara in a dystopian, timeless world, each face similar difficulties. Is one the dreamer, the other the dream, and if so, which? Changing voices, points of view and place make this a very satisfying novel for a reader willing to give it the close attention it deserves.

And slip on over here for the Judges Reports on all the shortlisted and winning titles.

Bravo! to all the winners, and to all the authors shortlisted. Bravo!




* When we say ALL THE BOOKS, we might actually be exaggerating somewhat. We are confident that there are other publishing people out there who are also busily making ALL THE BOOKS. So. Many. Books.
** When we say ALL THE DEADLINES, me might actually mean, ahem, most of the deadlines...

Wednesday winnings

The days are slipping by at breakneck speed. At this rate it will be Christmas before we know it. Gulp.

It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating the new Premier-free Queensland Literary Awards and cheering for our shortlisted books - and now the winners have been announced! And we have HOORAYS for Neil Grant's The Ink Bridge which has won the Young Adult book Award.

You can see all the short-listed authors and the winners here and a round-up of the inaugural awards event here.

The Ink Bridge is a fabulous, and timely, book about two courageous boys - a grieving Melbourne boy and a young Afghan asylum seeker from Bamiyan. We really can't recommend it highly enough. If you haven't read it, here's a little taster trailer where Neil answers questions about The Ink Bridge - and about his research trip to Afghanistan - and over here is his blog about his trip.




To Neil. Big HOORAYS. Huge.