Very good news. We have it.

Yes. We have it. We have it in truckloads.

1) In local awards news: The NSW Premier's Literary Awards & NSW Premier's History Awards  Shortlists have been announced. And look. LOOK!

The Patricia Wrightson Prize

Kate Constable, Crow Country 

The Ethel Turner Prize

Bill Condon, A Straight Line to My Heart 

Ursula Dubosarsky, The Golden Day 

Scot Gardner, The Dead I Know 

Penni Russon, Only Ever Always 

HISTORY AWARDS  Young People's History Prize 

Anh Do and Suzanne Do, illustrated by Bruce Whatley, The Little Refugee 

Nadia Wheatley, illustrated by Ken Searle, Playground

Very good news indeed. Many HURRAHS to Kate, Bill, Ursula, Scot, Penni, Anh, Suzanne, Bruce, Nadia & Ken. Many, many HURRAHS!

And congratulations to everyone on the shortlists.

2) And in UK awards news: The longlist for the CLIP Carnegie Medal has been announced. And look. LOOK!

Sea Hearts (aka The Brides of Rollrock Island) by Margo Lanagan is on it.

Such good news. So many HOORAYS for Margo!

3) But wait, there's more. In news from the USA. Libba Bray & Margo Lanagan both have books on the Publishers Weekly Best Books for 2012 list. LOOOOOOOK!

Sea Hearts (aka The Brides of Rollrock Island) by Margo Lanagan

Lanagan brings dark, wonderful depth to the legend of the selkies, creatures whose limitations pale beside the weaknesses of men. While other writers revel in the novelty of supernatural romance, Lanagan exposes the true costs of such arrangements - financial, emotional, and otherwise - in stories that span generations.

The Diviners (aka The Diviners) by Libba Bray

It's generally impossible to know what Bray has up her sleeve - few writers are as daring and varied in their output. One thing's for sure, though: it's always a blast. That definitely describes this electric combination of Jazz Age New York City, the occult and the psychic, and some truly gruesome murders.

Brilliant news! A thousand cheers for Libba & Margo!

Home and Away - Awards Ahoy!

Thrilled we are to see two of our favourite books on the   
Young Adult Fiction shortlist for the 
2012 Prime Minister's Literary Awards. 

THRILLED!

Huge HOORAYS and HURRAHS for:

A Straight Line to My Heart by Bill Condon

Judges' comments:
Condon writes about teenagers with great empathy. His first-person narrator Tiff is at a crossroads, burning to pursue her dream of becoming a journalist but slow to realise that her greatest story lies in her unconventional family. Skilfully drawn characters, ranging from her adopted grandfather to a gruff reporter colleague, help the reader to become aware that words sometimes conceal more than they reveal.

Being Here by Barry Jonsberg

Judges' comments:
This is a profoundly beautiful story, a memoir of youth retold in old age to a schoolgirl, forging a link between generations. A booklover's tale, it recalls a girl who escaped from the isolation of country life and family tragedy through both the written page and an unusual friendship with a boy stranger. Jonsberg unravels her memories to give us a compelling affirmation of enduring love.

Let there be boisterous cheering all across the land!

And many congratulations to all the authors on the shortlist. 

And news just in from the other side of the world!

Delighted we are to see another of our favourite books on TWO winners lists in the CBI Book of the Year Awards which are the leading annual children's book awards in Ireland. DELIGHTED!

 

WINNER - CBI Book of the Year Award AND the Children's Choice Award: 

Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan  

aka Taken Away*

Judges' Comments:
Following the lives of two fifteen-year-old twins, this imaginative and empathetic supernatural thriller coalesces past and present to explore the complexities of fraternal love and the pain of loss.

Celine is the first author to win both the CBI Book of the Year Award AND the Children's Choice Award.

HURRAH!

Let there be boisterous cheering all across the oceans!

* It's the same book, just wearing different clothes. Perhaps we should start referring to it as Taken Away Into the Grey?