Angus Book Award
Aims, Eligibility and Criteria
Aims
- To provide a focus for promoting reading for enjoyment by teenagers in Angus
- To promote a reading ethos within Angus secondary schools
- To give both committed and less enthusiastic readers the opportunity to engage with new, rewarding and accessible books for teenagers
- To give pupils experience of sharing their views on books in class and group discussions
- To raise the profile of a range of authors from across the UK, and give pupils the opportunity to meet them, believing that this motivates pupils to read and helps them to develop their own potential as writers
- To empower pupils through their active involvement in the selection process, discussion, voting and the ceremony
- To support teachers and library staff in keeping abreast of new teenage fiction
- To promote links between secondary schools, the Educational Resources Service and the public libraries
- To raise the profile of Angus Council
Eligibility
The book must be a work of teenage fiction appropriate for the 13/15 year old age group, published in a first paperback edition between July and June of the previous year and written by an author living and working in the UK.
Criteria
In selecting books for the shortlist, readers should bear in mind the main aims of the award. Shortlisted books should fulfil one or more of the following criteria, in addition to being a good read:
- How well literary aspects such as plot, characterisation, setting, style and language are developed
- Whether the book gives the reader an insight into their own and others’ experiences
- How well a theme is treated, particularly for sensitive issues
- The extent to which the book stimulates the imagination and encourages creativity
The shortlist, in reflecting the aims of the award, should offer balance in terms of themes and level of difficulty.
Final inclusion in the shortlist is dependent upon the author being prepared to visit schools and to attend the award ceremony and sufficient copies of the title being available for purchase for participating schools and libraries.