Issued: 10 December 2003
Launch Of Angus Book Award 2004
The search is on to find which new quality novel for teenagers will win the Angus Book Award 2004.
The award continues to go from strength to strength with third year pupils from all eight Angus secondary schools taking part.
Pupils from Forfar Academy were among the first to start reading the five short-listed novels.
Teachers, the school librarian and former Angus Book Award participants from S6 each talked about their favourite title to give the S3 pupils a taster of what they have to look forward to over the next few months.
The Angus Council initiative, which is now in its ninth year, aims to encourage pupils to see reading as both fun and stimulating, and raise the profile of books, reading and writing.
Last year’s winner of the Angus Book Award was Keith Gray with his novel Warehouse.
When he heard that his fast paced thriller Malarkey is in the running for 2004, Keith said: “What an immense privilege to be short-listed for the Angus Book Award again. The night of the award ceremony is probably the most exciting of any book award anywhere - hundreds of teenagers cheering for their favourite book - it’s undeniable proof for any doubter of teenage fiction that the books are needed, important and, above all, enjoyed.”
The 2004 short list also includes previous winner Malcolm Rose with Clone, an exciting mix of science and fantasy, and Julie Bertagna, who was short-listed in 1998. Her novel, Exodus, is set in a future cyberworld above Glasgow. New to the Angus Book Award are authors Alan Gibbons and Philip Reeve. Alan Gibbons’ The Edge is a gritty and uncompromising look at domestic abuse and racism while Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines is an original adventure story set in an imaginative future.
Pupils will read all the titles and then vote for their favourite book in a secret ballot. They will get the chance to meet all the authors when they visit Angus schools on May 18th but the winner will be kept a closely guarded secret until announced at the evening award ceremony in Monifieth.
The short-listed titles are:
Julie Bertagna
Exodus (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Alan Gibbons
The Edge (Orion Children’s Books)
Keith Gray
Malarkey (Random House Children’s Books)
Philip Reeve
Mortal Engines (Scholastic Children’s Books)
Malcolm Rose
Clone (Scholastic Children’s Books)