Carnegie Medal Shortlist 2011 Announced!

On Friday, the 2011 Carnegie Medal Shortlist was announced and I thought I'd share it with you. The CILIP Carnegie Award the most prestigious British children's book award and it was established by in 1936, in memory of the great Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919).

 Last year my book club shadowed the award and won a competition to go to the awards cermony in London. Unfortunately, I wasn't a member then (don't ask why, I have no idea myself why I didn't go along before!) and it was actually the photos of the event that encouraged me to go along. This year, we had a mini competition to win an easter egg to guess what books off the longlist would make the shortlist and I forgot to hand my form in the day before but I did guess two right. Here are the books (information from the Carnegie website):

BRESLIN, THERESA PRISONER OF THE INQUISITION

Zarita, only daughter of the town magistrate lives a life of ease. Saulo, son of a family reduced by circumstances to begging, swears vengeance, after witnessing his father wrongfully arrested and brutally killed. As the Spanish Inquisition arrives, bringing a climate of suspicion and acts of torture to the town, the fates of Zarita and Saulo intertwine, with tragic consequences.

An intriguing and well-achieved novel of impressive scope which brilliantly captures the atmosphere of 15th century Spain. Breslin combines great attention to detail and characterisation with some skilled plotting, and the twin stories of her main characters are well matched and insightful.

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McCAUGHREAN GERALDINE THE DEATH DEFYING PEPPER ROUX

Pepper Roux awakes on his fourteenth birthday; the day he has been told he must die. He doesn't want to disappoint, but he doesn't want to die either. So he goes on the run, setting sail on a sea of adventures, courting mayhem and disaster at every turn. Can he escape his fate – for a while at least?

A cleverly-constructed, tightly-plotted, picaresque novel that has something for everyone. Beautifully realised settings, refreshing and original characters, it is wise, thoughtful, funny and very different.

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NESS, PATRICK MONSTERS OF MEN

The third and final volume in the "Chaos Walking Trilogy" finds three armies marching on New Prentisstown, each intent on destroying the others. Todd and Viola are caught in the middle with no chance of escape or, it seems, of stopping the fighting. But then a third voice enters the fray, one bent on revenge.

An outstanding novel, involving huge ideas about life, death and love that really challenges the reader to think about big questions. The split narrative works extremely well, the style is highly distinctive, and the main characters are beautifully drawn.

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ROSOFF, MEG THE BRIDE'S FAREWELL

On the morning of her wedding, Pell Ridley creeps out of bed in the dark, kisses her sisters goodbye and flees on horseback, determined to escape a future that offers nothing but hard work, and sorrow. The road ahead is rich with encounters that lead her closer to the untold story of her past. And she meets a hunter, whose fate also seems strangely entwined with her own.

A beautifully crafted novel with an exceptional heroine, whose strengths and weaknesses are very well captured. There is a strong sense of historical period, and of women's place in society at that time, and wonderful descriptions of the countryside.

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SEDGWICK, MARCUS WHITE CROW

 

Two lives, two centuries apart, but obsessed by the same question: is there life after death? When city girl Rebecca arrives in the quiet village of Winterfold one relentlessly hot summer, her uneasy friendship with strange, elfin Ferelith sets in motion a shocking chain of events.

A dark and gruesome modern Gothic novel, with a compelling, and carefully crafted dual storyline that really builds the tension. The way in which the past and present interweave is brilliantly achieved, and there is a tremendous sense of place that is both creepy and oppressive.

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WALLACE, JASON OUT OF SHADOWS

It is Zimbabwe in the 1980s. The civil war is over, independence has been won, and Robert Mugabe has come to power, offering hope, land and freedom to black Africans. For Robert Jacklin, it's all new too as he gets used to a new continent, a new country, a new school. But he is quickly forced to realise that for many of his fellow pupils, the battle for their old country rages on.

An extremely powerful novel with a totally believable main character whose moral development and emotional state are compellingly portrayed. The institutionalised brutality of school life is grippingly conveyed too, and the dialogue is always convincing. It makes the reader feel complicit, leading us to question how we would behave in similar circumstances.

My thoughts on the shortlist

The only book I've read on the shortlist is Out Of Shadows by Jason Wallace, which I reviewed here in January. It was very hard hitting and powerful but it wasn't the sort of book you could enjoy. However, I love the look of the Prisoner Of The Inquisition because I really enjoyed Theresa Breslin's book Remembrance and this one is historical fiction too. The cover is gorgeous! I took The Bride's Farewell out of the library on Friday and the chapter that I read was good. I'm not really sure the other books are my kind of thing but I might try White Crow because the author Marcus Sedgewick is visiting my school in May.

Have you read any of these books?

Book Review: Out Of Shadows by Jason Wallace

From the blurb:

The war is over. But there's one last battle to fight.

Zimbabwe, 1980s

The fighting has stopped, independence has been won and Robert Mugabe has come to power offering hope, land and freedom to black Africans. It is the end of the old way and the start of a promising new era. For Robert Jacklin, it's all new: new continent, new country new school . And very quickly he is forced to understand a new way of thinking, because for some of his classmates the sound of guns is still loud and their battles still rage on... white boys who want their old country back, not this new black African government. Boys like Ivan. Clever, cunning Ivan. For him there is still one last battle to fight, and he;s taking it right to the very top.

My review and thoughts

I was initially interested in this book when I read the blurb when discussing the books nominated for the Teenage Booktrust Prize at my school book club, which I joined in September. I have wanted to find out more about the South-African apartheid and its effects for a while and this seemed like a good way to do that. It begins in 1983, at the beginning of the Rhodesian Bush War and Robert Mugabe is prime minister, making it a very interesting setting.

At the beginning of the book we meet thirteen year old Robert, who is a young boy whose family have moved to South Africa from England just after the war. He is sent away to one of the most prestigious and expensive boarding schools in the country, away from his family and everything that he has ever known. It is told in the first person through Robert's eyes and I found it very easy to emphasise with his unhappy feeling of home sickness and loneliness in a strange place unknown to him. The boy's boarding school world turns out to be living hell and he struggles to adapt to a place filled with unjust racial and social tension where the older boys are not afraid to torture the younger ones like him. Robert quickly makes friends with another victim, a black boy called Nelson Ndube. The two vow to protect each other like brothers but Robert struggles to muster the courage defend his new friend from the constant racist bullying. When the seemingly cruel and manipulative Ivan suddenly takes a different turn with Robert, he seizes his chance to become one of a group of 'tough boys' who become the bullies that they used to hate as they move further up the school. Robert made some bad decisions that shape his life at time school but this is very understandable in the harsh school environment where the instincts are to protect yourself.
The story follows him as he grows and matures over the years into a young man until he eventually comes to question what he has become involved in and has to make some tough choices.

There are points in the story where events seem to be shocking to be true and that's what makes this book fast paced page turner that deals sensitively with raw human emotions and prejudices. The writing is extremely powerful and the accounts horrifying and for that reason, I think that others will love it but I didn't particularly enjoy it. Despite this, it still left me with a lot to think about.

Note: Out Of Shadows is marketed as a YA book but I think it leans more towards an adult book and will be enjoyed by both. I would also say that it is not suitable for children under 12 or 13 because of the bad language and violence.