Awards News Costa Coffee Awards
| Costa Coffee Awards |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by The Librarian |
| Monday, 26 January 2009 16:26 |
|
This years winner of the Children's Category was 'Just Henry' by Michelle Magorian. Michelle is more known for her brilliant novel 'Goodnight Mr Tom'.
See more about Michelle's work at her website. |
'Set in post-war Britain, Just Henry is the story of a young boy who escapes the bleakness of life through his passion for cinema. His stepfather, whom he despises, will never compare with his dead father, a war hero. Appalled to find that his partners on a school photography trip include Jeffries, whose father went AWOL and Pip, who is illegitimate, he's about to learn that tolerance and friendship are more important than social stigmas. Processing a film that he took on the trip, Henry makes an alarming discovery. Like a bomb waiting to explode, his world is about to unravel.' (Costa Review)
"if a child can read, they can think,
if a child can think they are free"
Siobhan Dowd (1960-2007)
Carnegie Medal 2009
Search Our Library
Great Read
It would be much easier to tell this story if it were all about a chaste and perfect love between Two Children Against the World at an Extreme Time in History. But let's face it, that would be crap. Daisy is sent from New York to England to spend a summer with cousins she has never met. They are Isaac, Edmond, Osbert and Piper. And two dogs and a goat. She's never met anyone quite like them before - and, as a dreamy English summer progresses, Daisy finds herself caught in a timeless bubble. It seems like the perfect summer. But their lives are about to explode. Falling in love is just the start of it. War breaks out - a war none of them understands, or really cares about, until it lands on their doorstep. The family is separated. The perfect summer is blown apart. Daisy's life is changed forever - and the world is too.
