Young author wins place on Booktrust UK Teenage Book judging panel

RGS student and keen author, Sam Audet has taken his place as one of five student judges presiding over the Booktrust British Teenage Book of the Year 2007. Sam was selected from 2,500 entrants to join the judging panel after submitting his own short story to a competition run by Booktrust back in the summer.

In his role as a judge, Sam had to read the six Booktrust teenage category finalists in just over a month and present a case for his favourite book to the other judges. The judging panel selected author Marcus Sedgwick as the winner for his gothic novel My Swordhand is Singing, published by Orion.

Commenting on the experience Sam said: “I was very surprised to be selected as a judge as I’d entered the initial competition to be a judge before the Summer Holidays and it wasn’t until October that I got a call at school to say that I’d won through. “

He added: “I love books so it has been a great experience. The 2007 Booktrust Prize certainly had some very strong entries and great reads. We all agreed that the winning novel stood out for its utterly gripping narrative, its brilliantly created atmosphere of terror and suspense, and the subtle poetry of its language. Reading the book, I was hooked from the opening sentence.”

Viv Bird, Director of Booktrust, commented: “Choosing this year’s winner from such a superb shortlist was extremely daunting for all our judges. The books were all of extraordinary calibre: compelling, beautifully written and reflecting a wide variety of themes. We are delighted that the Booktrust Teenage Prize is attracting such remarkable authors and congratulate Marcus wholeheartedly on his outstanding book.”

The winning author, Marcus Sedgwick, was presented with a trophy and a cheque for £2,500 at a ceremony in London.

Booktrust is an independent national charity that encourages people of all ages and cultures to discover and enjoy reading. The Booktrust Teenage Prize has been running for four years and aims to recognize and celebrate contemporary fiction written for teenagers. Entries to the competition include works of fiction, including novels, collections of short stories and graphic novels.

November 07