SHINE is on the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize longlist

I am speechless. So happy. Thank you to The Guardian and to judging panel Gillian Cross, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Katherine Rundell (who happen to be some of my favourite authors).



I got an email the other day that I'd made it to the longlist of eight but to keep my mouth shut until Saturday when the Guardian planned to go public.

On Friday though, Philip 'the Beard' Ardagh tweeted this:


Such an act of unmitigated niceness! Hmm, I thought. Does he know something about the Guardian prize.

But the next day, Philip swore he had no idea!
When I saw the synopsis for Shine in the Guardian, I thought, wow, somebody really read the book. Here's a screenshot from the Guardian gallery of longlisters.

The medical condition which scars Rosa and leaves her without speech at birth is viewed with deep mistrust by the superstitious community in which she lives. To avoid their taunts she remains largely hidden at home from a world full of secrets and fears, with her head filled with half-remembered dreams. But, like any other 13-year-old, Rosa needs an independent life. Daringly beginning an online friend­ship, Rosa brings dangerous attention to herself, unleashing dark family secrets as she does so - but also setting herself joyfully free. Contemporary life and the spirit world are seamlessly interwoven in this skilful and poignant story about friendship, family and self-belief.


On the Saturday morning, I woke to my smartphone buzzing like a crazy bee on the bedside table.
And for the rest of the day, the phone didn't stop buzzing. Life really does happen on social media.

I've embedded some tweets below to give a taste of what my day has been like.

Now, people, take note that it's just the LONGlist. And also take note that the other long-listed books are absolutely fabulous, I'm just happy to be one of them.

Thank you for all the warmth and love you've pinged my way.


If you're a young person who likes writing book reviews, you MUST enter the Guardian Young Critic's Competition. Good luck!