Latest Winners / Recipients
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Year: 2011
winner y
Being Here
Crows Nest
:
Allen and Unwin
,
2011
Z1758795
2011
single work
novel
young adult
'Sixteen-year-old Carly is interviewing Leah Cartwright for her local history project. But Leah resists, determined instead to tell her own story: that of a lonely child on an isolated farm, a girl whose only escape is into the world of books. And when Adam appears in the orchard Leah discovers a friend. A secret friend.
'Leah draws Carly in with the magic of story - to her present, her past, her secrets, and her unique friendship with Adam.
'Being Here is a beautifully told story about a girl whose rich imagination rescues her from a grim reality, and an unlikely boy who changes everything. A compelling novel about love, faith and consequences.' (From the publisher's website.)
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Year: 2010
winner y
Drink the Air
Torquay
:
Richard Yaxley
,
2010
Z1716631
2010
single work
novel
young adult
'Tom lives in Hervey Bay, Zooey in Kingaroy. When separate tragedies bring them together, they are forced to leave their childhood lives behind in order to develop new understandings about how to cope with grief, love, friendship and, most importantly, family. Written with grace and wisdom, Drink The Air is a verse novel which provides an affirmation of the need to give and accept love in order to better understand the truths of our lives.' (Publication summary)
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Year: 2009
winner y
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark
Crows Nest
:
Allen and Unwin
,
2009
Z1554038
2009
single work
novel
young adult
fantasy
'Skip's an outsider, a quiet observer. He draws pictures to make sense of the world. He's never fitted in. So he takes to the streets. Life there may be hard, but it's better than the one he's left, especially when he teams up with old Billy. Then come the bombs which leave little Max in his care, and also Tia, the sad dancer, with her sweet baby, Sixpence. Scavenging for food, living on love and imagination...how long can Skip's fragile new family hold out as war grips the city?' (Publisher's blurb)
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Year: 2008
winner y
Requiem for a Beast
Requiem for a Beast : A Work for Images, Word and Music
Matt Ottley
(illustrator),
South Melbourne
:
Lothian
,
2007
Z1397580
2007
single work
graphic novel
young adult
'Requiem for a Beast is a remarkable exploration of the parallels between a young man's battle for psychological freedom and the processes that bind and blind us in society. Matt Ottley asks readers to be moved by beauty, truth and ultimately the knowledge of their own humanity.
The book contains a CD of orchestral music, composed by Matt Ottley, and Aboriginal song - another meeting of worlds like those in the words and images.'
Source: Back cover.
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Year: 2007
winner y
One Whole and Perfect Day
Crows Nest
:
Allen and Unwin
,
2006
Z1285617
2006
single work
novel
young adult
"Lily feels both love for and embarrassment about her eccentric family: a grandmother with an imaginary friend, an ax-brandishing grandfather, a mother who brings home patients from the elder-care facility where she works, and an estranged older brother, Lonnie, who still can't seem to get his life together. In a series of implausibly coincidental events (Lonnie's girlfriend's mother also happens to be the random stranger who teaches his grandfather a lesson about racism, for example), all of the family members, and many with whom they come into contact, reach new understanding about themselves and their lives, and all make both small and large changes for the better. In the end, Lily realizes her dream: one "whole and perfect day," in which her entire family comes together and finds happiness. The third-person narration alternates among the many characters' experiences, offering the reader an omniscient view of interconnecting lives in a down-to-earth, Australian setting." (Source: Amazon)
