Lancashire Author Shortlisted for Children’s Book Prize 2018

Alice Broadway, a writer from Buckshaw Village, has been nominated for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2018, widely regarded as one of the most prestigious accolades in the world of children’s books. Announced today, Wednesday 7th February, Broadway is shortlisted in the Older Fiction category for her book Ink .
Alice Broadway says, “The news that Ink has been short-listed has stunned me. It is a huge honour and I could not be more thrilled.”
Alice Broadway studied theology before moving to Lancashire and starting a family. She is interested in the notions of death, afterlife and eternity, and the idea for her debut novel came after watching a documentary on Ancient Egyptian death rituals. Ink is set in a dystopian world where every individual’s actions, deeds and significant moments are tattooed onto the skin for ever. Broadway tells the story of Leora who, upon his death, discovers that her father’s ink has been edited. She is determined to see her father remembered forever but she now wonders whether she ever knew him at all.

Penny Bullock from Waterstones Preston says, “It’s always a thrill when awesome books get the attention they deserve but the icing on the cake is when they are written by an author from your area. Ink is a truly fabulous, deliciously wonderful book, deserving of all the praise heaped upon it and we couldn’t be more chuffed that it has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.”

The Waterstones Children’s book prize exists to reward and champion new and emerging talent in children’s books. Now in its fourteenth year, it is widely regarded as one of the most important prizes for children’s books.

Last year’s winner, The Girl Of Ink And Stars shot to the top of the bestseller charts after announcement and saw an increase in sales of over 1400% across the Waterstones estate.
The winners will be announced at an evening reception at Waterstones Piccadilly (London), Europe’s largest bookshop, on Thursday 22nd March 2018. Six books will compete within each category to be crowned category winner, with the three category winners then vying for the overall title of Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year 2018. The winner of each category will receive £2000, with the overall winner receiving an extra £3000. In the event that the prize is awarded to a partnership then the prize money will be split equally between the joint winners.

The winning authors and illustrators will also see a significant boost in sales, and the promise of an ongoing commitment to their writing career from all Waterstones shops nationwide.

The full lists of shortlisted titles (in alphabetical order by author) for the 2018 Prize are:
Illustrated Books:
Superbat by Matt Carr (Scholastic)
Leaf by Sandra Dieckmann (Flying Eye)
The Night Box by Louise Greig and Ashling Lindsay (Egmont)
I Really Want The Cake by Simon Philip and Lucia Gagiotti (Kings Road Publishing)
Fergal Is Fuming by Robert Starling (Andersen Press)
The Secret of Black Rock by Joe Todd-Stanton (Flying Eye)

Younger Fiction:
A Place Called Perfect by Helena Duggan (Usborne)
Who Let The Gods Out? by Maz Evans (Chicken House)
Kid Normal by Greg James, Chris Smith and Erica Salcedo, (Bloomsbury)
The Five Realms: The Legend of Podkin One–Ear by Kieran Larwood (with illustrations from renowned British artist David Wyatt), (Faber)
The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson (Scholastic)
Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend (Hachette Children’s)

Older Fiction:
The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy (Pushkin Children’s)
Troublemakers by Catherine Barter (Andersen Press)
Ink by Alice Broadway (Scholastic)
Thornhill by Pam Smy (David Fickling Books)
This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada (Penguin Random House Children’s)
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Walker)