The Blue Book of Nebo WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE 2023 MEDAL FOR WRITING

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Our house is in a dead place. What I mean is, it’s in the middle of nowhere, and no one ever comes here. Well, almost no one. In the olden days, an elderly couple lived in the house called Sunningdale, which is about seventy-eight steps from our house. They went away soon after The End, same as everyone else. A spare and intimate story of a family surviving a near-future global apocalypse .. In a time rife with and ripe for stories of the end, this one stands out.’ Publishers Weekly For 100 years, Scholastic Corporation has been encouraging the personal and intellectual growth of all children, beginning with literacy. Having earned a reputation as a trusted partner to educators and families, Scholastic is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, a leading provider of literacy curriculum, professional services, and classroom magazines, and a producer of educational and entertaining children’s media. The Company creates and distributes bestselling books and e-books, print and technology-based learning programs for pre-K to grade 12, and other products and services that support children’s learning and literacy, both in school and at home. With 15 international operations and exports to 165 countries, Scholastic makes quality, affordable books available to all children around the world through school-based book clubs and book fairs, classroom libraries, school and public libraries, retail, and online. set in 2026 in a post apocalyptic welsh countryside. Beautifully told, dark in places but gentle and hopeful. Read pretty much in one sitting. Loved the uniquely welsh perspective. And blankets on the bed. A duvet, I think. And two pillows.” I dragged the saw slowly and heavily over another branch.

Each year thousands of reading groups in schools and libraries in the UK and around the world get involved in the Awards, with children and young people ‘shadowing’ the judging process, debating and choosing their own winners. They have voted for their favourites from this year’s shortlist and have chosen I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetysfor the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Writing, and The Comet by Joe Todd-Stanton for the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Illustration.It was a rainy day in February, and some snow was clinging to the sheltered corners of the fields. Around two years had gone by since The End, and almost that long since Dylan and I had seen another human being. Mr and Mrs Thorpe felt like a long-ago dream. Everything before that—work and school and Gaynor— felt like they belonged to someone else’s life. The Yoto Carnegies celebrate outstanding achievement in children’s writing and illustration respectively and are unique in being judged solely by librarians. Gaynor cleared her throat, as if she was trying to rid her mouth of the words that were threatening to escape. And she carried on cleaning, and we had a coffee, and the hair salon felt like the safest place in the world. She was awarded a CBE for Services to Literature in 2020; and was the 10 th Waterstones’ Children’s Laureate from 2017-2019.

The Blue Book of Nebo’s thorough appreciation for the Welsh language and Welsh literature is one of its prevalent themes, and most commendable features. It examines the common (though often difficult) relationship English-speaking Welsh parents have with their Welsh-speaking children; Dylan finds solace and escape in his Welsh books, and while Rowenna doesn’t speak Welsh fluently, she makes an effort to grant Dylan access to Welsh literature by stealing books from the abandoned houses of locals. Ultimately it is this thread which is used by Ros to demonstrate how pivotal literature is when it comes to connection; connecting with others, connecting with yourself, and connecting with personal culture and heritage. Still, it is a stark environment depicted by Ros. The bleakness of Dylan’s world is endless – there’s no one but his mother and baby sister in his life – and so literature and religion offer him a way to relate to things bigger than himself. This frequently renders him an endearing character – Dylan often comforts his mother by quoting Welsh writers to her, hoping this will console her in the same way it does him. A tender – though adolescent in nature – offer of hope. In the essentiality and urgency of Dylan’s need for connection, we see the importance of holding onto language as a personal as well as political matter. The intricate depiction of the mother-son relationship deftly wrapped up in the issue of Welsh language preservation. Each year thousands of reading groups in schools and libraries in the UK and overseas get involved in the Awards, with children and young people ‘shadowing’ the judging process. They read, discuss and review the books on the shortlists, get involved in reading related activities in groups, and vote for their favourite books to win The Yoto Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medals for Writing and Illustration. An uplifting and thoroughly heart-warming take on the post-apocalyptic novel, this has all the markers of a modern classic.’– Lauren JamesThere’s a hell of a view from the lean-to. Down toward Caernarfon, where you can see the castle towers jutting out like gnarling teeth, and then the sea and Anglesey beyond it. I can’t ever remember going to Anglesey, but Mam says I went loads of times when I was a little boy. There were nice places to go for walks, Mam says, with nice beaches all around, because Anglesey is an island. I was thinking about that yesterday when I was sitting on the roof of the lean-to, looking out. Seeing the sea and the island, which looks too big to be an island from here. There are trees and fields and places I don’t know between here and the sea. Yesterday was a cold day—cold enough to make my mouth steam, like snow in a saucepan. I sat there thinking about all those people in the olden days, poor things, going to beaches in their cars and sitting there all day with nothing to do. Standing with their feet in the water, then splashing about a bit and then having a picnic. I try not to think about those people too much. The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a not-for-profit organisation started by writers for the benefit of all types of writers.

I never thought about it, you know,” she said after a while. “Nobody did. You just walked into a shop or a garage, and if a bar of chocolate or bag of crisps took your fancy, you bought it.” She shakes her head. “Even if you weren’t hungry!”Come on, Sionyn. It’s going to start raining properly in a bit!” Mam said, waiting for the branches.

Home » Wales » Manon Steffan Ros » Llyfr Glas Nebo (Blue Book of Nebo) Manon Steffan Ros: Llyfr Glas Nebo (Blue Book of Nebo) She stilled and looked up at me through the leaves. Her hair was wet, and she’d zipped up her raincoat over Dwynwen. All I could see of my little sister was a blue fleece hat. Set in North Wales following a nuclear explosion, The Blue Book of Nebo is surprisingly different from most post-apocalytpic novels. It’s entrancing and beguiling and full of life. Together Dylan and his mother Rowenna tell a wonderful and gripping story.” —Margot Livesey, author of The Flight of Gemma HardyI love them all, even the baddies! I do feel particularly close to Rowenna from The Blue Book of Nebo– she is imperfect and insecure and she has stayed with me in a very real way. Moving post-apocalyptic tale told through the eyes of a mother and son as they seek to survive in the remote Welsh countryside. LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. It’s easy to slip into negativity about this, but children and young people do read a lot, just that it tends to be online. Adults should learn to respect that, I think, and not demonise the written word just because it’s on a screen. We can’t afford to pitch books against ipads! Also, not to think too much about the categorisation of books – many young people would enjoy books marketed at adults, and many children who are expected to enjoy chapter books would still enjoy picture books. The winners were revealed at an in-person ceremony held at The Barbican, which was live-streamed and watched by shadowing groups around the country. The awards were hosted by former Children’s Laureate Lauren Child CBE, who won the Carnegie Medal for Illustration – then known as the Kate Greenaway Medal – in 2000 for her first Charlie and Lola book, I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato.