This could have been a pandemic novel but a nuclear war – if that is what has happened; it is never entirely clear – gives more or less the same effect, not least because Rowenna and Dylan both do get ill. Manon Steffan Ros tells her story well, with lots of interesting references to things Welsh and she has clearly done her research into how to a survive after an apocalypse. Unlike many post-apocalyptic novels, mainly written by men, there is only limited violence so we have no roving gangs of thugs or the like, just a gentle, well-told story about how two ordinary Welsh people survive life after the End. Publishing history Do you have a favourite character that you have written? If so, who, and what makes them special to you? The man grinned. He was handsome, I think, although such an idea felt redundant after The End. “A boy! How old?” I had longed for these kinds of conversations, without even knowing it. Of course, Dylan was good company, and could speak to me as an adult now, almost. But he barely remembered life before The End. None of it was real to him.

CILIP is a registered charity, no. 313014. The Youth Libraries Group (YLG) is a special interest group of CILIP who work to preserve and influence the provision of quality literature and library services for children and young people, both in public libraries and school library services. I thought I was the only one left!” he said. “I live by Porthmadog. In the middle of nowhere. I don’t know whose house it is, but they’ve gone.” He looked up at the mallet in my hands, and he said, “Please. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just so happy to see another person.” I have to write down who her father was, and I’m not sure why. Maybe because that will make her more real, this little girl whose existence was never registered, the girl who never went to a park or a school. My daughter, whose face was never captured on an iPhone camera. Mona Greta, my little baby girl. The chair of judges, librarian Janet Noble, said of Ros’s novel: “The world-building and distinct voices of the two main characters, the son and his mother, are expertly realised and the reader is compelled to question their own relationship with the modern world”.Set in a post-apocalyptic Wales, this quiet, eerie story is told through a little blue diary shared by twelve year old Dylan and his Mum as they survive day to day in the deserted town of Nebo. 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. Readers should be aware that there are discussions and descriptions of death, including the death of a child, as well as some implied sexual content. We find our main protagonists isolated, alone and learning to survive in this unsettling new era. Set in the very near future, we find a small family in the hilltop house, including Dylan, a 14-year-old boy, his mother Rowenna and his infant sister Mona, who are the only survivors for miles around. Although only a small family, they have adapted and are surviving. They have learnt new skills and are learning to live and hunt from the land. Centre for Literacy in Primary Education and the English and Media Centre have created expert teaching resources for the shortlisted books.

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!” Ruta Sepetys was born and raised in Michigan, USA to parents of Lithuanian origin. Her passion for global connectivity has led to her presenting to NATO, the European Parliament, the US Capitol and embassies worldwide. She is the author of 2016 Carnegie Medal and Waterstones Prize-winner Salt to the Sea. She specialises in stories with the power of the most gripping thrillers, which also expose lesser-known stories in 20th-century history. Her novel The Fountains of Silence was on the 2021 Carnegie shortlist. She is published in 60 countries and is a tireless traveller and speaker in support of her books. Ruta lives in Tennessee, USA with her husband. Ros’s novel charts the relationship between a mother and son who struggle to survive in their isolated hilltop home after a nearby nuclear disaster leaves them without electricity or running water. “As this is the first book in translation to win the Carnegie, my hopes are that readers, and particularly publishers, are more open to books in translation,” Ros said. Is that what you’d choose as a birthday present? If you could have anything you wanted?” Mam stared out over Anglesey and thought about it. She smelled like outside.After that, I put the book on the top shelf in case Dwynwen got hold of it and I went up to the lean-to to fix the leaking corner. You wouldn’t believe how much water can get through a tiny hole like that. It only needed a tiny lump of plasticine, and then a piece of tarpaulin on top, about two inches square. I could only spare one nail, because there weren’t many left. It’ll do for now. Yoto’s platform features both award-winning original content and audio that has been licensed or co-created with partners. These partners include PRH, Macmillan, Sony, Warner Music, Mattel, Disney, LEGO, Roald Dahl Story Company, HarperCollins, Hachette, Bonnier and Scholastic.