Despite the trials of homeschooling coinciding with the launch of this year’s Carnegie Shadowing Scheme, our students did themselves proud, reading around 40 titles between them since the middle of March.  Several said that whilst the books were not their normal favoured genres, they enjoyed them nevertheless; they liked being challenged to step out of their comfort zones and would happily take part again.

There were eight books selected for the shortlist of this award for an outstanding new children’s/young adult book. Often in the past, the book favoured by students in shadowing groups has differed from that chosen by the panel of librarian judges so this year, there were two awards – in June the judges made their choice, Lark by Andy McGowan (rated 8.2/10 by Bushey Meads Shadowers) then on 9th October, the Shadowers’ Choice will be revealed.

During lockdown our group shared their thoughts on the books via a ‘noticeboard’ in Google Docs, posting both their enthusiasm and criticisms! Last week some of our group managed to meet for a face-to-face (socially distanced) discussion about the books and to vote for the Bushey  Meads Choice.  Their comments were enthusiastic, thoughtful and mature, making me wish we had been able to arrange more meetings over the months.

There were two strong contenders for our favourite:

Lampie by Annett Schaap, a delightful story about a girl who meets a merman, which was scored 8.5 out of 10 and the ‘grittier’ Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay which was rated 8.75.  Lark, the judges choice, was rated 8.2 by our group – so they are clearly discerning critics!

 Saint of Nothing by Randy Ribay

Jay Reguero plans to spend the summer playing video games before heading to university in the autumn. But when he discovers that his Filipino cousin, Jun, has been murdered as part of President Duterte’s war on drugs, and no one in the family wants to talk about what happened, Jay travels to the Philippines to find out the real story.  Hoping to uncover more about Jun and the events that led to his death, Jay is forced to reckon with the many sides of his cousin before he can face the whole horrible truth – and the part he played in it.

Lampie: Children of the Sea by Annet Schaap

Every evening Lampie the lighthouse keeper’s daughter must light a lantern to warn ships away from the rocks. But one stormy night disaster strikes. The light goes out, a ship is wrecked, and an adventure begins. In disgrace Lampie is sent to work as a maid at the Admiral’s Black House, where rumour has it that a monster lurks in the tower. But what she finds there is stranger and more beautiful than any monster.

We have submitted our vote for Patron Saints and wait eagerly for the outcome of The Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice which will be announced on 9th October.  Meanwhile, I would like to congratulate the group members on their commitment to reading.  All eight books, representing the best in new children’s fiction, are now available for general loan from the library .