BooksforTopics Reading for Pleasure Recommendations
We are so excited to host a giveaway for the seven shortlisted books on the Branford Boase Award shortlist. Read on for more information about the award and details about how to win.

The Branford Boase Award is a children’s book award celebrating the most promising book for children aged 7+. The award is only for children’s books written by a first-time novelist and also highlights the importance of the editor in the development of debut authors.
The Branford Boase Award was set up in memory of prize-winning author Henrietta Branford and Wendy Boase, editorial director and one of the founders of Walker Books. To mark the 20th anniversary of the Branford Boase Award, Walker Books has reissued Henrietta Branford’s award-winning Fire, Bed and Bone .
The shortlist for this year’s award is as follows:
The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson, edited by Rebecca Hill and Becky Walker (Usborne) *shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal* – Available here
The Train to Impossible Places by P.G. Bell, edited by Rebecca Hill and Becky Walker (Usborne) Available here
Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon, edited by Sarah Stewart (Usborne) Available here
The Goose Road by Rowena House, edited by Mara Bergman (Walker Books) Available here
I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan, edited by Lucy Pearse (Macmillan) *shortlisted for the YA Book Prize* Available here
Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen, edited by Sarah Stewart and Kendra Levin (Usborne) *shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award* Available here
The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Raúf, edited by Lena McCauley (Orion Children’s Books) *winner of the Blue Peter Book Award* Available here
The winner of the 2019 Branford Boase Award will be announced on Thursday 27th June at a ceremony in London. For more information about the award, including a full list of past winners, and the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition visit www.branfordboaseaward.org.uk .
The shortlisted books are available to buy online or from your local bookshop or library.
***Book Giveaway***
We have been given a complete set of shortlisted books to give away to one of our followers! The winner will receive all seven books on the 2019 shortlist as well as a copy of the new issue of Henrietta Branford’s book Fire, Bed and Bone.
To enter, simply follow @booksfortopics on Twitter and retweet the giveaway tweet before 11.59pm Sunday 19th May (T&Cs here).
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You can order the shortlisted books online or from your local bookshop or library.