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Sedgwick wins teen prize

01.11.07 Anna Richardson

Marcus Sedgwick was crowned the winner of the Booktrust Teenage Prize for his gothic novel My Swordhand is Singing (Orion).

Sedgwick, whose novels have been shortlisted for a variety of awards including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award, was selected from a shortlist of six, which also included Philip Reeve's Here Lies Arthur (Scholastic), Meg Rosoff's Just in Case (Penguin), Mal Peet's The Penalty (Walker), Kate Cann's Leaving Poppy (Scholastic) and Theresa Breslin's The Medici Seal (Doubleday).

Anthony McGowan, winner of last year's prize and one of this year's judges, said: “Sedgwick’s My Swordhand is Singing hooks the reader from the opening sentence, and, like the Gypsy music at its core, resonates still in the imagination long after the last note is sounded.”

Booktrust administers the prize with the support of writers, publishers, teachers, parents and libraries, and The Reading Agency is promoting it in libraries across the UK.

The £2,500 prize was awarded on 31st October.

Anna Richardson Booktrust Prize Marcus Sedgwick

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