The Bookseller.com

8th September 2008

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Boy A is Book to Talk About

06.03.08

Boy A, a hard-hitting account of the life of a former child offender, has been voted the best "Book to Talk About", a new award conducted for today's World Book Day.

The book took 21% of the overall vote, winning its author Jonathan Trigell a £5,000 prize.

The new poll was devised to raise the profile of "hidden gems" among the thousands of books published each year, with the winner selected by readers rather than critics or jury panels. It was conducted online on the World Book Day website, and received over 3,000 votes.

The novel, which take a controversially morally-ambivalent attitude to murderous crime, was written as part of Trigell's creative writing degree while still at University in 2002 and was published in 2004. Interest in the book was reignited by a Channel Four television adapation of Boy A that aired late last year. The World Book Day "Books to Talk About" shortlist included writing by Steve Aylett, Jenny Downham and Rupert Thomson.

Jonathan Trigell has since written a second novel, Cham, which was published by Serpent's Tail in October.

Book Prize Boy A Book to Talk About