The Bookseller.com

5th July 2009

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Patrick Ness wins BookTrust prize

18.11.08

Patrick Ness has been awarded the Booktrust Teenage Prize 2008 for his novel The Knife of Never Letting Go, his first book for young adults.

The novel, published by Walker, tells the story of a dystopian world where women have been banished and all the men have been infected with a virus that enables everyone to hear each others’ thoughts.

Amanda Craig, chair of judges, said the book "made the judges laugh, cry and debate its contents with passion". Viv Bird, director of Booktrust, describd it as "original and completely gripping".

Ness received a cheque for £2,500 and a trophy at the awards ceremony in London.

A sequel The Ask and the Answer, comes out in May in the UK

Ness's book beat the following shortlisted titles:
Creature of the Night by Kate Thompson (Bodley Head)
The Knife That Killed Me by Anthony McGowan (Definitions)
Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz (Walker)
The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner (Orion)
Apache by Tanya Landman (Walker)

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