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Books for teenagers dominate this year's CILIP Carnegie Medal shortlist, with five of the seven shortlisted titles aimed at readers aged 12-plus. Random House Children's Books is well represented with three of the shortlisted titles coming from its stable while Penguin has two titles on the shortlist.
The list is also weighted towards boys with all the titles featuring a male lead character. This leaning towards young male readers reflects children's publishing output during the past year, which has been dominated by books that will appeal to this group.
The Carnegie shortlist generally favours books for older readers. Joy Court, chair of the 2009 judging panel, said: "Each book lays bare the thorny process of turning from child to adult and the moral dilemmas, ambivalent relationships and confusing feelings that characterise the business of growing up. These are characters young readers will identify with and books that really do have the power to influence young lives."
The shortlist for the Kate Greenaway Award Medal was also announced today (24th April). The prize for children's book illustrators includes a number of titles for older readers alongside more traditional picture books. The winners of both awards will be announced at a ceremony in London on 25th June.
Carnegie shortlist:
Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Macmillan)
Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks (Penguin)
Airman by Eoin Colfer (Puffin)
Bog Child by Siobhan Down (David Fickling)
Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray (Definitions)
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (Walker)
Creature of the Night by Kate Thompson (Bodley Head)
Greenaway shortlist:
The Snow Goose by Angela Barrett & Paul Gallico (Hutchinson)
Varmints by Marc Craste & Helen Ward (Templar)
The Savage by Dave McKean & David Almond (Walker Books)
Little Boat by Thomas Docherty (Templar)
How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham (Walker Books)
The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins)
Harris Finds His Feet by Catherine Rayner (Little Tiger Press)
Molly and the Night Monster by Chris Wormell (Jonathan Cape)