Phoenix Book Award

News

Frank Cottrell Boyce wins 2009 Award for COSMIC

The winner of the 2009 Phoenix Book Award is Frank Cottrell Boyce with the book Cosmic.

Pupils from 10 different Lambeth schools read the three books on the shortlist this year, with more than 100 reviews posted on the website. The finale event was held on 9th December at Lilian Baylis School: 250 voted for their favourite book and a number of prizes were awarded by the Mayor of Lambeth to the best book reviewers.

Thanks to Lambeth Public Libraries and Kids' Company, every student also received a free book.

Photos from the event can be found on our Photo Gallery page.

2009 Shortlist Announced

The shortlist for the 2009 Phoenix Book Award has been announced. The three books which made it to the shortlist are:

Frank Cottrell Boyce, Cosmic
Tanya Landman, Mondays are Murder
Robert Muchamore, The Escape

Charlie James wins 2008 Award for DINO EGG

The winner of the 2008 Phoenix Book Award is Charlie James for Dino Egg.

250 pupils read the three books on the shortlist and many of them posted reviews on the website and attended the finale event on 9th December, which included voting for their favourite book, getting prizes for the best reviews and hearing from two of the shortlisted authors.

Thank you to Barclays Bank for funding the 2008 Award and congratulations to this year's winner!

2008 Shortlist Announced

The shortlist for the 2008 Phoenix Book Award has been announced. The three books which made it to the shortlist are:

Catherine Johnson, A Nest of Vipers
Siobhan Dowd, The London Eye Mystery
Charlie James, Dino Egg

New Website Launched

A brand new website for the Phoenix Book Award has just been launched. Designed and built by Intexta Web Services, who have also been responsible for the Doncaster and Southwark Book Award websites, the new site enables pupils to find out more about the shortlisted books, submit their own reviews and give each book a star rating. It also provides information about the award for librarians, teachers and other education professionals.

Charlie James wins 2007 Award for FISH

Charlie James

Charlie James has won the 2007 Phoenix Book Award for her funny, pacy debut novel Fish. Charlie attended the Finale event at Charles Edward Brooke Lower School and said she was delighted to have won the award. Fish has also been awarded the Fantastic Book Award by Lancashire School Library Service. Charlie James's hilarious sequel to Fish, Dino Egg, is on the Phoenix Book Award 2008 shortlist.

Events

9 Dec 2009
2009 Finale Event

The 2009 Phoenix Book Award Finale Event will be held at Lilian Baylis Technology School, 323 Kennington Lane, London SE11 5QY. Host Librarian: Barbara Ferramosca. Many thanks to Lilian Baylis School for organising and hosting the finale.

Confirmed special guests at the finale include shortlisted author Frank Cottrell Boyce, shortlisted author Tanya Landman, and poet Chris Preddie. Local dignitaries will be invited.

At the finale there will be prizes for the best reviews of the shortlisted books and a free book for every pupil taking part.

9 Dec 2008
2008 Finale Event

The 2008 Finale Event was held at St Martin-in-the-Fields High School on 9th December 2008. The event included short-listed authors Catherine Johnson and Charlie James, who talked about their writing, and prizes for the best reviews from each school. The winner was announced as Charlie James's Dino Egg.

20 - 24 Oct 2008
2008 Launch

The 2008 Phoenix Book Award was launched in schools in Lambeth during the week 20th-24th October 2008.

5 Dec 2007
2007 Finale Event

The 2007 Phoenix Book Award Finale event took place in December 2007 at Charles Edward Brooke Lower School and was hosted by the Librarian, Angela Suter. Pupils from Lambeth primary and secondary schools gathered to enjoy hearing two of the shortlisted authors, Charlie James and Hazel Marshall, talk about their books. The pupils voted for their favourite to win and also enjoyed some food and presentations about the books from each group of pupils. La Retraite School Librarian Alison Bugg had worked with pupils from St Bernadette's Primary School to produce some beautiful artwork which we all appreciated. The winning book was announced as Charlie James's Fish, to enthusiastic applause from the audience. Charlie said she was delighted to have won the award.

See photos from the 2007 Finale

Cool Ideas

Write a review here on the website
Design a film poster/advert for the book
Write a diary entry for one of the characters
Interview one of the characters
Research the author on the internet and prepare a presentation for the class

About the Award

The Phoenix Book Award promotes reading for pleasure among Year 6 and Year 7 pupils in the London Borough of Lambeth. Inaugurated in 2007 by the Network of Educational Librarians in Lambeth, it is arranged this year by Lambeth Lead Practitioner Karen Hans and is open to all schools in the Lambeth area.

We are very grateful to Lilian Baylis School for organising and hosting the finale, Lambeth LEA for providing funding, and Turner Books for supplying the books.