Lark - WINNER OF THE 2020 CARNEGIE MEDAL (The Truth of Things)

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In our shadowing group this year, we had some debate about whether it was relevant that Lark was published by Barrington Stoke. Maybe the publishers would cite the brothers’ conversation above to support their claim that Lark has a Reading Age of 9, while its Interest Level is 13+; where school librarians might shelve a book involving grave-robbers having it off with corpses is another question. A simple walk on the moors, which begins in a light hearted way soon becomes a deadly dangerous adventure as a blizzard descends and the brothers lose their way. I suspect that Barrington Stoke were similarly motivated by a desire to produce books which would immediately grab the attention of readers, and which didn’t look like ‘special’ books but rather were similar to mainstream publishing for the same age group. Teenager Nicky and his older brother are filling in time before their mother flies in for a visit with the boys and their father, from whom she's divorced.

The final chapter is a touching meditation on death and the existence – or not – of God, that takes in everything from Aristotle to Schopenhauer and leaves you suspecting dogs might already have had many of the answers all along. On my very first day, I was talking in line outside, and the next thing I knew, I was looking up at the sky.In the case of Pike and the other stories in this series, what is emphasised is the realistic quality of the series, its focus on working-class life and on boys. I also have reservations about this ending because so many children’s books which portray people with disabilities ultimately ‘kill off’ those characters. But what should have been a laugh, a lark, turns deadly when the weather changes and they are caught in a blizzard. There might even be a chance that this time not everyone will make it home alive… Winner of the Carnegie Medal 2020. He continued writing for Barrington Stoke with four novellas in The Truth of Things series about northern working-class brothers Nicky and Kenny, the older of whom is learning disabled, who deal with a troubled home life and other challenges.

The story is simple so I won't spoil it--they go out for a walk on the snowy moors and weather and events overtake them and their wee dog. He has said that he read primarily non-fiction nature books when he was young, but when he was nine, a teacher gave him JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: "I don’t think I’d ever read a novel before, not even an Enid Blyton. As the daylight slips away and the weather worsens, Nicky tells Kenny stories to keep them both occupied, along with assurances they’ll reach their destination soon. This reading experience made me feel in a more personal way what I already believed in a political way: that it’s hugely important for the Carnegie Medal to honour books which represent a wide range of experiences. Kenny’s learning difficulties bring many challenges, but Nicky will do anything for his lanky, straight-up, older brother.Lost on the Yorkshire Moors, their planned adventure – a distraction from the impending arrival of their estranged mother – has begun to turn to peril. Two woefully ill-equipped teenage boys and their old Jack Russell terrier go for a walk on the North Yorkshire Moors. Stories have been part of their close connection since small, with Nicky telling tales at night before bed and throughout their life of poverty, bullying, and uncertainty. The relationship between the brothers is once again at the heart of the story and when a trip to the moors takes a dark and frightening turn it is tested to the limits.

McGowan's understanding of masculine youth its brashness and unexpected tendernesses is evident, and there is a quiet worldliness underpinning the whole. As it begins to snow they struggle to find their way back, and face unfortunate obstacles on the way. The final piece of this is thinking about Lark in the context of its publisher, and the wider significance of choosing this particular kind of publication for the Carnegie Medal. When Nicky finds Jezbo and his gang digging up a badger set, there's not a lot he can do to save them.Candy Gourlay introduces Wild Song, her companion novel to Bone Talk, in which Luki and Samkad leave their home in the Philippines for America. The Independent said of it "Einstein's Underpants is zany, irreverent and downright absurd - children will love it. He has lectured on creative writing at London Metropolitan University, Royal Holloway University of London, and The Faber Academy. There are so many British children hungry to be seen in the books they read – some of them, like me, probably aren’t even aware that hunger is in them – and I really want the Carnegie Medal to meet that hunger.

In fact, I think you could read this epilogue as Nicky’s imagined ending for them: we learn for example that he’s been married to Sarah, the character who was his girlfriend in the previous book (they’ve broken up by Lark), which aids narrative economy but also could be read as something of a fantasy. But to be brutally honest, if you want and even more so if you require a happy and/or a promising conclusion for Lark, sorry, but this is not something being textually offered up by Anthony McGowan's text, and that Lark will leave you or should leave you in tears and massively emotionally upset (a realistic ending for Nicky and Kenny being caught unprepared on the Yorkshire moors during an unexpected blizzard, but admittedly, I would emotionally speaking most definitely prefer less pain and a not so ultimately devastating final outcome in Lark and as such for Anthony McGowan's four novella series of Kenny and Nicky). The comical tale of a teenager who has died and gone to Hell was published in 2005 by Random House and was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award. It is the story of a boy who, after hearing his parents arguing, comes to believe that he is responsible for the death of Father Christmas, and thus must take his place.They live with their dad, love and dysfunction in uneasy coexistence as we pick up clues regarding alcohol dependency and ‘so many times flitting from the rent. The books are set in Yorkshire, not too far from where I grew up in County Durham, and this alone makes them stand out for me. Things are getting tense at home for Nicky and Kenny as they wait for a visit from their estranged mum. But what should have been a laugh, a lark, turns deadly when the weather changes and they are caught in a blizzard. It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance.