On Wednesday 7th November, the Reading Ambassadors spent the afternoon at Oxford High School to watch the Oxfordshire Book Awards ceremony. This year was the tenth anniversary of the event and, as ever, many of the nominated authors were in attendance. Matt Brown showed the audience how to draw Superbat, (to varying degrees of success!) Greg James and Chris Smith treated us to a snippet from their upcoming Kid Normal book, and Pam Smy shared her top tips for becoming an illustrator.

We were also asked to share a review of Lisa Williamson's book 'All About Mia', which many of our students had voted for and was Highly Commended at the awards. Alice Hoddinott, who particularly loved this book, took on the daunting challenge of reading her review in front of an audience of around 300 people, which included the author herself!

At the end of the prize giving, we were excited to learn the six books that have been nominated for next year's awards, which the Reading Ambassadors will begin reading soon. The Oxfordshire Book Awards is particularly exciting because the winners are chosen exclusively by students. So, if you've read any of the following books and think it a worthy winner, please let Mrs Barnes know and she can put forward your vote.

Oxfordshire Book Awards 2019 Shortlist:

'Illegal' by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin

'Satellite' by Nick Lake'

'Tender' by Eve Ainsworth

'Things A Bright Girl Can Do' by Sally Nicholls

'White Rabbit, Red Wolf' by Tom Pollock

'Orphan Monster Spy' by Matt Killeen

 

The event closed with cake to celebrate this year's winners, and the opportunity for students to buy the books, and even get them signed by the authors.