the rights of refugees; racist movements against immigrants fostered by the ‘Hostile Environment’; widespread reliance on food banks; and of course the unfolding climate catastrophe – we are living in an age of seemingly permanent crisis.
And though adults are usually the architects of these injustices, children often feel the blunt impact of them. They deserve stories that acknowledge this, that help them to make sense of the world and develop the imaginative tools to respond to it.
Young people are already widely involved in the most urgent activist movements of our time; and they will soon be adults and decision-makers themselves. It is widely acknowledged that reading helps to develop empathy from a young age; books exploring social justice issues help to broaden that empathy beyond individual interactions to systemic thinking, to wider social and political awareness. The more young people bring these skills and qualities into the world, the more social change becomes possible.
Radical booksellers tend to have the modest hope of changing the world;
and the Little Rebels Award believes that change begins with children.
l
https://littlerebels.org
Little Rebels Award 2022 Winner The winner of this year’s Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction is Sarah Hagger-Holt, for Proud of Me. The coming of age story, tells the tale of siblings Josh and Becky, who are parented by two mums, as they explore their family’s and own identities. Judges were impressed by the way the author dealt with the issues and experiences of the characters, with Emily Haworth Booth describing it as “a powerful tool of change; it needs to be in school libraries. Fellow judge, Farrah Serroukh said: “Same-sex families living their lives in the middle grade sphere is rare and it’s even rarer for it to be this well executed… This touching book… platforms a family make-up that has had to resist being delegitimised at every turn. It does [this] by sensitively and gracefully shining a light on their everyday lives and in doing so celebrating their right to be.” Proud of Me is published by Andersen Books ISBN 9781474966245
This year’s other shortlisted books were:
Hey You!: An Empowering Celebration of Growing Up Black by Dapo Adeola, illustrated by various (Puffin Books/PRH);
No Country by Joe Brady, illustrated by Patrice Aggs (David Fickling Books);
No Man’s Land by Joanna Nadin (UCLan Publishing);
Show Us Who You Are by Elle McNicoll (Knights Of);
Sunflower Sisters by Monika Singh Gangotra, illustrated by Michaela Dias- Hayes (Owlet Press);
What Happened to You? by James Catchpole, illustrated by Karen George (Faber & Faber). PEN&INC.
Autumn-Winter 2022
PEN&INC. 7
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