Carnegie Medals 2024 shortlists are announced

The shortlists for the Carnegie Medals 2024 for writing and illustrating books for children and young people have been announced, with poetry dominating the shortlist for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing and picture books the focus of the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration shortlist.

16 books have been shortlisted in total, with eight in each category for the Carnegie Medal for Writing and Carnegie Medal for Illustration from the original longlist of 36 titles.  The medals are unique in being judged by an expert panel of librarians, including includes 12 librarians from CILIP: the library and information association's Youth Libraries Group.

Journeys, literal and metaphorical, are a common theme across both lists, with books encouraging empathy and hope and promoting an understanding of historical and contemporary global issues, including the environment.

The winners will be announced and celebrated on Thursday 20 June at a live and streamed ceremony, hosted by Manjeet Mann, winner of the 2021 Shadowers' Choice Medal for Writing for her debut novel, Run, Rebel. Her second novel, The Crossing, was shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing in 2022.  The winners of the Shadowers' Choice Medals - voted for and awarded by the children and young people - will also be presented at the ceremony. 

The shortlists for the Carnegie Medals 2024 for writing and illustrating

 The 2024 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing shortlist (alphabetical by author surname)

The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander (Andersen Press)
The Song Walker by Zillah Bethell (Usborne)
Away with Words by Sophie Cameron (Little Tiger)
The Boy Lost in the Maze by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Kate Milner  (Otter-Barry Books)
Choose Love by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Petr Horáček (Graffeg)
Crossing the Line by Tia Fisher (Bonnier Books UK)
Safiyyah's War by Hiba Noor Khan (Andersen Press)
Steady for This by Nathanael Lessore (Bonnier Books UK)

The 2024 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration shortlist (alphabetical by illustrator surname)

The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker (Walker Books)
April's Garden by Catalina Echeverri, written by Isla McGuckin (Graffeg)
Lost by Mariajo Ilustrajo (Quarto)
The Wilderness by Steve McCarthy (Walker Books)
To the Other Side by Erika Meza (Hachette Children's Group)
The Midnight Panther by Poonam Mistry (Bonnier Books UK)
The Bowerbird by Catherine Rayner, written by Julia Donaldson (Macmillan Children's Books)
The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish by Chloe Savage (Walker Books)

Maura Farrelly, Chair of Judges for The Yoto Carnegies 2024, said, "The judges have worked incredibly hard to select 16 outstanding books; books that celebrate the very best of writing and illustration for children and young people. These are books to empower young readers, and for some will provide validation and refuge; stories of courage, of characters thriving to find themselves and their place in the world, often in difficult or dangerous situations.

"The books shortlisted for the writing medal exemplify immersive and compelling writing with the power to inspire and move readers across a range of forms. The illustration shortlist is entirely comprised of picture books, with a strong theme of the environment, underlining the way picture books can speak to all ages, and showing how nature and illustrated books can heal and empower.

"We are excited to share these lists with shadowing groups and young readers, and very much look forward to reading their reviews and discovering their winners, alongside our own, at the announcement in June."

The winners will each receive a specially commissioned golden medal and a £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize.  They will also receive a golden medal and, for the first time this year, £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice.

Scholastic will be donating shortlist packs to 10 schools in disadvantaged areas to allow them to also take part in the shadowing; applications will be open from 22 - 28 March with packs to be sent out immediately afterwards to the selected schools.

You will also be able to see a week of events celebrating the shortlist on the Scholastic Schools Live platform from Monday 15 April. Each 30-minute event will feature a shortlisted author or illustrator, and a behind-the-scenes event with the judges. Schools and libraries will be able to sign up for free on the Scholastic website.

Find out more about the Carnegies 2024 and follow at #YotoCarnegies24  @CarnegieMedals