Debut writers highlighted in shortlist

The longlist for the 2017 Branford Boase Award, which recognises strong new voices in children's publishing, has been announced and includes MG Leonard's Beetle Boy, Cogheart by Peter Bunzl and The Bubble Boy by Stewart Foster.

The Branford Boase Award also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent. More than 70 books were submitted for this year's awardand 22 have made it onto the longlist. Previous winners and shortlisted authors have included Siobhan Dowd, Meg Rosoff, Mal Peet, Philip Reeve, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Patrick Ness, who all went on to win the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal. Last year's Costa Book Award winner, Frances Hardinge, also won in 2006 with her debut novel, Fly By Night. Julia Eccleshare, chair of the judges, said, "The variety and quality of the books submitted demonstrate the current healthy, boundary-expanding state of UK children's literature." The shortlist for the award will be announced on 8 May 2017 and the winner will be announced on 5 July. The Branford Boase Award longlist in full: Fenn Halflin and the Fearzero by Francesca Armour-Chelu, edited by Sarah Handley (Walker Books) Alone by D J Brazier, edited by Charlie Sheppard & Chloe Sackur (Andersen Press) The Hawkweed Prophecy by Irena Brignull, edited by Sarah Leonard and Megan Larkin (Orchard) Cogheart by Peter Bunzl, edited by Rebecca Hill (Usborne) Why I Went Back by James Clammer, edited by edited by Charlie Sheppard (Andersen Press) Follow Me Back by Nicci Cloke, edited by Emma Matthewson (Hot Key Books) We are Giants by Amber Lee Dodd edited by Niamh Mulvey (Quercus) Little Bits of Sky by Sue Durrant, edited by Kirsty Stansfield (Nosy Crow) Eden Summer by Liz Flanagan, edited by Bella Pearson (David Fickling Books) The Bubble Boy by Stewart Foster, edited by Rachel Mann (Simon and Schuster) The Otherlife by Julia Gray, edited by Chloe Sackur (Andersen Press) The Best Medicine by Christine Hamill, edited by Siobhan Parkinson (Little Island) Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton, edited Alice Swan and Kendra Levin (Faber) The Girl of Ink & Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, edited by Rachel Leyson (Chicken House) Defender of the Realm by Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler, edited by David Stevens (Scholastic) Orangeboy by Patrice Lawrence, edited by Emma Goldhawk (Hodder Childrens Books) Beetle Boy by M G Leonard edited by Barry Cunningham and Rachel Leyson (Chicken House) Girl out of Water by Nat Luurtsema, edited by Emma Lidbury (Walker Books) The Apprentice Witch by James Nicol, edited by Kesia Lupo and Barry Cunningham (Chicken House) Riverkeep by Martin Stewart, edited by Shannon Cullen (Penguin Random House) Kook by Chris Vick, edited by Nicholas Lake and Samantha Swinnerton (HarperCollins Children's Books) Spangles McNasty and the Fish of Gold by Steve Webb, edited by Charlie Sheppard (Anderson Press)