YA Book Prize shortlist announced

Louise O'Neill, who won the first YA Book Prize in 2015 with Only Ever Yours (Quercus), is once again shortlisted this year alongside authors Juno Dawson, Laura Dockrill, Muhammad Khan, Sara Barnard, Katherine Webber, Tom Pollock, Alice Oseman and Fiona Shaw.

There are ten titles in this year's shortlist: The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill (Scholastic) - a dark, feminist retelling of A Little Princess. A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood (Scholastic) - a coming-of-age romance set in the 1920s in a Cornish village. I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan (Macmillan) - explores toxic masculinity through 15-year-old Muzna Saleem, who falls for the best-looking boy in school. Goodbye, Perfect by Sara Barnard (Macmillan) - a teenage girl who is forced to question everything when her solid, straight-A best friend runs away. Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Katherine Webber (Walker Books) - Reiko is struggling with secrets until she meets Seth, but things between them soon fall apart. White Rabbit, Red Wolf by Tom Pollock (Walker Books) - a thriller following maths prodigy Peter Blankman, dragged into a world of espionage and violence after his mother is attacked. Clean by Juno Dawson (Quercus Children's Books) - about a wealthy socialite who is sent to an exclusive rehab facility. Big Bones by Laura Dockrill (Hot Key Books) - Bluebelle begins to write a food diary just as a tragedy threatens her family. I Was Born for This (HarperCollins Children's Books) - told by the frontman of a famous band and one of his biggest fans. The Outwalkers by Fiona Shaw (David Fickling Books) - a dystopian novel in which Jake escapes from an orphanage and joins a gang that is on the run. The winner of the YA Book Prize 2019 will be announced at a ceremony at Hay Festival on Thursday 30th May. This year's judging panel will include writer and Everyday Sexism founder Laura Bates; previous YA Book Prize shortlistee and Guardian Children's Fiction Prize-winner Alex Wheatle; last year's SLA School Librarian of the Year Emma Suffield; Daphne Lao Tonge, the founder and owner of YA book subscription service Illumicrate and marketing director for inclusive childrens publisher Knights Of; and Julia Eccleshare, children's director of Hay Festival.