Join us in congratulating Frances Hardinge on winning the Costa children’s book award 2015 with The Lie Tree (published by Macmillan Children’s Books). Frances pipped fellow shortlistees Sally Nicholls, Hayley Long and Andrew Norriss to the prize.
The Lie Tree is a compelling fantasy spun from one mesmerising idea: what if telling lies gave you the power to discover other people’s secrets? This gothic yarn of Victorian fossil hunters gone bad features an unforgettable young heroine, who fearlessly takes on monsters of the present and the past to build herself a better life. The Lie Tree was also shortlisted for the Guardian children’s fiction prize 2015, ultimately won by David Almond with A Song for Ella Grey.
The book has had a fabulous reaction from our teen site members, including That’s Me who wrote: “This book was so thrilling, it sucked me in after the first few pages. What amazed me was that all of the characters were very deep and each had their own story to tell: the daredevil vicar’s son, the maid that gossips, a flirtatious mother, a brother who is supposedly possessed by the devil, the wise Chinese man and the two-faced miner” and Olivia, who told us: “In all truth, it’s the best book I’ve read all year.”
Frances Hardinge wins £5000 and The Lie Tree is now eligible to win the overall 2015 Costa Book of the Year which is announced on 26 January 2016. The Costa has only been won once by a children’s author – and that was Philip Pullman with The Amber Spyglass in 2001, so we’ve got everything crossed for Frances to pull it off!
