“Thank you so, so much!
Honestly, I enjoy making things up but this is beyond anything I could have dreamed. A huge thank you to everyone who makes the Carnegies possible. I’ve loved books since I can remember. I can still picture where the large print books were in the library I went to as a child and I’m incredibly grateful to all the librarians who judge this award.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Wolf Siren wouldn’t exist as a book if it wasn’t for my incredible agent, Becky Bagnell, who took a chance on a manuscript that, honestly, needed a lot of work. I’d also like to say another huge thank you to everyone at HarperCollin’s Children’s Books, including my editors, Michelle Misra, Natalie Doherty, Lucy Rogers and Alice Moloney, all of whom took up Wolf Siren at a different leg of the journey. It’s truly been a team effort!
This whole journey started with a question: Why doesn’t Little Red Riding Hood realise her grandmother has been replaced by a wolf? I’d never considered it before, but when I did it seemed to make sense to write the story from the point of view of someone who, like me, navigates the world by light, colour, movement, context and a sizeable amount of guesswork. I never read a book like this when I was younger but, to be very honest, that never stopped my love of reading. In fact, I loved reading because it gave me details of a world I couldn’t see for myself or didn’t even know to look for. So I am beyond delighted that Wolf Siren exists for those who might find their own experiences of visual impairment in Red, but I am equally hopeful that sighted readers might find the same wonder I feel when diving into a story told through eyes different to my own.
Stories, whether you read them in print, braille, or hear them aloud have such an incredible power in this way. Libraries are a way many can access this magic for free.
But I’d love to give a special thanks to two charities which might not spring to mind when you think of a traditional library. Both the RNIB and Calibre Audio have worked to ensure this wonderful shortlist and countless other books are accessible to readers, providing them in large print, braille and audiobook. As someone who can’t just pop into a library and read a borrowed book off the shelf, I know first-hand how invaluable these two charities are in making the magic of stories accessible to everyone.
Finally, I want to thank the students who shadowed these awards. I’ve read every single one of your Wolf Siren reviews and Shadowers’ challenges. Whether you loved Wolf Siren or not, being prepared to read and form your own opinion is the kind of free-thinking of which Red would approve. So, thank you and keep up the good work!”