Last week I packed my fox print backpack, filled it with books, vingage inspired clothes and my big round owl reading glasses and headed to the North (or Halifax to be more precise) to attend the Calderdale Book of the Year awards. I was very nervous as I hadn't been to such a big awards day before and the competition was stiff. We are Giants was up against Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, There May Be a Castle by Piers Torday and The Wilderness War by Julia Green. But despite the nerve wracking announcement that we were all waiting for, I had a marvellous time.
The day was filled with author talks from me, Piers and Julia to the eleven schools all packed into the fabulous Halifax Town Hall. A brilliantly funny Q+A where Piers talked about creating a banana wet suit and Julia spoke about her love of building dens and I revealed why I could never have a goldfish. Finally the award was annouced, and to my shock and delight We are Giants was named Calderdale Book of the Year. My prize winning speech involved how I won an award dressed as a pumpkin once.
I had a wonderful day and would like to thank again the teachers, librarians and museum officers who all worked tirelessly for a full year to make this magical event happen.
