Last week I was lucky enough to be part of Southern Schools Book Award ceremony. What a night! Forty schools attended the event at Hurstpierpoint College and the enthusiasm of the students was wonderful to see.

The Things We Leave Behind was shortlisted alongside four fantastic books: You Wouldn’t Catch Me Dead by Tess James-Mackey, King of Dead Things by Nevin Holness, Bite Risk by S.J. Wills and Sing If You Can’t Dance by Alexia Casale. It was a real joy to get to meet the other shortlisted authors (except Alexia who sadly couldn’t be there) and Ravena Guron, author of Mondays Are Murder, who was our fabulous MC for the night. Excitingly, the legendary Chris Riddell was also there sketching throughout the event! (My now grown-up daughter who was a massive Goth Girl fan was suitably impressed…)

It was a truly celebratory evening, and to top it all off The Things We Leave Behind won the award! I’m so proud that the students voted for my book, but every book on the shortlist was brilliant and had many students who loved it and wanted it to win. Congratulations to Tess whose book You Wouldn’t Catch Me Dead was highly commended.

The dedication of the librarians who organised this event was INCREDIBLE. Huge thanks to Cecile Semple and the team whose hard work and passion for reading made the evening such a triumph!