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Winner of Carnegie Award 2009 and the Bisto Irish Children's Book Award 2009 and shortlisted for the . New and challenging book full of mystery and shadows from recently deceased author Siobhan Dowd. Both terrifying and fascinating from the start, Bog Child is a must-read for 2009. The plot follows Fergus a boy who finds the body of a child, and it looks like she's been murdered. All of a sudden a little voice is coming to him in his dreams, and Fergus must cope with getting caught up in further troubles around his home of Northern Ireland.
What the Carnegie Award judges said:
'This is a beautifully written and controlled novel, strong on dialogue but with some beautiful descriptive phrases as well. The dual narrative is deftly done and Dowd is very good on family relationships and the atmosphere of the times. The ending is satisfying, and the whole believable and unflinching.'
From Siobhan Dowd:
'The protagonists in my stories aren’t human rights heroes in the conventional sense. They are ordinary people living in England and Ireland who find extraordinary ways to overcome the difficulties in their lives and for me that’s the essence of any good story: it’s where the ordinary meets the extraordinary.'
From David Fickling, the author's publisher:
'In 2007 Siobhan Dowd was voted one of the twenty-five British writers for the future (only three were children’s writers). Siobhan is still very much a writer for the future. Everybody should read her.'
Siobhan sadly only wrote 4 books in total before her tragic death from cancer in 2007. They are Solace of the Road, Bog Child, A Swift Pure Cry and The London Eye Mystery but her memory lives on in a Trust that has been set up in her name as well as through her writing.
Every penny of royalties from Siobhan's book sales go to the trust that has been set up in her memory - www.siobhandowdtrust.org
Two years after her untimely death from breast cancer at the age of 47, Siobhan Dowd’s fourth and final novel, ‘Bog Child’, has been awarded the UK’s premier accolade for children’s writing.
“This is the greatest endorsement of the quality of Siobhan’s writing yet,” comments her editor and publisher, David Fickling, “The CILIP Carnegie Medal has real integrity and is unique amongst literary awards: there is no prize money; it does not reflect the commercial interests of publishers and book-sellers; it does not depend on votes or the celebrity status of the author. Judged by librarians who spend their lives connecting young people to good writing it is the purest recognition of quality writing for children.”
Set in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles, the story opens in 1981 close to the North-South border as teenager Fergus McCann makes an illicit raid to the South to gather peat and discovers a child’s body buried in the bogs, perfectly preserved for 2,000 years. The child’s history unfolds as Fergus struggles with the challenges of being a teenager as well as the pressure on him to take sides in the conflict.
“Set against the bleakest of backdrops, ‘Bog Child’ is profoundly heartwarming,” comments Chair of the Judges, Joy Court, “This is thanks to Dowd’s extraordinary ability to illuminate the dark corners of human existence. The reader is drawn totally into Fergus’s world; the turbulence of adolescence is vividly portrayed and equally vividly evoked is the political conflict of the time. A truly outstanding novel of great humanity.”
ISBN: 9781909531178
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ISBN: 9781909531178
Publication date: 06/01/2011
Publisher: David Fickling Books an imprint of Random House Children's Books
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781909531178
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| ISBN: | 9781909531178 |
| Publication date: | 6th January 2011 |
| Author: | Siobhan Dowd |
| Publisher: | David Fickling Books an imprint of Random House Children's Books |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 336 pages |
| Suitable for: | 13+ readers |
| Genres: | General Fiction |
| Recommendations: | eBooks |
'The protagonists in my stories aren’t human rights heroes in the conventional sense. They are ordinary people living in England and Ireland who find extraordinary ways to overcome the difficulties in their lives and for me that’s the essence of any good story: it’s where the ordinary meets the extraordinary.' – Siobhan Dowd 'In 2007 Siobhan Dowd was voted one of the twenty-five British writers for the future (only three were children’s writers). Everybody should read her.' –David Fickling, the author's publisher Siobhan Dowd was born in London to Irish ...
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