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TRUTH, HUMANITY, JUSTICE, RACISM:
INCISIVE POLITICAL NOVEL ABOUT ASYLUM SEEKERS WINS CARNEGIE MEDAL

Today Nigella Lawson announces the surprise winner of the Carnegie Medal. Beverley Naidoo's powerful novel about asylum seekers, The Other Side of Truth, has beaten off strong competition from three former winners - Almond, Burgess and Pullman - to scoop the most prestigious children's book award.

"I hope this book will be a catalyst for young people to explore with sensitivity and intelligence issues of asylum and human rights both in the UK and abroad," says Beverley. "My purpose in writing is to open another window onto the world and to encourage my readers to make leaps of imagination, heart and mind as they explore our common humanity. I hope the drama that I reveal will stimulate them to ask questions, not just accept uncritically what they are taught or told."

Whilst exposing the bleak reality and plight of people seeking asylum in this country, The Other Side of Truth has been described by critics as enlightening, gentle, incisive; as heartrending emotional drama; as imbued with hope in humanity and belief in the power of truth.

The 11 children's librarians who form the Carnegie judging panel for The Library Association's Youth Libraries Group were united in their choice. "This book has everything," says Sarah Wilkie Chair of the judges. "It is an outstanding novel. The writing is of the highest quality, the storytelling well crafted and the characterisation superb. It involves the young reader in the characters and their situation in a way they can relate to; it is never didactic yet it informs about the issues facing asylum seekers."

The Other Side of Truth begins in Nigeria under the dictatorship of General Abacha, not long after the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa. It is the story of two young children smuggled to supposed safety in England and is told through the eyes of 12 year old Sade.

Their courageous journalist father tells the truth under an oppressive regime, and in a bungled attempt on his life the children's mother is shot in front of their eyes. They leave Lagos that night with false identities - the beginning of a long journey. The children find themselves abandoned and alone on the streets of London before they are taken into care and become enmeshed in the 'system', seeking asylum along with thousands of others.

Beverley Naidoo is a writer and educationalist. Brought up in apartheid South Africa, she became politically active as a student in the 1960s and was detained without trial by the police. She came into exile in Britain which also offered asylum to her future husband, her brother and many other South Africans fleeing persecution. With her children growing up in this country, she began to write books for young people - the sort she wished has been available to her as a child.

The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually by The Library Association for "an outstanding book for children and young people". It was first won by Arthur Ransome in 1936 and has since been won by many of the great names in children's literature including CS Lewis, Eleanor Farjeon and Children's Laureate, Anne Fine. Beverley Naidoo is the first woman to win the Carnegie since Theresa Breslin in 1994.

Highly Commended and Commended Titles

Both Adele Geras's Troy, and Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass were singled out by the judges as Highly Commended. Melvin Burgess's The Ghost Behind the Wall was Commended.

13 July 2001

Further information

Louisa Myatt, The Library Association Marketing Department
Tel: 020 7255 0650 Textphone: 020 7255 0505 Fax: 020 7255 0501
E-mail: louisa.myatt@la-hq.org.uk

Note

The Youth Libraries Group, which selects the winner of the Carnegie Medal, is a Special Interest Group of The Library Association.

Book Details

The Other Side of Truth, Beverley Naidoo, age 10+
Puffin Books, pb, £4.99, ISBN: 0141 304 766

Troy, Adèle Geras, age 14+
Scholastic David Fickling Books, pb, £5.99, ISBN: 043 999 2206

The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman, age 10+
Scholastic David Fickling Books, hb, £14.99, ISBN: 0590 542 443

The Ghost Behind the Wall, Melvin Burgess, age 9+
Andersen Press, hb, £9.99, ISBN: 0862 644 925