The longlist for the 2025 Branford Boase Award was announced today 

Set up in memory of award-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase, one of the founders of Walker Books, the Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author and editor of the year’s outstanding debut novel for children. The Branford Boase Award is the only award to honour the editor of the winning book, highlighting the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.

Established in 2000, the Branford Boase Award is renowned for identifying the 21st century’s most talented authors at the start of their career. Past winners and shortlisted authors have included Meg Rosoff, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Jenny Downham and Liz Hyder, recently award the Nero Children’s Book Award, as well as Frances Hardinge, Philip Reeve and M.G. Leonard. Recent winners are Maisie Chan (2022), Christine Pillainayagam (2023) and Nathanael Lessore (2024).

Editors who regularly appear on the shortlist include Sarah Odedina, Ruth Bennett, Ben Horslen and Bella Pearson.

The Branford Boase Award spotlights current trends in writing for children and young people

The longlist of 20 books features original new fantasy stories such as Peregrine Quinn and the Cosmic Realm by Ash Bond and The Boy to Beat the Gods by Ashley Thorpe. Contemporary life and the challenges faced by too many young people are depicted in Ashley Hickson-Lovence’s powerful verse novel Wild East, and Margaret McDonald’s Glasgow Boys, and, for younger readers, in The Boy in the Suit by James Fox.

Unusually this year, there is a preponderance of post, pre and even mid-apocalyptic adventures, from Songlight, the debut novel for young people by playwright Moira Buffini, to The Love Interest by Helen Comerford, and Apocalypse Cow by O.R. Sorrel.

The 2025 Branford Boase Award longlist in full:

Peregrine Quinn and the Cosmic Realm by Ash Bond, edited by Ruth Bennett (Piccadilly Press)

Songlight by Moira Buffini, edited by Alice Swan (Faber)

The World Between the Rain by Susan Cahill, edited by Mikka Haugaard (Everything with Words)

The Love Interest by Helen Comerford, edited by Carla Hutchinson (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

The Boy in the Suit by James Fox, edited by Lauren Fortune (Scholastic)

Skylar and the K-Pop Headteacher by Luan Goldie, edited by Megan Middleton (Walker Books)

This Dark Heart by Zeena Gosrani, edited by Hayley Fairhead (Firefly Press)

Wild East by Ashley Hickson-Lovence, edited by Katie Sinfield (Penguin Random House)

The Exes by Anam Iqbal, edited by India Chambers (Penguin)

All the Hidden Monsters by Amie Jordan, edited by Rachel Leyshon (Chicken House)

These Stolen Lives by Sharada Keats, edited by Julia Sanderson (Scholastic)

Bringing Back Kay-Kay by Dev Kothari, edited by Emma Lidbury and Susan Van Metre (Walker Books)

The Whisperwicks by Jordan Lees, edited by Carmen McCullough (Puffin)

Badgers Are Go! by Susannah Lloyd, illus by Nici Gregory, edited by Meggie Dennis (David Fickling Books)

Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald, edited by Alice Swan, assisted by Ama Badu (Faber)

The Virtue Season by L.M. Nathan, edited by Tierney Holm (Scholastic)

Mayowa and the Sea of Words by Chibundu Onuzo, edited by Hannah Sandford (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

The Untameables by Clare Pollard, illus by Reena Makwana edited by Emma Dai'an Wright (The Emma Press)

Apocalypse Cow by O.R. Sorrel, edited by Bella Pearson (Guppy Books)

The Boy to Beat the Gods by Ashley Thorpe, edited by Sarah Stewart (Usborne)

The Judges

Chair of the judges and co-founder of the Branford Boase Award, Julia Eccleshare says, “From very varied submissions, featuring memorable stories and voices, we are delighted to present the judges with this sparkling longlist. Children’s literature feels even more vibrant today than when the Branford Boase Award was established over 25 years ago; we thank our sponsors Walker Books and ALCS for enabling it to continue to highlight and support the best new writers and the talented editors who nurture them.”

This year’s panel of judges will be led by Nathanael Lessore, who together with his editors Ruth Bennett and Ella Whiddett won the 2024 Branford Boase Award with Steady for This. Joining him on the panel are Phoebe Demeger, CLPE’s librarian; author, former bookseller and now BA Bookshop Mentor Nicki Thornton; and Rumena Aktar, an SLA School Librarian of the Year and expert reviewer for Inclusive Books for Children. The judging panel will be chaired by Julia Eccleshare, children's director of the Hay Festival.

The Branford Boase Award is delivered in partnership with the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and supported by Walker Books.

The Shortlist

The shortlist for the Award will be announced on Thursday 24 April 2024.  The winner will be announced on Wednesday, 9 July 2024 at an award ceremony at CLPE in London.

The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition

The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition, the annual competition for young people which runs in conjunction with the Branford Boase Award, will open on Tuesday 11 February 2025.

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