We are so pleased, and let’s face it, incredibly excited, to announce that shortlisted senior author, Louise Finch will be joining the amazing Dave Rudden, in conversation next week.

On Friday, the 27th of January at 11.30 am, Louise will be chatting with Dave to discuss her own writing and delving deep into the topic of ‘Grief and how YA Literature Deals With Big Life Issues’. There’s plenty of time to have a read of The Eternal Return of Clara Hart’ before Friday, but also, anyone who has the reading habit in general, can feel free to join in the discussion!

This will be an online event, so please register your interest in taking part by emailing us at greatreadsaward@gmail.com and we czn give you the joining details and any other information you need.

There will also be a set of newly published books to be won for your school that includes Helena Close’s ‘Things I know’, Meg Grehan’s ‘Baby Teeth‘, Philip Womack’s ‘Wildlord’ , Aislinn O’Loughlin’s ‘Big Bad Me’ and Louise’s ‘The Eternal Return of Clara Hart’. |n addtion to this there are 15 individual copies of ‘The Eternal Return of Clara Hart’ to be won over the course of the event! Sure look, it’s TOO good to miss, so join us on the 27th and don’t forget to contact us greatreadsaward@gmail.com

We hope you’ve been enjoying all the Great Reads on our shortlists this year. Just a wee reminder that you can vote up to the 31st of January so, as the old saying goes, ‘early and often’ is the way forward! It’s been a real blast getting to know the books so well over the course of the last couple of months and, not going to lie, our votes here at GRA HQ have been cast!

These will be wending their way to schools and libraries over the course of the next few days so check them out, make a note of the one that makes first on your ‘to read’ list, and get stuck straight into a Great Read. Do also engage with us on our social media platforms, we love to hear from our Great Readers!

We are SO excited to reveal our Junior and Senior shortlist of titles for the 2022 Great Reads Award!

The Junior list features the following Debut Authors:

Aoife Dooley

Meg Long

Philly McMahon

Morgan Owen

JC Peterson

And the Senior list of Debut Authors showcases:

Erik Brown

Jen Ferguson

Louise Finch

Vanessa Len

Christine Pillainayagam

As always, this award is chosen by you, the readers, and we’ll announce both here and on our Insta/Twitter/TikTok accounts when the voting is open. So keep an eye on the voting page here and as soon as you’ve had a read, make your marks count! You have all the way until January 31st, 2023, to rate your Great Read. This year’s award will be presented on the 2nd of March to coincide with World Book Day. It’s literally all good news!