A new written work by gifted east Auckland storyteller Leonie Agnew is a finalist in this year’s New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
The awards are described as a “unique celebration of the contribution New Zealand’s children’s authors and illustrators make to building national identity and cultural heritage”.
Agnew’s latest work, entitled Take Me to Your Leader, is a finalist in the Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award category.
Up to five finalists are selected for each category, and from those a category winner is selected. All awards carry prize money of $8500.
In addition, the judges will award a Best First Book prize of $2,500 to a previously unpublished author or illustrator.
The overall prize, the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award, carries a prize of $8,500. The awards are judged by a panel of five.
At the same time, a major nationwide Reading Challenge, sponsored by Hell Pizza, encourages children to read.
Take Me to Your Leader is for readers aged eight years and older.
It tells the story of the fictional character Lucas, who with his friends hatches a zany scheme to revitalise their town and save their tiny rural school from closure by faking a UFO sighting.
His plan swiftly spirals out of control and chaos ensues. Themes of community, connection and activism are woven throughout this “laugh-out-loud comic caper”.
“Eleven-year-old Lucas has got a new worry to add to his long, long list – his rural school is on the Ministry of Education’s list for closure,” promotional material for the book states.
“What’s his mum going to do if he and his sister have to start travelling to a school an hour or two away?
“She can’t drive them, she certainly can’t afford boarding school fees and already works long hours in a poultry processing plant to keep the family going.
“If the school closure goes through, they might have to move to the city. And there’s no way Lucas will ever leave his dad’s grave behind.
“He and his friends come up with a mad idea to revive their town and save their school – they stage an alien encounter.
“Before they know it, tourists are flocking in to check out the crop circles and it looks like the plan might working.”
Agnew previously told the Times she got the idea for the story years ago, after watching a news item on television about rural schools protesting their closure.
“That got me thinking about the ways kids might try and keep their school open. Children can be so resourceful.
“I knew the obvious answer was to create businesses that would attract employment, but that felt a little dry.
“However, I’d also had the idea of children flying a kite which gets mistaken for a UFO.
“The idea of children faking UFO and alien sightings led to a much funnier story but one which, I hope, also speaks about friendship and the importance of supporting communities.”
A shortlist for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults is announced in June each year. A ceremony to announce the winners will be held on August 14.
