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Youth Panel picks winner
'It has everything we were asked to look for – accessibility, originality and excellence – and more.'
Lily Dessau (16), said, 'Blonde Roots is emotive, moving and thought-provoking. It has everything we were asked to look for – accessibility, originality and excellence – and more.'
Max Elsworth (19), added, 'Blonde Roots has opened new literary doors for me – it’s a truly remarkable read.'
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Blonde Roots and Bernardine Evaristovisit Spinebreakers
(link opens in a new window)picture: members of the youth panel with Bernardine Evaristo at the Orange Prize for Fiction awards ceremony. © Graham Jepson/Writer Pictures
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Teenagers love Blonde Roots
London, 2nd June 2009: On the eve of the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction awards ceremony, the six members of the Orange Prize youth panel have chosen Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo (Hamish Hamilton) as their overall winner.
'This is such a lovely surprise,' said Bernardine Evaristo, 'and I’m absolutely delighted to receive this recognition for Blonde Roots. It’s also a great new Orange Prize initiative to embrace and encourage the readers of the future.'
The three girls and three boys, aged between 16 – 19, were recruited via teenage website, spinebreakers.co.uk, and the panel forms part of a campaign to engage younger readers with the Orange Prize.
The panel read the 20 books longlisted for the 2009 Orange Prize before meeting to choose their shortlist of six. The members have also been sharing their experiences of judging a book prize publicly online at Spinebreakers since they began reading in March.
The group met yesterday to decide their overall winner. The meeting was facilitated by Kate Mosse, author and Honorary Director of the Orange Prize.
'The panel, and the judging process, has exceeded every expectation we had,” said Kate Mosse. 'The quality of debate was astounding and the meetings lively, vibrant, informed and respectful. It's been a privilege to eavesdrop on their deliberations.'The youth panel members are Lily Dessau (16), Joe Kerridge (17), Clarissa Pabi (18), Rossana Duarte (18), Francis Gene-Rowe (18) and Max Elsworth (19).
