When the Sky Falls nominated for Yoto Carnegie Medal
WHEN THE SKY FALLS by Phil Earle is one of eight titles to have been shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal. In a tweet announcing the shortlist, the Yoto Carnegie Greenaway Awards have said: "Celebrating the power of friendship and pictures to create empathy and connection, we hope this year’s shortlists will inspire and empower young readers."
WHEN THE SKY FALLS was published by Andersen in 2021 and was the winner of the Books Are My Bag Readers Choice Award and The Times Children's Book of the Year. Philip Pullman described it as '‘A magnificent story … It deserves every prize going’. It is based on a true story set in 1941 against the backdrop of WWII. One angry boy has been sent to the city, where bombers rule the skies. There, Joseph will live with Mrs F, a gruff woman with no fondness for children. Her only loves are the rundown zoo she owns and its mighty silverback gorilla, Adonis. As the weeks pass, bonds deepen and secrets are revealed, but if the bombers set Adonis rampaging free, will either of them be able to end the life of the one thing they truly love?
The winners of the Yoto Carnegie Medal will be announced and celebrated on Thursday 16th June at a lunchtime ceremony at The British Library, hosted by award-winning poet and novelist Dean Atta, who won the Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice for The Black Flamingo in 2020.