2008 ALA Awards

And The Winners Are...

• Michael L. Printz Award
• Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
• Coretta Scott King Award
• Alex Awards
• Margaret A. Edwards Award
• Schneider Family Book Award
• The Odyssey Awards

The American Library Association (ALA), the oldest and largest library association in the world, has announced its 2008 awards, honoring the best books published for children and young adults in 2007. And we have them all for you right here!

Curious about the ALA and its awards? Here's a little background...

2000 marked the debut of the Michael L. Printz Award, which was established to recognize a book that "exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature," according to the Young Adult Library Services Association division of the American Library Association. The Award is named for Michael L. Printz, a former school librarian at Topeka West High School in Kansas. Throughout his career Printz was a respected colleague and teacher, and an active and dedicated member of YALSA. He passed away in 1996.

The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, established by the Association for Library Service to Children in 2001 with support from Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc., is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the preceding year. The award is named in honor of Robert F. Sibert, the long-time President of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc. of Jacksonville, Illinois.

The Coretta Scott King Award is given to an African American author and an African American illustrator for an outstandingly inspirational and educational contribution. The books promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream. The Award is further designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.

The Alex Awards are given to 10 books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing. The award is sponsored by the Margaret Alexander Edwards Trust and Booklist. Edwards was a young adult specialist for many years at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore. Her work is described in her book FAIR GARDEN AND THE SWARM OF BEASTS, and over the years she has served as an inspiration to librarians who serve young adults. The Alex Awards are named after Edwards, who was called “Alex” by her friends.

The Margaret A. Edwards Award, established in 1988, honors an author's lifetime achievement for writing books that have been popular over a period of time. It recognizes an author's work in helping adolescents become aware of themselves and addressing questions about their role and importance in relationships, society, and in the world.

The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. Three annual awards each consisting of $5,000 and a framed plaque will be given annually in each of the following categories: birth through grade school (age 0-8), middle school (age 9-13) and teens (age 14-18). (Age groupings are approximations). The book must emphasize the artistic expression of the disability experience for children and or adolescent audiences. The book must portray some aspect of living with a disability or that of a friend or family member, whether the disability is physical, mental or emotional.

The Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production, ALA’s newest award, is given to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States. The selection committee may also select honor titles. The Odyssey Award is jointly given, administered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), divisions of ALA, and is sponsored by Booklist magazine.

2008 Michael L. Printz Winner

THE WHITE DARKNESS
Geraldine McCaughrean
HarperTeen
ISBN: 9780060890353
Ages 12-up
January 2007

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Fourteen-year-old Symone is in love with Capt. Lawrence "Titus" Oates, one of the explorers lost in Robert Scott's doomed Antarctic expedition. Sym's Uncle Victor feeds her interest in Antarctica, eventually taking her on a trip to "The Ice" where Sym must choose between trusting her uncle and listening to the inner voice she has always regarded as imaginary.

2008 Michael L. Printz Honors

DREAMQUAKE: Book Two of the Dreamhunter Duet
Elizabeth Knox
Frances Foster Books/Farrar Straus Giroux
ISBN: 9780374318543
Ages 12-up
464 pages

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Tziga Hame, who discovered that he could enter the Place and share the dreams he found there with other people, has disappeared. Laura, his daughter, knows that the art of projecting dreams has turned sour. On St. Lazarus's Eve, when elite citizens gather at the Rainbow Opera to experience the sweet dream of Homecoming, Laura plunges them into the nightmare used to control the convict workers. The event marks the first blow in the battle for control of the Place, the source of dreams. Then, when Laura's cousin uncovers evidence that the government has been building a secret rail line deep into the Place, Laura follows it to find out what lies at its end. As she struggles to counter the government's sinister plans, a deeper mystery surfaces, a puzzle only Laura can unravel.

ONE WHOLE AND PERFECT DAY
Judith Clarke
Front Street Press
ISBN: 9781932425956
Ages 12-up
248 pages
March 2007

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Freakish, thought Lily. That was the word for her family. Not freaks exactly, but all peculiar in their own way. And Lily had always been the sensible one. Sometimes she wished she could be like the other girls in her year. Maybe she should fall in love. What could be less sensible than that? Fall in love? Ridiculous! But when she saw Daniel Steadman and their eyes caught, only for a second, the tiny encounter gave Lily a strange light woozy feeling inside her head. It made her brain feel funny, like a tablet fizzing, dissolving away inside a water glass.

REPOSSESSED
A. M. Jenkins
HarperTeen
ISBN: 9780060835682
Ages 12-up
224 pages
May 2007

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When a demon --- who prefers to be called a “Fallen Angel” --- gets a little bored at his day-job of torturing souls in hell, he decides to take a vacation. To satisfy his curiosity about what it’s like to have a physical form, he takes control of a typical teen’s body. Amidst his adventures, he learns what it means to be human and just how fun a little sin can be.

YOUR OWN, SYLVIA: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath
Stephanie Hemphill
Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780375837999
Ages 12-up
272 pages
March 2007

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On a bleak February day in 1963 a young American poet died by her own hand, and passed into a myth that has since imprinted itself on the hearts and minds of millions. She was and is Sylvia Plath, and YOUR OWN, SYLVIA is a portrait of her life, told in poems.

With photos and an extensive list of facts and sources to round out the reading experience, YOUR OWN, SYLVIA is a great curriculum companion to Plath's THE BELL JAR and ARIEL, a welcoming introduction for newcomers and an unflinching valentine for the devoted.

• Past Winners: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2001

2008 Robert F. Sibert Winner

THE WALL: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
written and illustrated by Peter Sis
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
ISBN: 9780374347017
Ages 8-up
56 pages
August 2007

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Through annotated illustrations, journals, maps and dreamscapes, Peter Sís shows what life was like for a child who loved to draw, proudly wore the red scarf of a Young Pioneer, stood guard at the giant statue of Stalin and believed whatever he was told to believe. But adolescence brought questions. Cracks began to appear in the Iron Curtain, and news from the West slowly filtered into the country. Sís learned about beat poetry, rock ’n’ roll, blue jeans and Coca-Cola. He let his hair grow long, secretly read banned books and joined a rock band. Then came the Prague Spring of 1968, and for a teenager who wanted to see the world and meet the Beatles, this was a magical time. It was short-lived, however, brought to a sudden and brutal end by the Soviet-led invasion.

2008 Robert F. Sibert Honors

LIGHTSHIP
written and illustrated by Brian Floca
Richard Jackson Books/Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9781416924364
Ages 4-7
48 pages
March 2007

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Once, lightships anchored on waters across America, on the oceans and in the Great Lakes, floating where lighthouses could not be built. Smaller than most ships, but more steadfast, too, they held their spots, through calm and storm, to guide sailors toward safe waters.

In these pages, one lightship and her crew (and cat) again hold their place. The crew goes again from bow to stern, from keel to mast, to run their engines, shine their lights, and sound their horns. They run the small ship that guides the large ships. They are the crew (and cat) that work to make the ocean safe, that hold their place, so other ships can sail. Come aboard!

NIC BISHOP SPIDERS
written and illustrated by Nic Bishop
Scholastic Press
ISBN: 9780439877565
Ages 4-8
48 pages
September 2007

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For the first to third grade set, spiders are fascinating and suitably gruesome, especially when looked at in EXTREME close-up. Amazing images show the beauty and otherworldliness of spiders. Simple, engaging text conveys basic information about spiders as well as cool and quirky facts. One stop-action montage shows a spider leaping 20 times its body length!

• Past Winners: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003

2008 Coretta Scott King Author Winner

ELIJAH OF BUXTON
Christopher Paul Curtis
Scholastic Press
ISBN: 9780439023443
Ages 9-up
288 pages
August 2007

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Eleven-year-old Elijah is the first child born into freedom in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves just over the border from Detroit. He’s best known in his hometown as the boy who made a memorable impression on Frederick Douglass. But things change when a former slave steals money from Elijah’s friend, who has been saving to buy his family out of captivity in the South. Elijah embarks on a dangerous journey to America in pursuit of the thief, and he discovers firsthand the unimaginable horrors of the life his parents fled --- a life from which he’ll always be free, if he can find the courage to get back home.

2008 Coretta Scott King Author Honors

NOVEMBER BLUES
written by Sharon M. Draper
Atheneum/Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9781416906988
Ages 12-up
320 pages
October 2007

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When November Nelson loses her boyfriend, Josh, to a pledge stunt gone horribly wrong, she thinks her life can't possibly get any worse. But Josh left something behind that will change November's life forever, and now she is faced with the biggest decision she could ever imagine. How in the world will she tell her mom? And how will Josh's parents take the news? She has never needed a friend more.

Jericho Prescott lost his best friend when he lost his cousin, Josh, and the pain is almost more than he can bear. His world becomes divided into "before" and "after" Josh's death. He finds the only way he can escape the emptiness he feels is to quit doing the things that made him happy when his cousin was alive, such as playing his beloved trumpet, and take up football, where he hopes the physical pain will suppress the emotional. But will hiding behind shoulder pads really help? And will his gridiron obsession prevent him from being there for his cousin's girlfriend when she needs him most?

TWELVE ROUNDS TO GLORY: The Story of Muhammad Ali
written by Charles R. Smith Jr.
illustrated by Bryan Collier
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 9780763616922
Ages 10-up
80 pages
November 2007

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From the moment a fired-up teenager from Kentucky won 1960 Olympic gold to the day in 1996 when a retired legend, hands shaking from Parkinson’s, returned to raise the Olympic torch, the boxer known as "The Greatest" waged many a fight. Some were in the ring, against opponents like Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier; others were against societal prejudice and against a war he refused to support because of his Islamic faith. Charles R. Smith Jr.’s rap-inspired verse weaves and bobs and jabs with relentless energy, while Bryan Collier’s bold collage artwork matches every move --- capturing the "Louisville loudmouth with the great gift of rhyme" who shed the name Cassius Clay to take on the world as Muhammad Ali.

2008 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Winner

LET IT SHINE
Three Favorite Spirituals
written and illustrated by Ashley Bryan
Atheneum/Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9780689847325
Ages 4-8
48 pages
January 2007

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With a kaleidoscope of color and cut paper, Hans Christian Anderson Award nominee and two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner Ashley Bryan celebrates three favorite spirituals: "This Little Light of Mine," "Oh, When the Saints Go Marching In" and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." The power of these beloved songs simply emanates through his joyous interpretations.

2008 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honors

JAZZ ON A SATURDAY NIGHT
written and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
The Blue Sky Press/Scholastic
ISBN: 9780590478939
Ages 4-8
40 pages
September 2007

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If you have ever been lucky enough to hear great jazz, then you will understand the pure magic of this book. Leo and Diane Dillon use bright colors and musical patterns that make music skip off the page in this toe-tapping homage to many jazz greats. From Miles Davis and Charlie Parker to Ella Fitzgerald, here is a dream team sure to knock your socks off. Learn about this popular music form and read a biography of each player pictured --- and then hear each instrument play on a specially produced CD.

THE SECRET OLIVIA TOLD ME
written by N. Joy
illustrated by Nancy Devard
Just Us Books
ISBN: 9781933491080
Ages 4-8
32 pages
September 2007

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Olivia has a secret --- a BIG secret. It’s a secret that she tells only to Jade, her very best friend. And Jade promises she won’t say a word. But the secret is really big and really juicy. What happens when Jade slips and the secret gets out?

2008 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Author Talent Award

BRENDAN BUCKLEY’S UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING IN IT
written by Sundee T. Frazier
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780385734394
Ages 9-12
208 pages
October 2007

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Ten-year-old Tae Kwon Do blue belt and budding rock hound Brendan Buckley keeps a "Confidential" notebook for his top-secret scientific discoveries. And he's found something totally top secret. The grandpa he's never met, who his mom refuses to talk about or see, is an expert mineral collector and lives nearby! Secretly, Brendan visits Ed DeBose, whose skin is pink, not brown like Brendan's, his dad's, or that of Grampa Clem's, who recently died. Brendan sets out to find the reason behind Ed's absence, but what he discovers can't be explained by science, and now he wishes he'd never found him at all.

• Past Winners: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001

The 2008 Alex Awards

AMERICAN SHAOLIN: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China
Matthew Polly
Gotham Books
ISBN: 9781592402625
February 2007

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Growing up a 90-pound weakling tormented by bullies in the schoolyards of Kansas, young Matthew Polly dreamed of one day journeying to the Shaolin Temple in China to become the toughest fighter in the world, like Caine in his favorite 1970s TV series, “Kung Fu.” While in college, Matthew decided the time had come to pursue this quixotic dream before it was too late. Much to the dismay of his parents, he dropped out of Princeton to spend two years training with the legendary sect of monks who invented kung fu and Zen Buddhism.

Laced with humor and illuminated by cultural insight, American Shaolin is an unforgettable coming-of-age tale of one young man’s journey into the ancient art of kung fu --- and a funny and poignant portrait of a rapidly changing China.

BAD MONKEYS
Matt Ruff
HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780061240416
July 2007

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Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder and tells police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil; her division is called the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons. This confession earns Jane a trip to the jail's psychiatric wing, where a doctor attempts to determine whether she is lying, crazy --- or playing a different game altogether.

ESSEX COUNTY VOLUME 1: TALES FROM THE FARM
Jeff Lemire
Top Shelf Productions
ISBN: 9781891830884
March 2007

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Xeric Award-winning cartoonist Jeff Lemire illustrates the tale of Lester, an orphaned 10-year-old who goes to live on his Uncle's farm. Their relationship grows increasingly strained, and Lester befriends the town's gas station owner, and damaged former hockey star Jimmy Lebeuf. The two escape into a private fantasy world of super-heroes, alien invaders and good old-fashioned pond Hockey. Tales from the Farm is the first volume in a trilogy of graphic novels set in a fictionalized version of Lemire's hometown of Essex County, Ontario.

GENGHIS: BIRTH OF AN EMPIRE
Conn Iggulden
Delacorte Press
ISBN: 9780385339513
May 2007

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This first book in an exciting new historical series chronicles the youth of Temujin, the son of a khan, and brings us up to the point where he manages to unite many tribes and take on the identity by which we know him: Genghis Khan, the emperor of Mongolia.

THE GOD OF ANIMALS
Aryn Kyle
Scribner
ISBN: 9781416533245
March 2007

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When her older sister runs away to marry a rodeo cowboy, Alice Winston is left to bear the brunt of her family's troubles -- a depressed, bedridden mother; a reticent, overworked father; and a run-down horse ranch. As the hottest summer in fifteen years unfolds and bills pile up, Alice is torn between dreams of escaping the loneliness of her duty-filled life and a longing to help her father mend their family and the ranch.

A LONG WAY GONE: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Ishmael Beah
Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
ISBN: 9780374105235
February 2007

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In A LONG WAY GONE, Ishmael Beah tells a riveting story: how at the age of 12, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By 13, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah --- at heart a gentle boy --- found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.

MISTER PIP
Lloyd Jones
Dial Press
ISBN: 9780385341066
July 2007

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On a copper-rich tropical island shattered by war, where the teachers have fled with most everyone else, only one white man chooses to stay behind: the eccentric Mr. Watts, object of much curiosity and scorn, who sweeps out the ruined schoolhouse and begins to read to the children each day from Charles Dickens’s classic Great Expectations. So begins this rare, original story about the abiding strength that imagination, once ignited, can provide.

THE NAME OF THE WIND
Patrick Rothfuss
DAW
ISBN: 9780756404079
March 2007

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In a dark and dreary time, an old hero (or is he a villain?) is found out, hiding away as a mere tavern owner. As he chronicles his past for a biographer, his amazing story opens up and lures readers into an unforgettable novel with depth and soul.

THE NIGHT BIRDS
Thomas Maltman
Soho Press
ISBN: 9781569474624
August 2007

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The summer of 1876 feels like the end of the world to 14-year-old Asa Senger. Locusts plague the prairie farms; his family is about to lose everything. The Dakota Indians have been banished from Minnesota, yet an aged Indian appears. His father, the sheriff, jails him, counting on a bounty payment, but Asa is somehow compelled to free the old man, and must bear this guilt. The James-Younger gang, preparing to rob Northfield, stops at their farmhouse. What has propelled them into his life?

THE SPELLMAN FILES
Lisa Lutz
Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9781416532392
March 2007

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Simon & Schuster compares private investigator Izzy Spellman to such characters as Nancy Drew, Thursday Next and Stephanie Plum. But not one of those avatars of detective fiction comes close to the level of dysfunction that the Spellman family does --- and not one of them is being doggedly tailed by her own parents.

• Past Winners: 2007, 2006, 2005

The 2008 Margaret A. Edwards Award

Orson Scott Card is the recipient of the 2008 Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring his outstanding lifetime contribution to writing for teens for his novels ENDER’S GAME and ENDER’S SHADOW. An accomplished storyteller, Card weaves the everyday experiences of adolescence into broader narratives, addressing universal questions about humanity and society.

ENDER’S GAME and ENDER’S SHADOW, both published by Tor Books, present a future where a global government trains gifted young children from around the world in the art of interstellar warfare, hoping to find a leader whose skills can prevent a second attack upon humanity by the insect-like aliens descriptively nicknamed "buggers." Young Andrew "Ender" Wiggin may be the savior they seek. He is not alone, as seen in the companion tale, ENDER’S SHADOW, where orphaned Bean relates his own Battle School experiences.

Card will be honored at the YALSA Edwards Awards Luncheon and presented with a citation and cash prize of $2,000 during the 2008 ALA Annual Conference to be held in Anaheim, California, June 26th through July 2nd.

2008 Schneider Family Picture Book Winner

KAMI AND THE YAKS
written by Andrea Stenn Stryer
illustrated by Bert Dodson
Bay Otter Press
ISBN: 9780977896110
Ages 5-8
48 pages
April 2007

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Just before the start of a new trek, a Sherpa family discovers that their yaks are missing. Young Kami, anxious to help his brother and father maintain their livelihood, sets off by himself to find the wandering herd. A spunky deaf child who is unable to speak, Kami attempts to summon the yaks with his shrill whistle. Failing to rout them, he hustles up the steep mountainside to search the yaks' favorite grazing spots. On the way he encounters the rumblings of a fierce storm that quickly becomes more threatening.

2008 Schneider Family Middle School Award Winner

REACHING FOR SUN
Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books
ISBN: 9781599900377
Ages 10-14
144 pages
March 2007

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Josie Wyatt knows what it means to be different. Her family’s small farmhouse seems to shrink each time another mansion grows up behind it. She lives with her career-obsessed mom and opinionated Gran, but has never known her father. Then there’s her cerebral palsy: even if Josie wants to forget that she was born with a disability, her mom can’t seem to let it go. Yet when a strange new boy --- Jordan --- moves into one of the houses nearby, he seems oblivious to all the things that make Josie different.

2008 Schneider Family Teen Award Winner

HURT GO HAPPY
Ginny Rorby
Starscape
ISBN: 9780765353047
Ages 10-up
272 pages
July 2007

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Thirteen-year-old Joey Willis is used to being left out of conversations. Though she’s been deaf since the age of six, Joey’s mother has never allowed her to learn sign language. She strains to read the lips of those around her, but often fails.

Everything changes when Joey meets Dr. Charles Mansell and his baby chimpanzee, Sukari. Her new friends use sign language to communicate, and Joey secretly begins to learn to sign. Spending time with Charlie and Sukari, Joey has never been happier. She even starts making friends at school for the first time. But as Joey’s world blooms with possibilities, Charlie’s and Sukari’s choices begin to narrow --- until Sukari’s very survival is in doubt.

• Past Winners: 2007, 2006, 2005

2008 Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production Winner

JAZZ
written by Walter Dean Myers
illustrated by Christopher Myers
read by James "D Train" Williams and Vaneese Thomas
Live Oak Media
ISBN: 9781430100225
Ages 5-10
December 2007

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From the award-winning father and son team who delivered BLUES JOURNEY, this new presentation of poetry and paintings explores the history and development of jazz music. Fifteen original poems reflect the spirit and rhythm of jazz through the ages, from ragtime to swing to be-bop and fusion, and gorgeous artwork offers a glowing visual interpretation in this tribute to a truly American art form. Original music was composed for each poem and performed by a live jazz ensemble, while two outstanding jazz vocalists alternate with narration and song.

2008 Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production Honors

BLOODY JACK: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy
written by L. A. Meyer
read by Katherine Kellgren
Listen & Live Audio
ISBN: 9781593160944
Ages 12-up
April 2007

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Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of 18th-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas.

There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret. This could be the adventure of her life --- if only she doesn't get caught.

DOOBY DOOBY MOO
written by Doreen Cronin
illustrated by Betsy Lewin
read by Randy Travis
Scholastic/Weston Woods
ISBN: 9780545042819
Ages 3-7



When Duck finds out about a talent show at the county fair, he and the animals on the farm start rehearsing. While Farmer Brown tries to figure out what the animals are up to, Duck is determined they will enter the contest and win!

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
written by J.K. Rowling
read by Jim Dale
Listening Library
ISBN: 9780739360385
Ages 9-up
July 2007

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Internal and external struggle, and, eventually, peaceful resolution are the key ingredients in the heady potion that is HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS. Loyal readers get one final, long, complex draught from J.K. Rowling’s decade-old concoction in the concluding book of the series.

SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT
written by Derek Landy
read by Rupert Degas
HarperChildrenAudio
ISBN: 9780061341045
Ages 10-up
April 2007

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Meet Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton. Sure, he may lose his head every once in a while (in fact, he won his current skull in a poker match), but he's much more than he appears to be. Skulduggery avoided the grave so he could save the world from an ancient evil. In order to defeat it, he will need the help of a new partner: a not-so-innocent 12-year-old girl named Stephanie.

TREASURE ISLAND
written by Robert Louis Stevenson
read by Alfred Molina
Listening Library
ISBN: 9780739350461
All ages
May 2007

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Robert Louis Stevenson’s cherished, unforgettable adventure magically captures the thrill of a sea voyage and a treasure hunt through the eyes of its teenage protagonist, Jim Hawkins. Crossing the Atlantic in search of the buried cache, Jim and the ship’s crew must brave the elements and a mutinous charge led by the quintessentially ruthless pirate Long John Silver. Brilliantly conceived and splendidly executed, it is a novel that has seized the imagination of generations of adults and children alike.

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