Congratulations to Margaret McDonald, who adds the Branford Boase Award to her impressive array of accolades for her deeply moving novel Glasgow Boys (Faber & Faber).’

The Branford Boase Award celebrates the year’s outstanding debut novel for young people aged seven and up and is unique in honouring a book’s editor as well as the author. Already the winner of this year’s Carnegie Medal for Writing and the UKLA Book Awards (11-14+ category), McDonald shares the Branford Boase Award with her editors Alice Swan and Ama Badu.

Commenting on her win, McDonald said: ‘I worked on every single aspect of Glasgow Boys with Alice and Ama, and it wouldn’t exist as it does today without them, truly.

‘Glasgow Boys is a piece of my soul and to have it recognised in this way is unbelievably special, but also to have my incredible editors Alice and Ama recognised for the magnificent work they did, taking such care of Banjo and Finlay, is more than half of the joy.’

As Branford Boase Award winners, McDonald, Swan and Badu join a list that has shaped children’s literature over the last quarter century. Winning and shortlisted authors include Frances Hardinge, Kevin Brooks, Meg Rosoff, Patrick Ness and Maisie Chan, and winning editors include David Fickling, Fiona Kennedy, Barry Cunningham and Bella Pearson.

Presenting the award, Nathanael Lessore, author of last year’s winning title Steady for This, said: ‘The Branford Boase Award is special. Celebrating the relationship with editors and writers, and focusing on debuts, it’s such an accomplishment to be shortlisted. It celebrates the collaborative aspects of literature, while directing a spotlight onto stories from authors we haven’t heard from. I was one of those authors, and I’m eternally grateful for the shortlisting and the win. It was the first time I felt I could be proud to be a writer. And I got to share that with my editors.

‘The books on this year’s Branford Boase Award shortlist reflect the current battles that young people face societally and within themselves, but they also show the positive sides of humanity and community, leading to wonderful journeys of self-belief.

‘Glasgow Boys had me tearing up with how raw and powerful it was. I finished it feeling like I’d just watched an Oscar winning film. Banjo and Finlay were real, their emotions palpable, and their relationship beautiful. Not many books move me the way this one did. It had to win.’

Julia Eccleshare, Chair of the Judges and co-founder of the Branford Boase Award added, ‘Congratulations to Margaret McDonald, Alice Swan and Ama Badu. Tender and insightful, Glasgow Boys is a deeply moving story shaped by the struggles against class and poverty that so many young people in today’s society must overcome to change their lives and opportunities. Despite all, Margaret McDonald’s characters are full of hope and the story is refreshingly strong and bold, too. The relationship between author and editor is generally invisible to readers but is absolutely vital to the success of individual books, authors, and the publishing industry. We are immensely proud to highlight this with the Branford Boase Award.’

Also celebrated at the award ceremony in London were the winners of this year’s Henrietta Branford Writing Competition, which runs in conjunction with the Branford Boase Award. Taking inspiration from last year’s Branford Boase winner Steady for This, entrants were tasked with making the judges laugh and young writers responded in their hundreds with funny stories, poems and rap lyrics.

Commenting on this year’s competition, Prue Goodwin, Chair of the Judges, said, ‘It is a privilege to be involved as a judge in the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition and it has been a pleasure to read all the stories, lyrics, verses and descriptions we received this year.  Entries have been of such high quality that the final decisions took a long time. After reading and re-reading the judges had the very difficult task agreeing on six winners. With the age span of writers being from six years to sixteen, it is important to reflect the differences between all entries. 

‘Writing is such a personal pursuit that everyone who entered the competition should be proud of themselves. You were required to make us laugh and we did. Thank you!’

You can see all the winning entries for the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition here.