The winners of the UK’s longest-running and most prestigious book awards for children and young people were announced on 19th June at a live-streamed ceremony in London. The event was hosted by Joseph Coelho, former Waterstones Children’s Laureate and winner of last year’s Carnegie Medal for Writing.

Margaret McDonald becomes the the youngest-ever winner of the Carnegie Medal for Writing for her debut novel Glasgow Boys (Faber & Faber). Also shortlisted for this year’s Branford Boase Award and the YA Book Prize, Glasgow Boys is an ‘honest’ and ‘hopeful’ story that explores mental health, trauma, inequality and identity through the friendship between two boys who have grown up in foster care.

On receiving her award, Margaret McDonald said: “I’m utterly delighted to be the recipient of this year’s Carnegie Medal for Writing. With Glasgow Boys, it was my intention to bring into the light things that are often overlooked as a working class, disabled and first-generation university student, but mainly the difficulties of making your way through a world that is essentially not built for you. We don’t often speak of these invisible barriers but navigate them regardless… My central characters Banjo and Finlay feel as real to me as everyone here right now. They are genuinely standing up here with me to accept this award, and I want to thank the judges for championing them and their story, for giving them this platform and welcoming them into such a legacy as the Carnegies.”

The winner of this year’s Carnegie Medal for Illustration is Olivia Lomenach Gill for Clever Crow, written by Chris Butterworth (Walker Books), an ‘innovative’ and detailed non-fiction picture book that encourages readers to look afresh at a fascinating, but often maligned, bird.

Commenting on her win, Olivia Lomenech Gill said: “I have always had an immense respect for librarians and the vital work they do, so I cannot think of a greater honour than being selected for this award, and I am very grateful to the judges for choosing me as this year’s winner. Working on Clever Crow was a great opportunity to learn more about these very clever and sociable birds, and I hope that the book might encourage readers to look at crows from a different viewpoint than the rather negative stereotype as portrayed in fairy tales, horror movies, and Hitchcock!”

This year’s winners were chosen from two shortlists of eight titles by an expert team of children’s and youth librarians from across the UK. Their judging process was shadowed by thousands of reading groups in schools and libraries across the UK and around the world who read and discussed the shortlisted titles before choosing their own Shadowers’ Choice Medal winners.

Themes of identity and self-discovery feature in the winning titles for both this year’s Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medals.  The Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Writing goes to Nathanael Lessore’s King of Nothing, a funny and authentic exploration of teen masculinity and friendship, while debut author-illustrator Theo Parish takes the Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Illustration for their ’empowering’ graphic novel Homebody (Macmillan Children’s Books).

Commenting on this year’s awards, Ros Harding, Chair of Judges, said: “Glasgow Boys is an immersive and visceral read that completely draws the reader into the present and past lives of Finlay and Banjo. It is a book that will stay in the minds of the reader long after finishing it. Clever Crow is full of stunning, innovative and detailed illustrations that elevate this fascinating non-fiction book into something even more special that demands reading over and over again. Congratulations to the 2025 winning authors and illustrators and a huge thanks to the judging panel who give up so much time and energy for these awards. Thanks also to all the young readers who took part in the Shadowing programme and to the teachers and librarians who support them in discovering the very best of writing and illustration for young people.”