Congratulations to Aimée De Jongh whose graphic novel adaptation of William Golding’s classic story Lord of the Flies (Faber & Faber) has been declared the Overall Winner of this year’s Excelsior Award.

The Excelsior Award is the UK’s longest-running award for graphic novels and manga for young people. The shortlists are chosen by librarians, comic creators and booksellers but the winners are voted for by children and teenagers in schools across the country, who read and rate the shortlisted titles across four key areas – Story, Artwork, Characters and Dialogue.

Commenting on this year’s winner, Paul Register, founder of the award said: ‘Although quite a thick graphic novel (over 350 pages!), published in a hardback format, and an adaptation of a novel originally written in 1954, Lord of the Flies just goes to show how the teenagers of the UK should never be underestimated when it comes to being able to appreciate beauty and quality in their graphic novels. Thank you to all the schools that took part this year!’

To be declared this year’s Overall Winner, Lord of the Flies had first to be chosen as the winner of the Blue (11+) category from a shortlist of five titles before going on to beat the winners of the three other award categories – White (9+), Red (14+) and Black (16+).

Find out more about the Excelsior Award and how your school can get involved here.

Category Winners

Excelsior Award White (9+) Winner

 Tosh’s Island written by Linda Sargent and illustrated by Joe Brady and Leo Marcell (David Fickling Books)

Excelsior Award Red (14+) Winner

Hirayasumi, Vol 1 written and illustrated by Keigo Shinzo (Viz Media)

Excelsior Award Black (16+) Winner

Rogue Trooper: Blighty Valley written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Patrick Goddard (2000 AD)