Thanks,” I replied, knowing that this was the next huge small change in our lives—breaking and entering, theft, surviving on the crumbs of other people’s lives. Dylan’s unwavering optimism in the face of relentless challenges is delicately handled and compelling to read.

Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear is a beautiful story, elegantly told, which brings together a global view ofconservation and an empowering true story of an inspiring female environmentalist, told through dazzling manga art and watercolours.Set in a post-apocalyptic Wales, this quiet, eerie story is told through a little blue diary shared by twelve year old Dylan and his Mum as they survive day to day in the deserted town of Nebo.

My parents were activists- although I doubt very much that they’d identify themselves that way- and I used to attend a lot of protests when I was very young, some of them for CND. Now he’s 14 and he and his mam have survived in their isolated hilltop house above the village of Nebo in north-west Wales, where mother and son confide their experiences and memories in a found notebook – the Blue Book.Dylan was only 6, and since then he and his mum Rowenna have relied on themselves, surviving in their hilltop house by scavenging in the nearby town of Nebo, collecting rainwater, and learning to grow their own food. Lauren is a Foundling Museum Fellow and an UNESCO Artist for Peace and her work has always championed the importance of childhood. Adults should learn to respect that, I think, and not demonise the written word just because it’s on a screen. Translated from the original Welsh, this is a deep thought-provoking novel – filled with actions and philosophical questions that create a lasting impression. Told as a graphic novel with breathtaking art from Jeet Zdung and STEM facts galore, Chang’s daring story is an accessible and fearless adventure that will inspire any animal-loving, intrepid explorer.

Huge congratulations to all four of our Yoto Carnegie medal winners for this year, who demonstrate the best of children’s writing and illustration in its myriad of forms. Dylan,aged fourteen at this point, does not know what she means but it is is the nearest nuclear power station. Jeet Zdung has won the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration for Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear , (Kingfisher, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Books). And they each have their own secrets, which emerge as, in turn, they jot down their thoughts and memories win a found notebook – the Blue Book of Nebo.

Necessarily, setting is a fundamental element in any novel that tackles nuclear disaster; the ravaged landscapes provide a visual reminder of the carnage in which the characters now live. Ros is particular when writing about the surrounding areas, honing a sincere appreciation for the land and its capture in language. When you learn what she has been through however, you find yourself empathising with her – she is still quite young herself, thrust into an impossible situation, but has to stay strong. It was twitching in the trap, so I killed it quickly with my pocket knife and caught the blood in a bottle.