Students from Brooke Weston Academy are taking part in the Yoto Carnegie Shadowing Scheme   during elective sessions taking place in Term 4.

The Yoto Carnegies are the UK’s longest running and best-loved children’s book awards; unique in that they are judged solely by librarians.

The Shadowing Scheme is a national reading for pleasure initiative that engages thousands of young people in reading the books on the shortlist. The students taking part are known as ‘shadowers’ as they shadow the judging process for the Yoto Carnegie Medals; they read, discuss and review the books on each shortlist, engage in reading related activities and vote for their favourite title to win the Shadowers’ Choice Award.

Sixteen books have been shortlisted in total this year; eight for the Carnegie Medal for Writing and eight for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration. Students from the BW Trust primary and secondary schools will visit BWA on Friday 14th June to take part in a Trust shadowing event. The winner in each category will be announced on Thursday 20^th June at a live and streamed ceremony, hosted by Manjeet Mann, winner of the 2021 Shadowers' Choice Medal for Writing for her debut novel, Run, Rebel.

Librarian Wendy Mann said, ‘The shadowing scheme is a fantastic way to introduce students to new books and different genres and being able to discuss them with other students helps to develop their confidence and communication skills. By shadowing the awards, the students feel like they are part of the judging process, and it’s always interesting to see if their favourites match up with the official winners of the awards.' 

Find out more about the shortlisted titles and the Shadowing Scheme here.