CONGRATULATIONS TO A.M. DASSU! Boy, Everywhere, published by Old Barn Books, is the 2021 Little Rebels Award winner.
Boy Everywhere describes the fraught journey 13-year-old Sami and his family take from Syria to the UK, exposing the unyielding, sometimes cruel and often dehumanising obstacles refugees face in their flight to sanctuary.
Speaking about the winning title, Little Rebels Award Judge, Darren Chetty, said, “Boy Everywhere is everything that I look for in a Little Rebels book – it’s politically interesting, it’s timely, but first and foremost it’s beautifully written. Often with political books we forget that aspect…that the writing itself needs to sing and it really does in this book.”
The Little Rebels Award celebrates children’s fiction which challenges stereotypes, promotes social justice and advocates for a more peaceful and fairer world. The titles on the 2021 shortlist explored environmental activism, neurodiversity, the legacy of the Scottish witch trials, the pressure of social conformity, the ethics of AI, tech politics and data privacy, fake news, feminism, labelling and expectation, fleeing warfare and seeking asylum, homelessness, body positivity, and more.
The Little Rebels 2021 shortlist in full:
Agent Asha: Mission Shark Bytes by Sophie Deen, illustrated by Anjan Sarkar (Walker Books)
Boy, Everywhere by AM Dassu (Old Barn Books)
Brand New Boy by David Almond, illustrated by Marta Altes (Walker Books)
Fearless Fairy Tales by Konnie Huq & James Kay, illustrated by Rikin Parekh (Bonnier)
The Goody by Lauren Child (Orchard Books)
Hope Jones Saves the World by Josh Lacey, illustrated by Beatriz Castro (Andersen Press)
It Isn’t Rude to be Nude by Rosie Haine (Tate Publishing)
A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll (Knights Of)
The Soup Movement by Ben Davis (OUP)
Order the book pack from Letterbox Library or individual titles from Housmans Bookshop.
The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award 