NEEDLE by Patrice Lawrence is the 2023 Little Rebels Award Winner

NEEDLE, by Patrice Lawrence, published by Barrington Stoke, has won the prize for the 2023 Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction.

Needle tells the story of Charlene Yewless, a young, looked after, teenager who gets caught up in the criminal justice system through a single, grief-driven, act. Charlene’s journey spotlights a range of urgent social justice issues including the treatment of young people by the UK’s welfare and legal institutions and the ‘adultification’ of Black girls. The format is a short form novella published by indie publisher, Barrington Stoke, specialists in “super-readable, dyslexia-friendly fiction”.

Judge Farrah Serroukh said that Needle offers “a really important representation of a child in care and the complex challenges of being part of the British care system.” She went on to praise Patrice Lawrence’s “exceptional skill in conveying the vulnerability of the main character and nuances of her character and the wider cast, resulting in a heart breaking insight into the ways in which children in care are often so poorly let down”.

The winner announcement was made at the Little Rebels Award Ceremony, held at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, on Wednesday July 19^th. It followed a panel discussion on creating political fiction and distilling ‘big ideas’  for children, chaired by Jake Hope, attended by most of this year’s shortlistees including: Annemarie Anang; Lisette Auton; Az Dassu; Elys Dolan; Natelle Quek; Varsha Shah- and Patrice Lawrence.