• Photos from the 2025 Little Rebels Award Ceremony

    Our 2025 award ceremony was held on October 1st at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education in London. We were delighted to welcome shortlisted authors Elle McNicoll, Sarah Hagger-Holt, Cathy Jenkins and SF Layzell, who took part in a rich and thought-provoking panel discussion chaired by Darren Chetty. At the end of the evening…

  • THE FIGHTS THAT MAKE US by Sarah Hagger-Holt is the 2025 Little Rebels Award winner

    Congratulations to Sarah Hagger-Holt, winner of the 2025 Little Rebels Award for THE FIGHTS THAT MAKE US. From the modern-day experiences of LGBTQ+ young people to the historic struggle against Section 28, this cross-generational story honours the activists of the 1980s and 90s – and those still fighting today. Phoebe Demeger, Librarian at the Centre…

  • The Little Rebels Award 2025 Shortlist

      On behalf of the Alliance of Radical Booksellers, we are delighted to announce the Little Rebels Award shortlist for 2025 Six books to speak to a generation of young activists and critical thinkers. Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and illustrators! The winner will be revealed on the 1st October. Cottonopolis by S F…

  • The Little Rebels Award 2025 Longlist

      The longlist is here! From the big publishing houses to the smallest presses, a record number of publishers submitted to the award this year, and while the genre-spanning submissions touched on social justice issues in a variety of ways, the longlisted titles are those where the radical content formed the very bones of the…

  • Submissions for the 2025 award are open!

    On behalf of the Alliance of Radical Booksellers, we are delighted to announce that submissions for the 2025 Little Rebels Award are officially open! Publishers have until 3rd March 2025 to submit their most rebellious children’s books for consideration. The shortlist will be revealed in July 2025, and the winner announced at a ceremony in…

  • THE LIZZIE AND BELLE MYSTERIES: PORTRAITS AND POISON by JT Williams is the 2024 Little Rebels Award winner

    The winner of the Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction 2024 was revealed at a special ceremony on October 16th as: LIZZIE & BELLE: PORTRAITS AND POISON, by J.T. Williams, with illustrations by Simone Douglas, published by Farshore. Portraits and Poison is the second instalment in Williams’ Lizzie & Belle middle grade detective series,…

  • The Little Rebels Award 2024 Shortlist

    On behalf of the Alliance of Radical Booksellers, we are delighted to announce the 2024 Little Rebels Award shortlist. Together, these eight titles speak to a generation of young activists and critical thinkers, exploring social justice issues from the politics of Pride to the politics of statues; from Black history to perceptions of disability; and…

  • The 2024 Little Rebels Award Longlist

    On behalf of the Alliance of Radical Booksellers, we are delighted to reveal the seventeen books longlisted for the 2024 award. A CHILD LIKE YOU Text by Na’ima B. Robert; illustrations by Nadine Kaadan (Otter Barry) Four children witness seemingly insurmountable challenges: the climate emergency; the flight of refugees; a lack in cultural representation; corporate…

  • Submissions for the 2024 Little Rebels Award are now open

    Submissions are now open for the 12th Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction! Publishers are invited to submit relevant books first published in 2023. Full submission guidelines can be found at here. The closing date for nominations is March 1st 2024. The shortlist will be announced in July with the winning announcement in October.…

  • 2023 Award Ceremony

    Pictures from our 2023 Award Ceremony! With credit to our photographer Lily Slaymaker. The event was held at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, on Wednesday July 19th. Patrice Lawrence was crowned the winner for her novel Needle, and presented with the award by Little Rebels Judge, Farrah Serroukh. A highlight of the evening…