2011 Inky Awards Long List Announced

The long list for the 2011 Inky Awards was announced yesterday. They make me want to be a teenager again because to be eligible to vote, you must be a teen!

From Inside A Dog:
The Inkys are international awards for teenage literature that are voted for online by the readers of insideadog.com.au. It recognises the fantastic home grown writing talent from Australia with the Gold Inky and also titles that come from across the ocean with the Silver Inky.


I'm really excited about this list because a lot of the books are absolute favourite's of mine! And other's are currently contributing to my insanely massive TBR pile :)

GOLD INKY LONG LIST
(Australian titles)

Pigboy by JC Burke
Good Oil by Laura Buzo
Just a Girl by Jane Caro
The FitzOsbourne’s in Exile by Michelle Cooper
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
This is Shyness by Leanne Hall
Black Painted Fingernails by Steven Herrick
Silvermay by James Moloney
The Comet Box by Adrian Stirling
All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield

As always, my vote goes to Graffiti Moon because I am such a Cath Crowley fan-girl. I would also be happy with Black Painted Fingernails, Good Oil or The Comet Box which are all titles I have read and enjoyed. I'm dying to get my hands on All I Ever Wanted and This is Shyness.





SILVER INKY LONG LIST
(International titles)

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
No and Me by Delphine de Vigan
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen
The Agency: The Body in the Tower by YS Lee
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
First Light by Rebecca Stead
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco Stork
Violence 101 by Denis Wright

It's a really tough call for me between Where She Went and Dash and Lily's Book of Dares. I loved both of them so, so much and really would not like to have to pick between them. I would also be happy if Anna and the French Kiss won because , well, le *sigh*. I have both Violence 101 and Clockwork Angel taking up space in my TBR too.




Congratulations to all the long-listed nominees!

The short list will be announced on September 1st and then the voting is open until October 18th. The award winners will be announced September 25th when we celebrate all things inky!

The Comet Box by Adrian Stirling

Title: The Comet Box
Author: Adrian Stirling

Release Date: 1st June 2011

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

It's 1986 and Halley's Comet is hurtling towards Earth. Everyone's talking about what the comet will bring: wishes could be granted, great disasters could happen.

Andrew's wish is that his runaway sister, Amelia, will finally come home. But as the comet approaches, he begins to learn why she left, and the more he knows, the more he wants to forget. Will Amelia's return tear his comfortable world apart?

In A Nutshell:
A slice of Australian suburban life in the 80's when a teenage boy becomes curious about the secrets of his neighbours and his own family. An insightful page-turner.

My Review:
The Comet Box is the story of one boy as he searches for answers in his slice of suburban Australian life in the 1980's. I don't think I have ever had so much trouble writing a review before. I really enjoyed it, but I have no idea why! I'm failing to put it into words but it's just a feeling that I had while reading it. It was a total page-turner but I can't pinpoint why it was, which is absolutely useless when trying to write a review!

Andrew is a curious fourteen-year-old who likes knowing what is going on around him. He believes he is pretty clued in to everyone and that there isn't much he doesn't know about his classmates and neighbours. What he discovers throughout The Comet Box is that curiosity is not always a good trait to have because once you know something, you then have the responsibility of what to do with that knowledge. How will your decision effect others? What do you do when things fall apart, when you find out that your perfect world is actually not so perfect?

I think the intrigue is because all the secrets and lies that are floating around in Andrew suburbia could very easily be those of anyone's neighbours. And the problems that Andrew's family faces, could be any family's problems. You never know what is going on behind closed doors. Everyone tries to present the perfect life to prying eyes, but usually, nothing is as it seems.The story isn't propelled by major action or teen drama, but is more subtle, with an underbelly of secrets swarming around the streets of Merton. As it simmers, it pulls you in.

Thank you to Penguin Australia for this review copy.