Announcing the final results for Searchlight’s Best Novel Opening for Children or Young Adults 2024 competition. Back in the autumn we had the delightful task of reading hundreds of stories, followed by the somewhat daunting task of whittling them down to just twenty when they were all so good. Then we passed the baton to our guest judge, literary agent Rachel Petty, who selected the shortlist, second place, and the ultimate winner. What an unbelievably difficult task we gave her!
Here are the long-awaited results.
Winner
That Time I Accidentally Took Over the World by Gavin Crippin
Second Place
A Witch’s Compendium of Demons and Rabbits by Eva Mason
Shortlisted Entries
Bittersweet Rebel Girl by Emily Grice
Celery’s Giant by Miranda Nugent
Dojo Dogs by Stephen Simmons
Sleeping Fury by Charlotte Teeple Salas
The Boy at the Wynyates by Eleanor Leith
The Fallen Phoenix Girls by Shannon Langan
The Timekeepers by Eilidh McIntosh
Violeta’s Adventures in Doll-land by Mayra Calvani
A massive well done to our final 10. We absolutely love these stories and look forward to including them in Searchlight’s agent/publisher pitch book. Rachel Petty said this about Gavin’s winning entry: The opening of this book really drew me in and made me want to read more–with sparkly dialogue and an authentic-feeling voice.
For the longlistees who have not been shortlisted–many congratulations for getting this far in the competition. Our longlisted authors do attract agent and publisher interest and some go on to be shortlisted by us with other stories, so success is within your reach.
Congratulations as well to all our entrants. Thank you for being brave and allowing us to read your work. It has been a privilege. Keep writing.