Getting, and keeping,
our young people reading
Getting, and keeping,
our young people reading
The pandemic might have knocked our bookish in-person celebrations off track for a few years but our shortlists are as strong as ever and the reading continues! We've now combined both of our shortlists into one fabulous new Award so it's bigger (and hopefully better!) than ever before. Perfect timing for this National Year of Reading!
Keep checking back here for news and follow us on X @NEBookAwards
Schools from all over the North East region take part in our awards each year from Alnwick to Darlington and everywhere in between.
We are happy to involve schools in the rest of the country in the reading and voting too.
To find out how you can get involved just drop us an email.
Reading starts in September but schools and book groups are welcome to sign up to either or both award categories at any time in the year.
Let's get everyone reading!
The NE Teen Book Award (NETBA) was set up in 1999 due to popular demand; schools wanted a similar programme to the prestigious Carnegie Greenaway Book Awards to engage and challenge readers but one which was closer to home, one where our young people could make their own voices heard while discovering exciting new authors and maybe meet those authors for themselves.
The NE Book Award (NEBA) was set up in 2005 due to popular demand; those schools who had taken part in the North East Teenage Book Award wanted a similar scheme to enthuse their younger readers in Year 7 and 8 about new books and exciting new authors too.
Post-pandemic we made the decision to combine both shortlists into one big North East Book Award with two different age categories : Teen for the 11-13s and YA for 14+ readers. Schools are welcome to read one of the shortlists or both. The aim of the Award remains the same though; we want to make our young people more aware of the quality and variety of exciting writing out there, to celebrate and support both established and up and coming authors and to create opportunities for the authors to meet their avid readers. We remain amazed at how many schools want to take part and now around 30 schools sign up every year from across the whole North East region.
The NE Book Awards cater for the reading needs of OUR young people, allowing them to voice their opinions about the books and the reading which matters to them. Their vote decides the winner each year, their opinions are sought when drawing up the long and shortlists and they are critical, highly perceptive and insightful readers. Because our awards are all about reading it’s also the only award in the world (that we know of) where the student judges, not the winning authors, get the prizes.
Schools taking part in the awards obtain their own copies of the shortlisted books.
Ask your local independent bookshop if they can help.
Forum Books have branches in Corbridge, Whitley Bay and Alnwick. You can also support independent bookshops when buying online
Browns Books also offer discounts to schools as well as individuals purchasing the shortlist .