4 March 2024
Ms Amanda Owens, Librarian
Having read all five books on the Southern Schools Book Award (SSBA) shortlist, meeting weekly from September to January to discuss them, members of our SSBA book group discovered that the judging panel were of like mind, as This Book Kills by Ravena Guron, our favourite, won this year’s award at the ceremony, which we were lucky enough to attend.
Freya S, Year 9
On Friday 23 February, book group members went to Hurstpierpoint college for the SSBA ceremony, hosted by author Chris Bradford.
Prior to the trip, we read all five shortlisted books before taking part in the voting process (awarding five points to our favourite, four to our second favourite and so on). The books on the shortlist were Truth be Told (Sue Divin), This Book Kills (Ravina Guron), The Agency for Scandal (Laura Wood), Crossing the Line (Tia Fisher) and The half-life of Love (Brianna Bourne). During the ceremony, illustrator Chris Riddell drew hilarious cartoons on the projector, featuring the authors and their stories.
After collecting our book tokens for taking part in SSBA, we were able to buy our book of choice and have it signed by the author. As an end to the night, we went to Burger King, which we all very much enjoyed.
Thank you to Mrs Owens for organising the book group and the trip. I can’t wait to take part again next year!