The news is out! Play, the stunning and compelling YA novel from Luke Palmer, has been longlisted for The Carnegie Medal for Writing 2025. Huge congratulations to Luke.
The Carnegies are the UK’s longest running children’s book awards, recognising outstanding reading experiences created through writing and illustration in books for children and young people.
Read on to find out more about these brilliant nominated books…
Four boys grow up together at school, itching to get out of their small town. They play games, scoring points from each other, anything to pass the time until they’re free.
Matthew slips into his imagination, Luc pushes his body to the limit, and Johnny … well who knows what Johnny’s up to. But when Mark starts running errands for his older brother’s mysterious associate, he thinks he’s found the best game of all. There’s money in his pocket and his friends have started looking at him differently.
Then Mark breaks a rule, and quickly realises that the penalties in this game far outweigh the prizes. Can they all make it to the finish line before someone loses more than just face?
PLAY is a superbly written, tense and moving drama – a terrific second YA novel from Luke Palmer, whose debut title, Grow, was shortlisted for the Branford Boase first novel award and longlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal 2022.
Coming soon from Luke Palmer:
Sixth-former George leads the school’s coolest band – no party is complete without them. But when tragedy strikes, how can he, and the rest of his year group, rediscover the bright future they’d all planned?
This stunning coming-of-age novel for anyone who ever wanted to be in a band is due to land in bookshops June 2025.
Pre-order here: https://fireflypress.co.uk/books/live/