The books have been read and analysed, the debates taken place and the nominations counted - so here is the news you have all been waiting for…

The winner of the 2008 shadowing vote is: TITANIC 2020 by COLIN BATEMAN

This year’s race was far closer than last time around, with two titles coming in neck-and-neck for both second and third spots. THE ALCHEMYST by Michael Scott & THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY by Siobhan Dowd were in joint second place and WILDERNESS by Roddy Doyle & THE THING WITH FINN by Tom Kelly in joint third.

CBI would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of those who took part in Shadowing the awards this year. It is no easy task and we recognise the hard work and commitment required from both mentors and readers. Your involvement undoubtedly makes the awards stronger and we really appreciate the contribution you make.

NB. If you are a shadowing mentor and still haven't submitted feedback on this year's programme to CBI we'd like to hear from you. You can download a questionnaire here and return it either by post or by email to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Shadowing Events

In an effort to broaden the scheme in 2008, CBI organised a series of events with participating groups in the weeks running up to Bisto Awards ceremony, including school visits by authors Jon Berkeley (shortlisted last year for The Tigers Egg) and Michael Scott and a series of workshops with The Hugh Lane Gallery. Also included was a pre-ceremony event with author Tom Kelly. Held at the Ark, the event comprised readings of The Thing with Finn by the author as well as a question-and-answer session. Both Tom and the students came prepared with reflective and insightful questions that led to an engaging and fast-paced discussion regarding the narrative and the author himself. Schools in attendance were St. Patrick’s N.S. from Co. Meath and Scoil Lorcain from Co. Dublin.

Shadowers display newly-signed books at the Ark

Student Reviews

CBI received summaries and reviews of four of this year’s shortlisted novels from young readers at Scoil Damhnait, in Co. Mayo.

The London Eye Mystery

I think this book is for children about ten to thirteen years of age. It would appeal to this age group because the vocabulary is very suitable – it has words which are both easy and slightly more challenging: “human observation”, “interlocked”, “probability”. The sentence structure is both simple (“I slammed the book shut”), compound (“You know something in theory but not know it in practice”), and complex (“In my mind’s eye, I saw a chain of Gods, each having made the last, going back into infinity”). It also contains lots of dialogue, making it true to life.

It would also appeal to the reader because although readers of this age group love stories about adventure and journeys, I think most people, children and adults alike, need a sense of security. This book would give just that, because the story is very family orientated; Ted has a mother, a father and a sister called Kat. His aunt Gloria and cousin Salim also come to stay.

The characters are nothing out of the ordinary. Ted has a “condition” where his brain runs on its own unique operating system. He is incredibly intelligent but takes everything literally.  He is also fascinated by the weather and wants to be a meteorologist when he “grows up”. He does not get on with Kat. Kat is a teenager, and is a bit of a rebel. She smokes and has a habit of skiving off school. She also seems to enjoy arguments, and is a bit of a drama queen. Salim is Kat’s and Ted’s cousin, he is half Asian. His parents are separated. He lived in Manchester with his mother. Gloria is Salim’s mother. She is quite glamourous and works as a curator in an art museum. She is the sister of Kat’s and Ted’s mother, Faith. Readers are able to relate to all of the characters (except Ted) which gives the story a true to life feel. The story is narrated by the first person narrator which allows the reader to get an insight into Ted’s mind.

The tone set varies a lot throughout the book. At the start of the book the tone is happy and excited as Gloria and Salim are coming to stay. However, when Salim goes “missing” the tone changes instantly to panic, anxiety, sadness, anger and worry. Throughout the book there is a constant feeling of mystery and wonder.

The story is set in London, a place children will have been to or will know of. This helps the reader to relate to the story. The genre is a combination of family life and mystery. The blurb emphasised all the right points about the book: it emphasised the story line; I think that is the most interesting thing to put in the blurb. When I read the blurb I expected the story to be for a slightly older age group.

Here is a quick summary of the story: Ted’s aunt Gloria and her son Salim come to stay en route to New York. Next day, Ted and his sister Kat take Salim on the London Eye. However they are only able to get one ticket so they  give it to Salim. Ted and Kat wait for Salim to come down, but when he fails to do so, all hell breaks loose. Ted and Kat join forces to try and find out what happened to Salim.

-Caoimhe Wandell-Brannigan, second year, Scoil Damhnait

The Black Book of Secrets

This book is suitable for 12 – 14 year olds. The language is appropriate for this age and would be difficult for younger readers. The notion of fantasy is popular with this age group.

This story is appealing to the reader as there is contrast in the story. The contrast between Ludlow’s fearsome world and his new life with Joe is interesting. The appeal to find out more about the characters keeps interest. Joe Zabbidou is a suspicious character who creates interest.

The sentence structure differs in parts of the story. Ludlow’s narrative and the villagers’ dialogue use simple and some complex sentences. The third person narrative uses more complex and compound sentences. Vocabulary is old-fashioned as the story is set in the past. Some words are advanced but suitable and not babyish for teenagers.

The tone of the story changes and creates interest. There is a depressing atmosphere at the start but this is a fictitious village, Ludlow has just escaped to the village from his parents who were thieves in the city. The village has a steep hill which nobody goes up. It is there that Ludlow meets Joe Zaabbidou. Joe establishes a pawnshop on the hill and hires Ludlow as his assistant. At the bottom of the brae, Jeremiah Pratchett lives.

I enjoyed this book, especially the beginning which was very exciting. I would not have chosen this book based on genre or the cover. However, this was well written and not as scary as I expected.

-Fionnuala Fadian, second year, Scoil Damhnait

This book is for 12 to 14 year olds. I choose this age group as the start of the story was quite frightening and scary for readers under the age of 12.  This book for a reader of younger age would be quite difficult because of the vocabulary and sentences used. The vocabulary is old-fashioned. Some of the words are quite difficult even for 12 to 14 year olds. The hardest vocabulary used is by the narrator. The sentence structure used in the dialogue is quite simple especially when the young boy Ludlow is speaking. The sentences spoken by the older characters are compound and complex.

At the start of the book the tone used creates a sad mood and atmosphere for the young boy because of everything he has been through. The book is also sad at the end when the young boy tells Joe his dark secret. When the young boy steals Joe’s black book of secrets the mood and atmosphere is somewhat tense because the boy is hoping Joe will not find out about it. When the villagers are telling Joe and Ludlow their secrets, the mood and atmosphere is very mysterious and very secretive. When the mean guy of the village, Jeremiah, died everyone was happy. At this point it was sad too because all the villagers claimed Joe was a liar.

The main character, the young boy Ludlow, was a bit of a naughty boy because he stole Joe’s black book of secrets and some of the watches in his shop. But even after all this stealing there was a part of you that had to feel sorry for him though, because he had no proper caring and loving family. But as the story progresses he turned into a caring and truthful nice boy. Joe was a really mysterious character, every part of you wanted to read on and find out why he went to the village and what his motives were. You also kept wondering where he was getting all his money from to pay the secret tellers. You pondered why he was so forgiving and loyal and nice to people, even the people who hated him.

The cover of this book is black and looks very dark and scary. It also seems at a glance that this book was designed for a boy because of the dark colours used. The cover is really deceiving because the story is very attractive. Going on the cover of the book I would never have chosen it.

This is a mystery book because you do not know much about one of the main characters, Joe, and it is a real mystery as to why he is a pawnbroker and where he is getting all his money from. It is also a mystery because Joe and Ludlow know all the villagers’ secrets, and the trust of the villagers is put in Joe’s and Ludlow’s hands. The book is set in a small closely-knit village, full of all sorts of people. They each know a lot about each other.

-Sinead Lavelle, second year, Scoil Damhnait

The Way Back Home

This is a picture book, it is written by Oliver Jeffers. I think that children would enjoy this story because it reminds them of their life, it tells them that the little things that happen in their life are important and deserve to be written about. That is why this book appeals to the reader.

In this particular book the sentence structure is compound which young readers can understand: “His engine had broken down and steering his ship towards the flicker of light he landed on the moon with a bump.” The main familiar phrase is at the beginning of the story: “Once there was a boy…” This is a good phrase to use because the child who is listening or reading the story can relate to it, they can relate this to their own world or environment.

The characters in this story are a boy and an alien who meet on the moon. Children find this appealing because young children are fascinated with stories about aliens and about other children of their own age group. They can especially relate to this because they can understand what the character is doing or feeling. The tone of the story is a light and exciting one which most child readers enjoy.

The setting of this book is on a bright moon in a very dark sky. There is a boy on the moon, he can see the earth but he does not know how to get back home hence the title The Way Back Home. The vocabulary in the book is simple and easy for children to understand and read. From what I can gather from the book, I think that the age range of the reader is about three to five years.

The illustrations used are very good because if the child is not a well developed reader, and therefore does not understand some of the words, the illustrations can explain and give the reader an insight into what is going on. The colours used are soft but very effective because it catches the child’s attention and makes the child use his imagination. In this story pictures and words combine beautifully, this appeals to young children. I think that the illustrations on the front cover are excellently done and stand out brilliantly. I think this attracts young children, and I think the book would be extremely boring and unentertaining if it did not have the well done illustrations. The illustrations give the book meaning and life.

-Michael Joyce, second year, Scoil Damhnait

This book would suit the age range of three to eight years old. The vocabulary is suited for this age range because it is simple and easy to understand. The sentence structure is compound: “his engine had broken down and steering the ship towards a flicker of light ….”. The familiar phrase at the start of the story is: “Once there was a boy…” It is a very familiar phrase to the child because when the child is listening to it or reading it, the child can relate to it in his or her world.

The tone is gentle and calm and it is a gentle atmosphere to look at. The colours in the pictures in the book are very gentle, calm and nice to look at. There are only two characters to look at and listen to in the story. There is the boy from earth who built a ship and then there is the alien who was flying in his ship who crashed on the moon. The two characters are very easy to imagine, and easy to read about. The setting of this story is on the moon where the alien and the boy end up meeting and planning out how to get off it.

From my perspective this story would be very appealing to young children from the ages three to eight years old because of the gentle colours in the pictures and the way it is worded.

-Rosaleen McGuinness, second year, Scoil Damhnait

The Alchemyst

I think that the book The Alchemyst is suitable for readers of the age of twelve plus. I say this because the storyline can be hard to follow. The vocabulary is a big step up from pre-teen literature although it is descriptive and easy to read. The context in which the two main characters speak is very typical of that particular age group. They tend to abbreviate “I’d”, “can’t”, etc

The genre is very much fantasy, but fantasy that is happening in the real world. You can clearly picture the storyline if you have an imagination. Most of the characters are fantasy, or legendary Egyptian, Roman or Celtic gods eg. Morrigan, Bastet, Hekate. Other characters from legend are Perenelle Flammel, Nicolas Flammel, and Dr. John Dee. The two main characters, Josh and Sophie, are twins. They are what you would call the heroes of the story. The author writes about the twins so that they are out on their own adventure, alone and independent without any parents. This appeals to young people: when the characters are facing new situations and new settings that would never happen in ordinary life.

The setting the author chose was the city of San Francisco. I think that this was a good place to set the story because San Francisco has a lot of well known features including the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz which he could and did use in the story. A part of the story was set in “the shadows realm” in the surrounding countryside of San Francisco. In the realm there was a huge abnormally tall tree. The author probably got this idea from the giant redwood tree growing on the outskirts of the city.

The characters of Scatach and Morrigan are of Irish descent. A lot of Irish readers like the story to be related to Ireland because they like to feel a part of the story.

-Maria Cowley, second year, Scoil Damhnait 

photos of book displays submitted by Mary Phelann of St Bridget's Girls National School in Glasnevin, Dublin