Sarah Hagger-Holt wins the 2022 Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction 2022

Sarah Hagger-Holt has won the Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction 2022 with her book Proud of Me, published by Usborne.

Proud of Me is a coming-of-age narrative in which siblings Josh and Becky, who are parented by two mums, start to explore their family’s and their own identities. The organisers describe it as, ‘a crisp, fresh, contemporary narrative which effortlessly threads through nuanced themes of cross-generational responses to LGBTQ+ identities, religious-based homophobia and the legacy of Section 28’.

Judge Farrah Serroukh said, ‘Same-sex families living their lives in the middle grade sphere is rare and it’s even rarer for it to be this well executed… This touching book…platforms a family make-up that has had to resist being delegitimised at every turn. It does [this] by sensitively and gracefully shining a light on their everyday lives and in doing so celebrating their right to be.’ Judge Emily Haworth Booth described the winning book as ‘a powerful tool of change; it needs to be in school libraries’.

Sarah Hagger-Holt was presented with the award by Little Rebels Judge and manager of Gays the Word Bookshop, Jim MacSweeney at the Little Rebels Award Ceremony, held at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education. The announcement followed a panel discussion, chaired by Darren Chetty, attended by the authors on the 2022 Little Rebels Award shortlist, including Dapo Adeola,  James Catchpole, Elle McNicoll, Joe Brady, Patrice Aggs, Monika Singh Gangotra- and Sarah Hagger-Holt.

The Little Rebels Award team expressed their delight at the judges’ winning choice: ‘Middle grade readers are at that exact age where they are often experiencing first attractions, crushes and desires. So this is the moment where we need to validate and ‘normalise’ their feelings. In the case of young LGBTQ+ people this need is pressing and urgent. Sarah’s novel is an important and glowing presence in this space and we hope it will help grow even more fabulous LGBTQ+ MG fiction’.

2022 marks 10 Years of the Little Rebels Award, which celebrates radical fiction for children aged 0-12. Given on behalf of the Alliance of Radical Booksellers, the award is administered by radical children’s bookseller Letterbox Library and radical bookshop Housmans. It recognises children’s books which explore political ideas, challenge the status quo, or promote social justice, social equality and a more peaceful and fairer world.

Discover the ten winners of the Little Rebels Award in this special BfK Ten of the Best

In 2021 the award was won by Az Dassu for Boy, Everywhere (Old Barn Books).

The 2022 guest judges were: Gay’s the Word bookshop manager, Jim MacSweeney; writer and educator Shaun Dellenty;  author-illustrator (and former award shortlistee), Emily Haworth-Booth; reading development and children’s book consultant, Jake Hope; Research and Development Director at the Centre for Literature in Primary Education (CLPE), Farrah Serroukh.

The other shortlisted books were:

Hey You!: An Empowering Celebration of Growing Up Black by Dapo Adeola, illustrated by various (Puffin Books/PRH)

No Country by Joe Brady, illustrated by Patrice Aggs (David Fickling Books)

No Man’s Land by Joanna Nadin (UCLan Publishing)

Show Us Who You Are by Elle McNicoll (Knights Of)

Sunflower Sisters by Monika Singh Gangotra, illustrated by Michaela Dias-Hayes (Owlet Press)

What Happened to You? by James Catchpole, illustrated by Karen George (Faber & Faber)

Sarah Hagger-Holt receives £2,000. Plus, a special announcement regarding an additional winner’s prize was made at CLPE. Author Gill Lewis, who is a previous winner and in 2018 the recipient of a Special Commendation for her remarkable contribution to children’s books driven by social justice issues, is donating £100 each year to the Winner of the Little Rebels Award. Gill Lewis said, ‘I’m a huge fan of this award – and its importance is much needed. I’d like to give something back and am presenting £100 for the winner to give to a charity which meets the ethos of the award.’