The Children’s Book Award is the only national award for children’s books that’s voted for entirely by children. It is owned and coordinated by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups and is highly respected by teachers, parents and librarians. It has brought acclaim and strong sales to past winners such as J.K. Rowling, Patrick Ness, Andy Stanton, Malorie Blackman, Anthony Horowitz and Michael Morpurgo, who has won a record four times. The award has often been the first to recognise the future stars of children’s fiction and has the ability to turn popular authors into bestsellers.
Deadlock – Simon Fox
This was the book I always wanted to write. It was the one I spent about ten years on, inching forward in the spare hours I could find. It was the one where the first draft included about six pages of a cricket match, two comedy thugs and several chapters set in a posh private school. So it was nothing like it ended up.
Except it’s still about a thirteen-year-old boy. And it’s still all about stealing things.
Because we all like a heist, don’t we! Country houses, hidden safes, precious stones, rooftop escapes, sleight of hand, disguises and all the rest of it. I love it and I always have.
And the fact that Deadlock’s been read by kids and voted for by kids shows that kids must love it too. Which I think is brilliant.
When I started writing it, I didn’t think there was anyone quite like Archie out there. I read the old Raffles books, watched Ocean’s eleven (and twelve and thirteen) and everything else that involved robberies that I could find, but there was nothing exactly like I imagined aimed at young people. I’m a big fan of Alex Rider and wanted to create the same action and tension but in a real setting that people might recognise, where the hero is plunged into a shady world and the good guys and bad guys look pretty similar. If you’ve seen Lupin recently, it’s exactly like I was aiming it to be. Except set in this country. And starring a thirteen-year-old boy.
I found a way to give him the skills he needs – because his dad is a policeman who specialises in robberies and Dad hasto understand these things in order to catch criminals. Archieand Dad are struggling to bond until they start having fun racing each other to open locks. Then without warning, Dad is arrested and Archie finds a stolen diamond necklace worth millions, hidden in Dad’s bag. Did Dad do it? Archie doesn’t know. But he’s absolutely determined to find out.
He takes the necklace and goes on the run. Pretty soon the criminals and the police are after him and the only way to escape is to use everything he’s learned to infiltrate a deadly gang and steal the evidence. And the only person who will help him, is Samantha “Bunny” Taylor – the daughter of a criminal fixer who’s currently in prison. But her advice is not to trust anyone – maybe even her.
Easy, right?
It’s a pretty tense adventure, but there are funny parts to it too. And after all the years and the drafts, strangely, it’s come out better than I could have dreamed of. I love Archie and Bunny. I love what they can do and I love the way they make their choices about what is right and wrong. I love how they get into trouble and out of it.
And based on the votes it’s received so far, I guess there’s a few kids out there who like it too.
I’m really proud to be nominated for the Children’s Book Award, probably because I think it shows that I’m writing the sort of thing that children want to read.
If young people want to keep reading, then I will definitely keep writing. And I know Archie and Bunny have a few more tricks in them yet.
Who will win?? FCBG groups are voting within their group and non-members can vote online via the link at https://fcbg.org.uk/cba-2024/. The deadline for voting is Friday 18th May. The category winners and the author of the best children’s book published in 2024 will be announced at a ceremony in Birmingham on 8th June, attended by representatives from all our local groups.
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